The cache is not at the published co-ords, but you will need to visit the Church in order to determine the final location of the container & logbook. There is room for a couple of vehicles in front of the Church, but please park with consideration for the local residents and anyone attending the Church. The physical cache is a short pleasant stroll from the Church.
The cache container can be found by using details at the base of the memorial shown below:
HENRY MARK CALE was born on June 'A' 'BCDE'
He died on September 'FG' 'HJKL'
Final GZ = N52° 49.(J)(K)(A), W001° 12.(K)(G)(C)
Note: Logbook is in a nanotube inside the main container - please replace carefully.
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The stone church dedicated in honour of St Helena is a beautiful structure consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch, north transept and vestry, with a bell cote at the west end containing two bells. There is no tower.
There has been a church on this site since Saxon times. It was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 that Leche possessed a priest and a church. However, it is not clear whether the church mentioned was that of West Leake or East Leake.
From the earliest times until 1882, the two parishes, which derive their name from the Leche brook (so called from the Anglo Saxon verb “leccian”, to water or moisten), were united into one benefice the title of which was Leake. It is impossible to determine which of the two churches was built first for both contain Norman work. However, it seems likely that, since East Leake has always been the larger village, the “Leche” of “Domesday Book” referred to East Leake and that its church is therefore the older.
There has been much controversy as to which of the two churches was the “Mother Church” but, in any case, each church has always been independent in its own parish.
The most ancient part of St Helena’s is the north wall of the nave with a tiny deeply recessed Norman window and a blocked up Norman door which can be seen from the outside. The stone effigy in the south aisle, the piscina in the south aisle and the main doorway are the next oldest parts, while both the effigy on the north side of the sanctuary and the beautiful figure in the north transept also belong to the Early English period. The chancel is of the Decorated period and is in its original condition. Its most noteworthy features are the reticulated tracery of the east window and the piscina. The nave is of unusual length and contains, on the south side, an arcade of five arches supported by octagonal columns of the early Perpendicular period.
Much rebuilding took place in the fourteenth century when the chancel was enlarged, and the south aisle, with its five arches, was added to provide a chapel. In the fifteenth century the clerestory was built to obtain extra light.
Various changes have occurred in the twentieth century. The United Benefice of West Leake with Kingston and Ratcliffe on Soar was created by an Order in Council published in the London Gazette on 10 February 1933. Rev Charles Herbert Vincent Brown was the first Rector of the two constituent benefices of Ratcliffe with Kingston on Soar (united in 1916) and West Leake. For several years the Rector of Gotham was the priest in charge of West Leake Church and the aforementioned neighbouring churches. Since 1990 West Leake Church has been part of the East Leake Benefice which consists of the parishes of East Leake, West Leake, Rempstone, Costock and Stanford on Soar.
