Loose All Saints church is at the centre of the village, tucked into the bottom of the coombe beside the stream known as The Brooks. The sanctuary is dated to the 13th century, but the interior of the nave is Victorian, following a fire in 1878. North and south aisles were added in the early 19th century, and the present porch replaces the original one, although the present door could have been from the original.
Two stained glass windows on the north wall of the nave are by the artist C. E. Kempe, and the detail in them is very beautiful. The tower has three bells, housed in a wooden cage.
There are few ornamentations in All Saints’. There are five stairs to the left of the chancel arch which once led to the top of the Rood Screen. In the sanctuary there is a marble monument which was erected as a thanksgiving to a merchant who augmented the stipend of the curate, and in the Lady Chapel adjoining are three wall monuments relating to two Admirals and a wife who were of the Jones family and their descendents, the Marshams, who became prominent in Loose. Three hatchments decorate the west wall: two relate to the Martin family of nearby Salts Place, and the third is circular and is that of Sarah, the first wife of James Whatman, High Sheriff of Kent and a notable member of the famous papermaking family. In the sactuary under the High Altar is a crypt containing the remains of some of the Buffkin family of Salts Place.
The church contains gravestones of many men and women who lived in the village with their families and who served their community. There are millers, masons, owners of tanneries, papermakers, farmers, fruit-growers, and many of these have been churchwardens, parish clerks and members of the Parochial Church Council through the ages – as their descendants are today.
The most recent changes have been to the interior of the church. The Victorian pine pews have been removed and replaced by chairs; the floor has been carpeted; and the organ has been moved to its original position on the south wall and fitted into an elegant oak casing.
By the south side of the tower is a strange monument to members of the Charlton family, it is a pillar with primative faces on three sides of the top section. Close by is the Yew tree which stood there long before the church was built.
To find the cache, at the posted coordinates you will find a 3 digit number ABC
In the church yard you will find the oldest tree in the village, this is protected by a fence with D sections.
The cache can be found a very short walk away at:
N51° 14. (A-C) x 10 x (B+C)
E000° 30. (A+B+B+D) x 4 x (D+C)
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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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