Church Micro 1785, St. John the Baptist, Aylmerton
The church of St. John the Baptist stands above the village of Aylmerton on the side of a small hillside. It is a 15th-century building. It has a round flint tower, probably Saxon, but the present tower was rebuilt in the 13th. century. The top part of the tower was rebuilt in the first decade of the 20th century, when the east window glass was also put in place. The door leading into the south side of the tower is unusual. The priest’s room, which is over the porch, can be entered via the original ironbound door in the nave. The chancel windows date from the middle of the 14th century, and there are some beautiful carvings, a traceried screen dating from 1440 although extensively repaired some of the original work can be seen. The stoup in the north wall near the organ was used when there was a north door, and the stonemason’s mark is the same as found in Felbrigg church and Westminister Abbey.
Round-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, almost solely in East Anglia; of about 185 surviving examples in the country, 124 are in Norfolk, 38 in Suffolk, 6 in Essex, 3 in Sussex and 2 each in Cambridgeshire and Berkshire. There is evidence of about twenty round-tower churches in Germany, of similar design and construction to those in East Anglia.
The distinctive feature of these churches is, of course, their round towers. The reason for their construction – mostly by the Saxons – is a matter of dispute. A suggested explanation is the following:
Round-tower churches are found in areas lacking normal building stone, and are therefore built of knapped flint. Corners are difficult to construct in flint, hence the thick, round walls of the towers.
Almost all are built of flint, except for a few in East Anglia that are built of dark brown carstone or similar-looking puddingstone. The circular shape for early structures of tower height was preferred. Because of the difficulty and expense of obtaining suitable limestone, it would have been logical to build towers of a shape that did not require corners. This has been widely accepted as a functional explanation for the adoption of the circular shape and for the high concentration of round towers in the region.
To find this cache you need to find the memorials and fill in the missing answers. These can be found all in the same area.
N052 AB.CDE
E001 FG.HIJ
A and C and H = Benjamin Henry born October 10th. 18A2, Died Sep. 2Cth. 185H
B = Georgianna who feel asleep December 1B--. 1933
D and G = Elizabeth Farrow who died September 2G--. 1908 aged XY years. where D=X+Y
E = Lewis Lovell Farrow who departed this life July 22nd. 1915 aged ZW years, where E=Z-W
F and J = James Farrow who died September F6--. 1910 aged 8J years
I = Christmas Lewis Farrow died tragically 9th. August 1930 aged I8 years. (I is 4)
Checksum for digits A to J = 45
You are looking for a blue topped container slightly bigger than a 35mm film cannister.
This is hidden outside of the church yard a short distance away.
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication
To view the church micro stats page, please click here