Advertised coordinates are for the locality only.
You will need to do a little research in the Church Grounds to find the cache.
PLEASE RESPECT THE CHURCH AND DO NOT VISIT IN DARK/UNSOCIABLE HOURS.
Branston All Saints Church.
The village of Branston lies about 4 miles south of Lincoln on the B1188 Lincoln to Metheringham road and the church stands head and shoulders above the village and is clearly visible from most directions .
All Saints Church. Branston, was one of the first churches in the country to be lit by gas in the last century. Gas was produced in a small private gasworks at the back of the old barn not far from the bottom of the hill in Rectory Lane. The retort house supplied enough gas to light not only Branston Hall, the owners of which actually owned the plant, but also the Church, Rectory and the Chapel!. Now there was a free thinking Lord of the Manor for you!.
When this old barn and other outbuildings were surveyed by industrial archaeologists in the early 1980's prior to them being converted into a house, evidence was found of the retort house and two small gas holder pits for gas storage in the yard. In the barn two pairs of grinding wheels and evidence of the power unit to drive them with belts were also discovered. It would appear that the estate was pretty well self contained for most things.
The church has two separate original early building periods visible in the outside walls. Saxon and Saxo/Norman. The south west corner of the nave has evidence of long and short work in it and was probably part of the earliest Saxon tower. The present tower is of the typical Lincolnshire late Saxon style of a fairly tall base section surmounted by a short top section containing the twin bell openings, the two sections of tower having a square string course in between them. On the top of these is a recessed perpendicular crocketless spire with three alternating Lucarnes (Gabled openings) surrounded by a crenellated parapet. On each side of the fairly narrow west door of the tower is a pair of bays of Blank Norman Arcading which starts half way up the doorway. On the outer west wall of the porch is the remains of a carved crucifixion panel and each side of the outer south doorway is a small carved face placed purely for decoration.
There is a varied selection of windows in the church ranging from Early English lancets in the south wall of the chancel, 4 windows of three different widths with only the two in the central section of the wall being a pair, to the new modern designed east end window of the chancel with modern stained glass (1966) which replaced the old east window which was too badly damaged in the fire of 1962 to restore.
In the western end window in the north wall of the extended north aisle is another example of Victorian stained glass. This is now in the new Rectors Vestry which is entered through the door at the rear of the new organ console and another door in the west end of the north aisle extension which was created after the fire. The eastern end window of the extended north aisle contains small panels of 15th and 17th century mainly continental glass which have been badly mounted. Some of the panels have actually been mounted inside out!. These pieces were part of a collection from the continent collected by Lord Levin. Most of the other windows are clear diamond quarry panels.
All Saints has had many alterations to its fabric over the years, particularly the last 150. Extensive restorations were carried out in 1864 and in 1875-1876 Sir George Gilbert Scott supervised the extensions to the North Aisle, built the south porch, repaired the windows and did a complete restoration job on the interior.
Then there were alterations to the chancel in 1893 when Alexander Samuel Leslie Melville and Robert Nelstrop were churchwardens and the Incumbent was the Rev. Henry Frederick Spencer Adams.
It was at this time that the schoolroom of 1836 was made smaller and converted into a choir vestry by the adding of the door from the chancel through to it. The other door from the nave was not proceeded with but the extra space gained was used as planned for housing the organ. At the same time the steps and communion rails were moved forward to give more room in the chancel and enclose the sedilia.
Restoration of the belfry was carried out in 1895 and the spire was completely dismantled and rebuilt as a matter of urgency as it was feared it would not last another winter. It was at this time that the bells were added to with a sixth and the whole frame replaced with steel!. Quite an innovation for it's day!! The dedication was performed on the 1st December 1895. Advent Sunday and the final cost was £324.
H.H.Dunn. A.R.I.B.A. of Lincoln was responsible for further extensive repairs to the nave roof and re-roofing the south aisle in 1912-1913 at a cost of a further £740 during the Incumbency of the Rev. C. Hugh Hanning
The tower gave cause for alarm and was declared as being in danger of collapse and had to be dealt with again in 1937. The person who advised at this time was The Architect, Surveyor and Clerk of the works to Lincoln Cathedral Dean & Chapter Mr Robert S. Godfrey, C.B.E., M.A., F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.
His idea was to cramp the tower walls together with Delta metal cramps (a type of bronze) and grout with liquid cement under pressure to force it into all the cracks, nooks and crannies at a cost of £500. This was a process he invented and used in the late 1920's to bind together the walls of Lincoln Cathedral and the ends of the ties used can still be seen in the historic west front to this day!
The delivery process used was that grout was poured into a dustbin-like container, the lid fastened on and the whole thing pumped up to pressure. Near the bottom of the container was a guillotine valve leading into a pipe which was pressed tight into the holes drilled into the walls and it was this which delivered the liquid under pressure to where it was needed. A process still being used to this day. It has also been adapted to force insulation foam into cavity walls in the last few years!
The latest major restoration was required when the church lost it's organ, roof, east window, chancel and rood screen when it caught fire on Christmas Day 1962, but luckily the tower wasn't touched at all. Some of the memorial tablets were also lost and others damaged. The clerestory, battlements, pinnacles and the crenellations all needed replacing.
FINDING THE CACHE.
Enter the church gates.
ALL of the questions below can be answered "WITHOUT LEAVING THE RED PATH".
All items of interest to you, can be seen clearly and are between the church gates and the Porch.
Please do not walk on the grass.
The Cache is at N53. AA.BDC W000.ED FGG.
John Bowles passed this world A7BC
Elizabeth Russell died in 1D32
What is the total sum of boot scrappers at the front door = E
Total X's on tower facing the red path plus boot scrappers = F
Remember William Russell. Aged 7G
Please remember to stay on the Red Path.
As for the cache, you will have to walk for it!
Good luck!
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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