Lansallos Church
The parish church at Lansallos is dedicated to St Ildierna and is on a site where a 9th Century Celtic Chapel once stood and then on the site of a Norman Church.
The present church dates from the 14th Century although it was extensively reconstructed in the 15th Century when some of the original Norman worked stone was used in the construction of the south aisle.
There are a number of very old slate coffin slabs and the one of the lady Margery Smith set in the south wall dates from 1579 and is a very finely carved. The font is of Norman origin but a piece of an even older Celtic font is to be found at the eastern end of the south aisle and is probably over 1100 years old. There are also some very fine benches dating from the 15th century and again are examples of excellent carving.
The tower has been struck by lightning on two occasions - in 1923 and 1975 and suffered damage both times. In addition the roof was damaged by shrapnel during an engagement between British and German aircraft during WW2.
The most serious threat to the church was an act of arson in 2005 when a fire was started next to the organ. A number of Cornish fire brigades attended to try to prevent the complete loss of the church and in spite of extensive damage, much of the ancient building was saved especially the impressive oak waggon roof. The church was formally re-opened in 2009 after extensive repairs funded by donations large and small from local and international donors. A book listing many of the donations is located in the church.
The Cache
The headline coordinates will take you to a leaning headstone almost opposite the porch entrance to the church.
The grave is that of Robert Hicks who died on Dec ABth CDEF aged GH.
The cache is a short walk away at N 50 A(C-H).(F+H)(G+H)(F-H) W 004 (A+C)E. (C-F)(A+B)(E+G)
Parking is available in the nearby National Trust Car Park which is free to members but otherwise is £2.50. It is also possible to park close to the church for a short time but not when services are scheduled.
The cache is a small click lock box in a camo bag - please re-hide carefully.
This can be a high muggle area - please be stealthy!!
There are two more excellent caches - GC30KAR and GC1G9J2 - located nearby if you want to get your money's worth from the car parking fee.
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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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