Man

The body of an unknown man was found in a cowshed in Salteron.

His body was described as being a mass of maggots and the position that it had been found in indicated that he had been having trouble breathing.

The body was found by a woman at about 3pm on Sunday 16 July 1905 in a cow shippen as she passed through a field not far from the Cottage Hospital. She said that she first thought that it was a dummy but was not satisfied that it was and asked a man to go back and have a look.

It was thought that the man had been a tramp and that it was thought that he had gone into the shippen for a rest.

He was found to have had a small packet of tea and sugar with him. It was noted that his pockets contained nothing more than the usual 'tramps’ outfit', comprising a tea tin, soap and comb etc.

He had been wearing a blue cap, cord waistcoat and trousers and lace-up boots.

He was thought to have been aged between 50 and 60.

When his body was examined by a doctor, he said that he was of the opinion that he had been dead for about a month but said that due to the state of decomposition that the cause of his death was difficult to exactly define.

At the inquest, a gardener who had examined the man's clothes said that they resembled those that he had seen a tramp wearing in Salterton about two weeks earlier.

An open verdict was returned.