St Laurence & All Saints, Steeple
photo courtesy of www.essexchurches.info
This has to be one of the more colourful churches on the Dengie peninsula, its most distinctive feature being its masonry.
The original church was close to Steeple Hall someway out of the village and appears to have had little in the way of upkeep since by 1872 it was described as being "... remorselessly and cruelly defaced" with very little of the original fabric having remained.
In 1882 F. Chancellor, who had designed Ford End and Pleshey churches, built the current church in the middle of the village close to the main road. Much of the material from the old church was incorporated in the new structure which is very much in the Early English style. Pevsner commented that the builder had "indulged in an orgy of mixing into his brown stone walls bricks entirely at random and in all directions". One can certainly see his point but it makes for a very pleasing finish.
This cache is very much in the way of a Steeple chase since it will take you from the new church to the old.
The above coordinates are for the very limited parking spaces outside the church.
You will need to find the following information
- Clement Geoffrey Ronald Pudney died Apr A 19BC aged DE
- Maisie June Pudney died Jul F 19GH aged J
The cache is at N51 41.(A-D)(H-2)(J) E000 47.(E)(H-C)(B+G-E)
If anybody would like to expand on this series please do so. Could you please let sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.