Old St Vincent's Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

Dominicus1975: The barriers at the cache site are certainly substantial, and the wall behind them will probably be demolished as part of the works being undertaken by Unite Students, so reluctantly I'm archiving this cache (the first time I've done that). Thanks to everyone who's found it and for the 12 favourite points. It will be really interesting to see this site once the works are complete.

More
Hidden : 6/20/2014
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

A relatively easy multi-cache starting at Old St Vincent's Church, an iconic Sheffield landmark with many stories to tell. The cache itself, a micro, is only a short walk away.

Update: The car park at Old St Vincent's closed for good on Friday 17th February 2017. Most of the site has been sold to Unite Students which plans to build over 500 units of student accommodation. The old church building will be retained as a student hub, while the parish has retained ownership of the old school building. Plans have been drawn up for this building, pending final approval by the Diocese of Hallam. For this reason the plaque which you need to read to obtain the final coordinates is no longer accessible, at least for now. However, you can read about the plaque and access a photo of it by visiting this website: (visit link)

I will keep the cache under review and may archive it if the final location also becomes inaccessible.

....................

St Vincent's Church dates back to 1851, when a plot of land was purchased for £700 to provide a Roman Catholic school-chapel for the area. The building was completed in July 1853, at a cost of £1,850, and put under the charge of the Vincentians (a Roman Catholic religious institute of priests and brothers, officially called the Congregation of the Mission, founded by St Vincent de Paul). The first parish priest was Fr Michael Burke CM.

Three years later the chapel was greatly expanded and officially recognised as a church. In 1870 a 40-foot tower was added, and this was raised to its present height of 93 feet in 1911. In recognition of the important part played in Sheffield's Catholic community by the Irish immigrants, the tower was formally blessed and opened by Cardinal Michael Logue, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, on 28th October 1911.

The Irish were not the only immigrant community who called St Vincent's home. Italians, for example, also came to Sheffield and settled in what is still called Little Italy. Many of them took up highly skilled jobs as craftsmen.

The first Sheffield Blitz raid by German bombers on the night of 12th December 1940 resulted in the destruction of the original 1853 chapel when a parachute mine landed on the roof. The original girls' school was also destroyed and every window in the church was blown out destroying some valuable stained glass windows. The newer part of the church from 1911 escaped serious damage. Vigorous fundraising enabled much re-building work to be done on the damaged church in the 1950s.

Due to the war damage and continuing slum clearances in the post-war St Vincent’s area, the church lost much of its congregation as the district was rebuilt as a business area. In 1996 it closed as a place of worship, parish priest Fr Charles Gardiner CM walking out of the church with the altar stone at the end of an emotional final Mass on 19th July. Th Vincentian Fathers then left Sheffield altogether in April 1997.

The majority of the St Vincent's congregation now lived in the Walkley and Crookes areas, and it was on Pickmere Road in Crookes that a new St Vincent's Church was opened in 2001, replacing two other churches which closed at the same time (St Jospeh's and Our Lady's). The church is now thriving.

Today the old site is still owned by St Vincent's Parish, now based in Crookes, which operates the popular car park in the church grounds. Unfortunately many of the buildings on the site are virtually derelict and the interior of the church building itself is in a very delapidated state. However, there are plans to renovate the whole area with the old church building serving as a community centre. This will require considerable expenditure, so watch this space!

The cache can be found by reading the plaque on the wall at the given coordinates. Take the years between which Italian immigrants arrived in Sheffield and lay them out as eight numbers in a line, assigning the letter A to the first number, B to the second number and so on until the eighth number to which the letter H is assigned. Then use the following to work out the coordinates of the physical cache:

N53° (A+E) (G+C) . E D (B-C-E)

W 001° C B . (F-C-C) G (F-G-E)

The cache itself is a camouflaged micro. Please replace it in exactly the same place that you found it (it might become detached otherwise) - and watch out for muggles!

Many thanks to the Parish Priest of St Vincent's Parish, who has responsibility for the old St Vincent's site, for agreeing to the placing of this multi-cache.

And congratulations to matthewgibbs for being the FTF!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Vagenzhenyyl qvfthvfrq...

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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