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The Church HouseChurch House is a fine two-storey granite building in Widecombe-in-the-Moor dating from 1537, which stands alongside the church, overlooking the tiny village square. It is thought to have originally been built as a brewery for the production of church ales, and became adapted as an almshouse, and later as the village school. Today, it is used as a meeting place for local people. Sextons Cottage forms the western end of the building and is now a National Trust shop and Dartmoor National Park information point. Standing in front of the building is a 15 inch naval shell, which was donated to the village after the First World War to thank the villagers for supplying troops with sphagnum moss. This grows in abundance in the damp Dartmoor conditions, and is said to have healing properties. It was used as an emergency field dressing for injured troops. Another Dartmoor Church House http://www.thechurchhouse.org.ukcan be found at South Tawton on the north side of the moor. It is a small, robust and highly attractive late 15th - early 16th century building constructed of granite with a thatched roof. It lies just inside the northern edge of the Dartmoor National Park, at the heart of the village of South Tawton, and is a Grade II* Listed historic building, in a Conservation Area, with the church of St Andrew rising dramatically behind it. The proximity of the building to this Grade 1 church, in the centre of the village, is a significant attraction for visitors to the area. Church House South Tawton is an outstanding example of a special type of medieval community building. The community of the Parish has used Church House for over 500 years and remarkably it is still owned by the Incumbent and Church Wardens, as Trustees on behalf of the Parish and is run by the Church House Management Committee. Local documentary evidence (which begins in 1524) has produced data about the history of farming, land management and the evolution of the distinct group of community buildings called "Church Houses" during the Reformation; a period of major importance in national history. A special feature is the roof structure, which preserves cruck trusses and rare smoke-blackened thatch.
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