The church of ST. MARY was so called in 1446 and probably in 1239 or earlier. It is of chalk ashlar and flint and has a chancel and a clerestoried nave with north chapel, south chapel, north tower, south aisle, and two storeyed south porch. The oldest parts of the church, the north and west walls of the nave, the south arcade, and the west wall of the aisle, are late 12th-century, but the nave is narrow and its shape may be that of the nave of an earlier church. The chancel, wider than the nave, was rebuilt in the later 13th century, and the north chapel was built about the same time. The tower was built, after and west of the chapel, in the late 13th century or early 14th, and in the mid 14th the south chapel was built and the south wall of the aisle was rebuilt on its old foundations. New windows and a piscina with triple sedilia were made in the chancel in the 14th century. In the 15th the nave was raised to accommodate the clerestory, and the porch was built. The upper stage of the tower was rebuilt in 1674. The church was extensively restored in 1861: some walls and most of the roofs were rebuilt and windows were altered.
Three bells hung in the church in 1553. The ring was increased to five, apparently by two bells cast by John Wallis, one in 1611 and one in 1615. Three bells cast by Nathaniel Boulter in 1655 presumably replaced the old bells. The bell of 1615 was replaced by one of 1887 cast by Mears & Stainbank, who recast that of 1611 in 1907. The bells of 1655, 1887, and 1907 hung in the church in 1992.
To find the cache you need to:
Find the small garden in the churchyard.
Henry Bennett the Father of the Hybrid Teas dates:
ABCD EFGH
Cache can be found at N51 08 (H)(B-E)(C) W001 53.(G)(C+D)(C)
****************** ********************
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.
****************** *******************