History
The Parish church (St John the Baptist) in Kirkheaton is one of the earliest churches in the area. People have been worshipping God on this site for around 1300 years. Before any church building there were several Anglo-Saxon crosses here, from c750 AD. The first church is likely to have been of wood, but there was a stone church before the Norman conquest. Several pieces of stone from our church, including parts of at least three crosses, are on display in the local Tolson Museum). There were also possibly Vikings (certainly Danes and also likely Anglians) in the area in times past, as evidenced both by an unusual stone with an Runic inscription, and by the name of the hamlet of Gawthorpe which is within the parish.
Although most of the building as it stands today is Victorian, parts go back to the 14th cent (Beaumont Chapel) and the 15th Cent (Tower). We feel this makes this it a very special place.
There are many interesting stories about our Parish. For example the Norman font, still used was thrown out of the church under Cromwell and spent about 300 years in a farmers' field, being used as an animal trough, before being rescued.
The Cache
To find the cache go to the publish coordinates where you will find the information you need to lead you to the cache.
The cache can be found at ...
N 53 38.ABC W 001 43.DEF
A = 3rd Digit in the year P. Makison died
B = 3rd Digit in the year C.E Moss died
C = 4th Digit in the year R. Mallinson was born
D = 4th Digit in the year R. Mallinson died
E = 3rd Digit in the year M Woodhead was born
F = 4th Digit in the year E.A Frost died
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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 at churchmicro@gmail.com.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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