Skip to content

Church Micro 8223 Badwell Ash Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Hanoosh: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.

Regards

Brenda
Hanoosh - Volunteer UK Reviewer www.geocaching.com
Geocaching Guidelines
Geocaching Help Center
UK Geocaching Information

More
Hidden : 8/21/2015
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

The Church of St Mary in Badwell Ash is delightful. Sitting right on the main street through the village it sees everything that happens in this small village and yet walking around the churchyard we felt detached from it all.


Part of the Benefice of Badwell & Walsham, St Mary currently has no incumbent and instead the Rev'd of Walsham Le Willows is Priest in Charge here.
You are looking for a small plastic tub hidden outside the Churchyard. This was hidden by Joe so perfect for the smaller members of caching families. 
Parking is available all along the main street, please do not attempt to park at the coordinates as this is the entrance to a group of houses not visible from the road. 
While you're in the village take a moment to visit the Village Sign which has only been in place for a year and has a wonderful seating area surrounding it for resting weary legs or consuming that Great British tradition of fish & chips from the shop opposite!
The following information comes from Simon Knott's Suffolk Churches website
"In this little-known Suffolk village stands a stunning jewel of a church. It is not grand, or particularly important. But it is beautiful. Here is 15th century splendour on a small scale, on a parochial scale. I remember first arriving here late one summer afternoon, and the flushwork of the porch shimmered in the low sunlight. Picked out on it in flint are Marian monograms, and, low down on a buttress, a blacksmith's anvil and tools. As I stood in the honeyed light of the graveyard, the smell from the adjacent fish and chip shop wafted across the graveyard, and a passing car radio played Elvis. My memory fused all these sensory images into a notion of an ordinary Englishness, a touchstone to ordinary people down the long Suffolk generations. I won't ever forget it.
The tower is also decorated with Marian imagery, and a dedicatory inscription to the donors, John Fyncham and his 'wyf'. The clerestory is picked out in red bricks above the south aisle. At a lower level, the 15th century corbel heads all depict different people, obviously carved from the life in their cowls. Were they masons? Building workers? Ordinary citizens? Few Suffolk churches present such an enchanting prospect."
"Incidentally, the name of this village varies in historical documents. For much of its life it has been Ashfield Parva, the counterpart to Ashfield Magna, now Great Ashfield, a mile away. This confusion confused the medieval dedications of the two churches when they were rediscovered by the 18th century antiquarians. In medieval times, this church was dedicated to All Saints. But when the dedication was restored by an increasingly Oxford Movement-influenced Church of England in the late 19th century, they repeated the 18th century mistake. So, this church at Badwell Ash is now known by Great Ashfield's medieval dedication, St Mary.Great Ashfield, you'll not be surprised to learn, is now called All Saints.
Here, then, on a small scale, we have a solid testament to the aesthetics of English Catholicism as it was on the eve of the Protestant Reformation. That this parish has cared for it so well since is a tribute to them."

If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here (visit link)
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at (visit link)

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Orgjrra oevpx naq jbbq

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)