My email of 27th May posed the following questions:

1. Presumably, the sarsen predates the church, which appears to be built upon a mound. Do you have any information about any possible pre-Christian use of the site, or why that particular site was chosen?

2. What, if anything, is under the other trapdoor?

3. Why are the trapdoors and their contents not mentioned in the information leaflet? Is nothing known of them?

4. The Yew Tree in the churchyard is certificated at 1700 years or older. This presumably means that it predates the church? I'd be interested to know the reasoning behind building a church so close to an existing tree. Or is the dating wrong?

5. Have any archeaological digs taken place in the vicinity of the church to your knowledge, and have any finds been documented?

I received the following reply today from the author of the information leaflet:

"Your e mail of 27th May has been passed on to me for comment. I am the area Field Officer (South-West) for The Churches Conservation Trust; also, the author of the guide book on the church.

Being uncertain of the provenance of the stones under the trapdoors, although Sarsen is indigenous to the area, I decided not to refer to them, however, as you are the second person to raise this point, I ought to include a note in the forthcoming second edition.

It is possible that the stones relate to the earlier south wall of the church which was extended outwards during the 16th century. I have asked a former colleague, now retired, but who was involved with the initial repairs when the church vested in what was then the Redundant Churches Fund.

I hope to bring you some more promising news on my return, next week, from a West Country tour of Trust churches."

So no specific answers (yet...)