AN inquest has opened after the body of a retired lay minister was found at the bottom of a ravine in Drewsteignton.

Christopher David Stock was discovered by a member of the public with multiple lacerations and injuries by a footpath near the road from Trennaway Cross to the rectory just after 2pm on June 23.

The 72-year-old lived in West Chinnock near Crewkerne in Somerset, where he was a lay minister at West Chinnock Church and the Ham Hill Benefice.

AE Stoodley and Son, a funeral service, posted a tribute on Facebook. It read: “Chris assisted us in caring for many families over the years and he will be greatly missed by us personally as well as the wider community.”

The hearing was adjourned until a later date.