The Blore Resurrection.

When the word resurrection is used one tends to think of Christ or Lazarus being brought back from the dead, however a resurrection of sorts took place in the tiny village of Blore on the outskirts of Ilam and Dovedale in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

The story centres around the Bassett family vault which is housed inside the medieval church of St Bartholomew opposite Blore Hall.

It is claimed that a skull was taken from the Bassett vault, it is not known what year this took place, however we do know that William Bassett died in 1601 and the skull was last known to have surfaced in 1903.

The story is as follows: A servant of the local Smith family who are known to have lived in a farmhouse quite close to the church removed the skull from the Bassett vault and it is said took it back to the farm and then showed it to the other servants. Mrs Smith who had some sort of medical condition is said to have grown progressively worse and the blame was put on the skull which had been taken from its resting place. Mrs Smith eventually succumbed to her illness and her body was interred at the church.

It is said that the Sexton was in the process of cutting the rings off her fingers (as you do) just prior to her burial when she came back to life and made a full recovery and she went on to live a long life with her husband.

It would appear that the skull was never returned to the Bassett vault as the last known report of its whereabouts is that it was in the possession of a well known Ashbourne tradesman back in 1903. Where the skull is at this present time is not known, nor whether in fact it does possess the power to take life as well as give it is open to conjecture.

While we are on this grave subject, to the right of William Bassett on his tomb lies Lord Henry Howard the Earl of Suffolk who died in 1616, it was his sister who was involved in a famous divorce case, and who was found guilty of the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury who was a friend of her second husband.