The Three Hares of Ilsington

St Michael's Church stands in the centre of this pretty village which is to the East of Widecombe in the Moor on Dartmoor. There are the ancient remains of the Manor House in the graveyard which was mentioned in the Domesday book in 1086. This church has a fine roof with one Three Hares Boss as seen in my painting above. There is a charming stained glass window of St Frances which has amongst others Swallows, a frog, caterpillar, a mouse and even a snail, this quite captivated me and in my picture I have added the Barn Owl from this window. The church has some serious problems with damp so please put a small donation in the collection box as it could do with some help with restorations. The Carpenters Arms pub stands beside the church and is a good place to stop off for a drink and meal.

The Three Hares of Tavistock

The Church of St Eustachius in Tavistock dates back to 1318 but has been much enlarged and rebuilt mainly between 1350 to 1450. It has a very finely carved and beautifully painted Three Hares Boss or "Tinners Rabbits" as Tavistock like Chagford is a Stannary Town and is where the tin miners brought their tin to be weighed.
Tavistock has many fine buildings including the impressive Town Hall. It sits on the lovely River Tavy and there are plenty of good walks including some along the river. There is a great market and many good places to eat.
As the stone of the buildings in Tavistock is quite grey instead of painting this church with a dark blue background I decided it needed a contrast so I have painted St Eustachius with a fiery sunset which I think sets it and the boss off perfectly.

The Three Hares of North Bovey

North Bovey is a very pretty village on Dartmoor, it has the River Bovey winding around it and many interesting walks through the pretty Devon lanes going out to the moors. The village is full of pretty thatched cottages set around the village green with a great pub the Ring of Bells Inn. The church of St John the Baptist has one beautifully painted Three Hares Boss in its fine wagon roof where you can also see the heads of Edward the 1st and his two wives Queen Eleanor of Castile and Queen Marguerite of France.

Front of the Trail leaflet

This is the front of my Three Hares Trail leaflet, I love the bright colours which were needed to compliment the bright colours of my paintings. Luckily here in Chagford we have a brilliant man Josh who has Computer Solutions and is great at design and printing which made the task of producing all the leaflets so much easier.
Mind you they are so popular I will need some more soon!!

The Nine bosses of St John the Baptist Broadclyst

This church is just to the north east of Exeter in the pretty village of Broadclyst. It is a beautiful church with an elegant tower with some fine gargoyles on it and while we were there we were thrilled to see a Peregine falcon using one of these as a perch. There are actually nine different Three Hares bosses made of plaster in this church and painted a strange pink with one having red eyes and looking more like pink rabbits than hares. I was informed that originally the bosses were turquoise and gold which I think would have looked wonderful. Next to the church is the Red Lion Inn which does a very good Sunday lunch!