About St. John's Church, Upper Hopton
In 1840, Upper Hopton was made an Ecclesiastical District, with a curate, George Kerr, in charge.
In 1843, James Micklethwaite, a Maltster who lived at Hopton Hall, donated a plot of land to the Church Commissioners in recognition of Rev. Kerr’s work over the previous 3 years. Designed by the Durham architects Bonomi and Cory, the church is a copy of the 15th century Perpendicular style. The final bill was almost £1,200. The foundation stone was laid on St John the Evangelist’s Day – December 27th – 1844 by James Micklethwaite and the building was consecrated on October 21st 1846.
In 1862, Thomas Marriot and Edward Wheatley gave a plot of land next to the church for the building of a parsonage. By the mid 1960’s, it was becoming structurally unsafe and so was demolished to be replaced by the present house in 1969.
The churchyard has been extended twice. In 1904, a middle section was donated by William Hall Marriott (formerly of Hopton Grange). It is likely that the stone archway was built at this time. The largest section of the churchyard was donated by Charles Sutcliffe in 1930. He was also the owner of Croft House, which was given to the church on his death.
The lych-gate was built in 1949 to commemorate the men of Upper Hopton who died in the Second World War.
The church clock was installed in 1953, partly as a celebration of the coronation and partly in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the church.
The original organ was probably little more than a harmonium, which is now in the church vestry, the first pipe organ being installed in 1861. This lasted until 1893, when a new organ was installed at a cost of £211 15s. Carriage was paid as far as Mirfield station and local farmers transported it from the station with horses and carts. The organ was rebuilt, at a cost of £6000, in 1981 and dedicated in memory of Harold Newton Myers, Vicar of Upper Hopton 1932-68.
Money was raised by the Community Association, the PCC and the Friends of Upper Hopton Parish Church for the Millennium Window, which was designed and painted by local artists, Anne and Vince Seabourne, who live at the Manse near the junction of Hopton Lane and Hopton Hall Lane.
The memorial garden, under the window, was planted in memory of Shirley Hartley, Treasurer of the Community association for many years and a member of the committee which raised the funds for the Millennium Window.
About the cache
The cache itself is not placed by the church or within its grounds, but is a short walk away. To locate it, first visit the blue plaque at the entrance to nearby Hopton Hall.
The coordinates for the final location are N53 AB.CDE W001 VW.XYZ which can be decoded in the following way:
A = number of times Mirfield is mentioned on the plaque.
B = number of letters in the first word on the plaque.
C = number of letters in the first word on the sixth line of the description.
D = the 21st character on the seventh line of the description (include punctuation in your counting, but not spaces!)
E = number of screws holding the plaque up.
V = number of letters in the third word on the first line of the description.
W = number of letters in the first word on the last line of the description.
X = number of letters in the last word on the fifth line of the description.
Y = number of letters in the second word in brackets.
Z = number of letters in the last word on plaque.
Happy hunting!
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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.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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