Baby

The body of a newly-born child was found in a brook near Kenwith.

A solicitor from Bideford said that he had been out shooting with a friend in a field at the back of Kenwith House and when he was walking along the bank of a goyle he saw the naked body of the child lying on its left side in a little water. It was in a place that was otherwise thickly wooded and secluded.

Its body was practically frozen.

About a foot away a blood stained bodice was found.

The post-mortem stated that the muscles and tissues of its left leg were missing as was a greater portion of the tissues and muscles of its left thigh and it was thought that they might have been eaten by a dog after the body was thrown there.

The cause of death was given as suffocation.