You are looking for a small camouflaged container slightly larger than a film canister, there may be room for small swappables and trackables. Parking is available in the nearby village hall car park which is just a few paces from the church. The cache itself is not in the grounds of the church.
Please do not attempt this cache after dark.
St Andrew’s Church, Hampton Bishop
St Andrew’s is a fine example of an ancient Herefordshire church in a small rural community just four miles from the centre of the City of Hereford.
The church’s most distinctive feature is its black and white timber framed belfry that tops its Norman tower. The building is constructed with local red sandstone. Much of the fabric dates from the 12th century and there are a number of well preserved features from that period including some fine Norman arches and windows, and a very simple stone font.
The building was extended to its present size over the subsequent two centuries. Most of the windows were introduced at the same time, many of which later had added some fine examples of 19th century stained glass.
The Lady Chapel has a number of interesting features:
An impressive sandstone canopied reredos dating from about the 15th century; its origin is a mystery but it appears to have come from another church.
A 14th century double piscina.
Three memorial slabs in the floor, two of which commemorate members of the Whttington family. Dick Whittington himself is reputed to have come from a village nearby.
The organ is over a hundred years old and was built by Nicholson & Lord of Walsall. It is likely that Sir Edward Elgar worked on some of his compositions here as when he lived nearby in Plas Gwyn on the outskirts of Hereford, he regularly visited the church and played the organ. The view from nearby Mordiford Bridge was the inspiration for one of his works (Elegy for String Orchestra, Op 58 composed 1909).
The cache
The church does not have a car park but the nearby village hall does and it is a very short walk of a few paces to the first stage from there.
To find the cache you will need to visit two distinctive gravestones and find the answers to the following questions:
Stage 1: In what year did Master Mariner James J Paterson pass away? ABCD
Stage 2: How old was Parish Clerk George Griffiths when he died? EF
Cache location: 52 0D.F(E-C)(F+D) / W 002 3E.(B-C)(F+A)B-2
Please ensure you replace the canister lid firmly.
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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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