All Saints Church in Buckland is a stunning place that you might otherwise not know is there unless you had cause to head off the A41 and explore the local villages or walk the Aylesbury Ring. Along with the nearby Puttenham St Mary probably my favourite church building in the area.
It can trace it’s history back to Saxon times although there is now no sign of the Saxon Chapel. A Saxon burial ground was found a few hundred metres from the present site. The Parish appears in the Doomsday book though the current building was begun in the 1200s. The C13th nave and chancel, a tower and north chapel all exist today. Flints were taken from the hillside and stones quarried in Totternhoe.
Victorian times saw the arrival of the Rev Edward Bonus who personally funded the addition of the vestry and porch, the rebuilding of the tower and the addition of must see gargoyles and castellations between 1867-9. His architect George Devey also worked for the Rothschilds and designed their house at Green Park in Aston Clinton.
Another must see item is the unusual quasi-erotic stone carving or Sheela-na-gig. Sadly it is extremely weathered but is worth the visit to the Church for it alone.
Inside (it was unlocked on the occasions of my visits to research the cache) make a point of seeing the Buckland Parish Sewn Map which was sewn by 96 people between 1994-2002.
So onto this cache which is set by my daughter mini-giraffe. She won a bison tube at the Essex MEGA and we decided to use it here.
This multi will take you on a short tour of the outside of the Church and grounds before a short walk to the final. There is limited parking along the main road or outside the entrance. It probably ought not to be attempted at night
Where N51 48.CAB W000 42.B (E-C-D) F
The starting co-ordinates take you to the lych gate where you will find a year – 1ABC
From there follow the path to the Church, following round the Church in either direction you will see a number of drain pipes with animal heads at the top (the 4 gargoyles on the tower top are not drain pipes), see the example below. How many do you see on the way round the Church – take away 2 and you get - D
Continuing towards the graveyard the local war memorial is to your right. On it are the local soldiers who gave their lives in the wars. One was awarded the Military Cross. The number of letters in his first name will give you – E
He is also buried in the graveyard, find the distinctive war grave and your final number as follows, he died on 2F November 1940 aged just 22. Never to be forgotten.
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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.co.uk.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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Updated November 2017. The graveyard has a fabulous new feature (make sure you look at both sides) as a memorial to the Ancient Settlers who were reburied here.
