“Stoke Fleming Church Struck by Lightning.  A Providential Escape.” reads the headline of a news item in the Dartmouth and Brixham Chronicle printed on 2 January 1880.  It tells the story of a young apprentice from a local Jewellers who was in St Peter’s Tower winding the clock when the lightning struck.  He fell off a 4 foot high platform and, despite the shock, managed to climb down a long wooden ladder in complete darkness and make his way across the road to the Green Dragon Inn “for shelter”.

This event has been reproduced as a painting by local Artist, Gail Dorrington and it was on display at the tower Open Day in August 2015, together with copies of the original newspaper article, reproduced from the microfiche in the Resource Centre at Cookworthy Museum in Kingsbridge .