This Earth Cache has been placed with kind permission from St Thomas Church.
St Thomas’s is a very busy active church with lots going on. They would like for you to pop in and have a look around while you are here. Please respect any service or activity that might be happening when you visit, be quiet and don’t take photos inside while the service is on.
Visit http://www.stthomassalisbury.co.uk/ for any more information about the church, opening times and its activities.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ST THOMAS CHURCH
It is thought the original church was a small wooden chapel built around 1219. Bishop Poore had received the Kings grant to build the new Cathedral nearby, so he had this chapel built as a place of worship for the many men working on the new Cathedral.
Soon after 1226 the wooden building was replaced by a small stone church dedicated to Thomas of Canterbury. This small church didn’t look like the building you see today, it had a nave and choir with north and south transepts but no side chapels, aisles or tower.
St Stephens Chapel was built around the end of the century on the south side of the choir, and a fragment of the original chancel arch can be seen in the North West corner of the Lady Chapel.
The Bell Tower was built around 1400, standing apart from the church.
In 1447 the wall of the choir fell down, destroying St Stephens Chapel, this meant some rebuilding and the church was made bigger. A longer and more lofty chancel was added. William swayne, a rich wool merchant and Mayor of Salisbury had St Stephens chapel rebuilt, today it is the Lady Chapel.
The Lady Chapel was high decorated with fine stained glass windows, but most of this was destroyed in the Reformation in 1548.
More building work was done in the 15th and 16th centuries, resulting in roughly what you see today.
A porch on the north side of the nave was demolished in 1835 to save on repair costs!
THE DOOM PAINTING
As you enter the church, look up and you’ll see the impressive Doom Painting. It depicts the risen Christ, his disciples, and the judgement of souls into heaven and hell. It is believed to be painted in 1475.
THE EARTH CACHE
I’ve always called flint, flint, not really knowing anything about it. Flints can vary in colour, usually dark grey, brownish or blackish, but it can also be green or whitish too. The appearance is glass like. There is thin layer on the outside of the flint, usually white and rough in texture. Once the nodule has been broken you see the familiar flint inside.
Flint was used during the Stone Age to make tools. It splits into thin shape splinters, or flakes when struck by another hard object, this is known as knapping. The flakes were used as knives as the edges are very sharp.
Flint is very hard, around 7 on the Mohs scale (measure of hardness, where diamond has a score of 10), and can have a blade edge thinner than steel, and sharper than a razor. It also sometimes used in surgery today as the fine incisions heal quicker and are less prone to infection.
Spend any time around the area and you will see flint used as building material. Its hard form is particularly good at withstanding weather erosion, making it ideal.
So what exactly is this useful material?
Flint is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline type of mineral quartz (silicon dioxide, or silica) found mainly as nodules in sedimentary rocks such as chalk and limestone. Flint refers to a form of chert that happens in chalk or marine limestone.
How flint is formed isn’t exactly known, but it is thought to happen as a result of chemical changes that happen during a process called diagenesis, physical and chemical change that occurs when sediment changes to sedimentary rock. One theory is that a gelatinous material (siliceous spicules of sponges and microscopic siliceous plankton) fills gaps or cavities in the sediment (such as holes bored by crustaceans) and that gel becomes solidified. It often collects around a solid object such as a coral or mollusc.
The different colours of the flint nodules are due to the different minerals contained within them.
A range of fossils can be found within flint nodules, indeed in many instances the nodule itself is in fact an internal mould of a sea creature. The silica accreted around the nuclei of organic remains and biogenic structures, such as the remains of sponges or the burrows of crustaceans. Therefore the flint fossils you find reflect the diversity of life and the activities of creatures on the seafloor at that time. Among the most commonly found flint fossils include sponges, echinoids, shells and of course trace fossils i.e. burrows.
The coordinates take you close to the entrance. Go to the left of the doorway, you’ll see sections of flint in the wall. Look for the third row up, and the first section of flints on the left.
Question 1
Please describe the colours that you see in the flints? (simple colours are fine)
Question 2
Flint is found mainly in what type of rock?
Question 3
How many flints are there in this section? Describe the top right hand flint.
Optional Task
I would love to see photos of your visit, it would be great if you could take one to add to your log.
When you have your answers please message or email them to me via my profile page. Once you have sent your answers, you can log a find. I will only contact you if your answers are wrong.
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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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