This cache has been placed by us (Mr Wizz and Walk on the Wildside, known collectively as The Wild Wizzes) as a celebration of our wedding here on the 10th October 2015. We met through caching and look forward to many more years of caching together.
Before we get on with the details of the cache and this history of the church, here is some important information
Important Information
To get many of the answers needed for this cache, you will need to go inside the church. Please be mindful that this is a place of worship, and we ask that if you do go in, respect the privacy and peace of anyone in quiet prayer or contemplation. If there is a service going on, please come back later.
Regular services are as follows:
Sunday 8.30am, 10.00am and 5pm (6pm during British Summer Time)
Thursday 10.30am
At various times throughout the year (particularly during Lent, Easter, Advent and Christmas), there will be extra services.
Other services (Christenings and Funerals) could be at any time; weddings are only on a Saturday.
The church usually opens daily at about 8am, and is closed by about 5 or 6pm. If the porch gate is open and the welcome sign is outside, it’s usually a good indication that you can go in.
The Cache
To get the cache, we’re going to take you on a short tour of the church, pointing out some interesting things on the way. Make a note of the answers, and these will be used to give you the final co-ordinates.
Start by standing outside the porch. If you look to the side of the church to the right of the church porch, you can see a drainpipe. About a metre or so to the right of the pipe, three rows of bricks up (ignoring the “skirting” rows of bricks at the bottom of the wall), you can see a small indentation in the brick, surrounded by a circle with lines in it. The priest would put a stick in the hole, and with the markings, he had an instant sundial.
That isn’t the only one of these makeshift sundials. Aside from the very obvious sundial at the top of the tower, there is another one of these engraved sundials on this stretch of the wall (that forms part of the South Aisle), and it is near the slate gravestone of John Weetman.
Question 1: How many rows of bricks up is this second sundial? Answer = A (Ignore the rows of bricks that form part of the “skirting” at the bottom of the wall.)
By the way, you might want to read the grave of John Weetman; a bittersweet tale of how a young man died of a broken heart. Not essential for the cache, just an interesting read!
Now head in a clockwise direction around the church. On the west side of the church, there is a courtyard formed by part of the old church, the tower and the newer Jordan Room. One corner of this courtyard has the outer wall of the circular staircase that takes people up on the tower. If you have a look at it, you’ll notice a LOT of graffiti carved into the stone. But most of the graffiti is centuries old, so it begs the question as to at what point it stops being graffiti and starts being history.
Question 2: Find the stone with the name “J Fisher” engraved in it. There is a date in Roman Numerals, which translates into numbers as what? Answer – 1B08
Now head back to the church entrance and go inside. You’ll need to collect one of the guided tour “Table-Tennis bats” which show a map on one side and information about the church on the other. These are usually kept on the round table just inside the door, but can also be found on the table by the wall directly opposite the main entrance, near the way into the crypt. You will need one of these information boards to help with one or more of the questions inside the church. Please return these on the table when you have finished.
From the main entrance to the church, pass the wooden font and head to the north wall directly opposite the entrance. You’ll see on the wall the Sanctus Bell, which would have been rung just before the consecration of the bread and wine during the service. These were prohibited following the Reformation, so it was removed and presumably well hidden, as it was found during restoration work in the tower in 2011.
Question 3: Which century does this bell probably date from? Answer: 1Cth
Now head down into the crypt. The light switches for the crypt are on the right hand side as you descend the stairs – PLEASE REMEMBER TO TURN THEM OFF WHEN YOU LEAVE THE CRYPT
St John Baptist church has possibly the best-preserved example of a crypt in a parish church in England. It has Norman architecture, and was built during the 12th century. The eastern part was built in 1150, and the western (octagonal) section was built a bit later. This was probably a reconstruction of an earlier Saxon crypt. You can see some of the original Saxon church foundations through an opening in the wall opposite to the stairs.
For a more in-depth history of the crypt, there is a folder kept in the crypt, which will tell you all manner of interesting things, including theories as to which saint is interred here (St Milred or St Mildred?). But for the next question, have a look for the burial stone of John Knightley, who died on the 11th July 1764.
Question 4: How old was John Knightley when he died? Take the digits of his age, and add them to form a single digit answer. Answer – D
Leave the crypt, turn right at the top of the stairs, and head along the North Aisle. On the wall are a number of hatchments, one of which commemorates Elizabeth Emma Wilmot, who died in 1818.
Question 5: On the hatchment commemorating Elizabeth Emma Wilmot, there is a shield with a red diagonal line on it, containing a number of gold stars. How many gold stars are on the red diagonal line? Answer =E
Carry on into the Lady Chapel, which constructed back in the 14th century, and rebuilt in the 15th. Have a look at the oak altar, the communion rails, and the wooden screen behind the altar.
Question 6: Who carved this altar, the wooden screen and the communion rails? Number of letters in surname minus number of letters in first name (Answer = F). Hint – look for anything a bit odd, and then refer to the information bat.
Return to the wooden font in the nave. The nave was built in Norman times, in 1150. Now walk up the main aisle, up the steps and you’re in the chancel, which was built a little after the nave, in the 12th Century. On both sides of the chancel are wooden stalls, which have ornate carvings on the undersides of the seats known as “misericords”. These were tipped up and would allow the monks and canons to lean against them allowing them some support during services in the middle of the night and keep them awake. Should they "relax" too much, they would tip forward with a loud bump!
Question 7: How many of these misericords are there on the north wall of the chancel? Answer = G
Return to the main entrance, but stay inside. Now head along the south aisle towards the library. On the south wall, you can see one of the many charity boards which show what people had bequeathed from their estate, to whom, and how frequently they should be paid. This board is for John Whitehead, who died age 71.
Question 8: When did John Whitehead die? Answer May 24, 170H.
Feel free to continue to look around the church, both inside and outside, and see what else you can spot. For example, did you see the OS mark on the west wall of the tower? And did you find all 9 of the Berkswell Mice that can be seen in the publicly accessible parts of the church? Not required for the cache, but a bit of added fun!
As soon as you’re ready, you can go to the cache, which is hidden at:
N52° 24.(G-F)(D-A)(E-H)
W1° 38.(C-H)(B+F)(D-B)
If anybody would like to expand this series please do, we would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first at churchmicro@gmail.com so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list