The earliest mention of Feltham is in a document of 971. It is thought that the parish was dedicated to St. Dunstan in 988, the year of the saint's death, and that a place of worship has existed in Feltham since then.
The Domesay Book of 1086 says that Feltham "answers for 12 hides", which suggests that geocaching was alive and well here nearly 1000 years ago.
By 1800 the original church building was in a bad state of repair. The present church was built using much of the material from the old church, and consecrated in 1802 by the Bishop of London.
There are 3 bells, which were taken from the original church, recast, and rehung in 1803.
The growing population of Feltham meant the church had to be extended in 1855, and 100 years later the interior was entirely refurbished due to death watch beetle in the old timbers.
There are several stained glass windows, mostly early 20th century, with the east window being Victorian.
There are a number of old gravestones in the churchyard. Close to the path is the grave of William Ryland, the last man to be hanged at Tyburn. He is buried with his parents but is not recorded on the headstone.
The cache is in the churchyard. Please be respectful of the surroundings at all times.
When you have found the cache, you should look for answers to some questions for a "bonus" Church Micro 2364 St. Matthew's, Ashford.
How many flowers are there?
How many windows have black grilles?
And remember the material the cache is made of.
It should be OK to park outside the church for the few minutes it will need to find the cache.
I have a long list of credits for this cache.
Firstly I must thank my grandchildren who dug deep into their toybox for this cache.
Next is factotem, who very kindly cut down the tree in his back garden to provide the camo (now replaced by a plastic box).
Last, but not least, thanks to the Parochial Church Council and their Secretary for not only giving permission to place the cache here, but also for providing the very interesting history and the delightful sketch at the top of the cache page.
If anybody would like to expand this series please do, I would just ask that you let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the numbers and names to avoid duplication.
To view the church micro stats page, please click here.