Founded as a nunnery by the widowed Queen Sexburgha in 664AD it was endowed with land given by her son Ercombert, King of Kent. With no stone on the island the building material was hewn at Boughton Monchelsea and brought down the River Medway and the Swale.
The priory was badly damaged, but not destroyed, by Danish Vikings in the ninth century and was further damaged in the 11th century.
Following the Norman invasion of 1066, King William the Conqueror partly rebuilt the church and priory and allowed nuns from Newington to take up residence.
During the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII the two adjacent churches led directly to the saving of the Abbey church. Because the two churches shared a common wall and were linked by arches in the wall, the Abbey church was spared the destruction wrought on the rest of the Abbey
Repairs to the church were neglected in the mid 19th century, but Rev William Bramston restored the church in 1881 and the Abbey is now a Grade 1 listed building.
The western tower which now holds the bells was only added in the 15th century. Originally planned to be much higher at 130ft the troubled times of the Reformation discouraged the builders and the belfry and roof are disproportionate to the base. The tower originally had a peal of five bells cast in 1663. A sixth, treble, bell dating from 1602 was added from the church at nearby Warden which fell victim to coastal erosion. The bells were re-cast and re-hung in 1927.
To find the cache you need some numbers...
Above the entrance is a sundial, how many "hours" are on the sundial? Answer = AB
Now go to the Lynch gate...
The gate was erected for which king? King who the "C"th month = D Year = EFGH
And also inside, the gate William was born "J" day of "K" month
The cache is at...
N51 (G+H) (A+B+E) . (D-K) (C-E-G) (J)
E0 (B+E) (C+H) . (D+E-F) (J-G-C) (K-A)
The final is a 5 minute walk, or could be driven, but mind the terrain! At GZ you will be rewarded with impressive views in addition to the views from the Abbey.
Church micro details...
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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
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