The co-ordinates listed are for the questions. The cache is not in the grounds of the chapel. There is a car park.
The Church
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - the Mormons - is often thought of as a religion of exclusively American origin. But how many people know that the world's oldest surviving Mormon chapel nestles in green countryside just south of the Malvern Hills, in the hamlet of Gadfield Elm, between Staunton and Pendock?
This may seen strange to people who associate Mormonism with the USA's desert state of Utah, but in fact there are close, if little-known links, between the religion's early days and this area.
The movement was founded in the 1820s in New York State by Joseph Smith Jr., who said the angel Moroni had given him a set of inscribed golden plates which he had translated as the Book of Mormon. In succeeding years he acquired increasing numbers of followers, and in 1839, two church members, Wilford Woodruf and Brigham Young, came to Britain as missionaries.
The two initially went to Staffordshire, where they met a man called William Benbow. He in turn invited them to come to Herefordshire to visit his brother John, who belonged to a Primitive Methodist sect called the United Bretheren.
It was the Bretheren who in 1836 had built the chapel at Gadfield Elm, and through the efforts of the missionaries Woodruf and Young, most of them joined the Mormon church.
Something like 1,800 people from the area converted to the new faith, and subsequently many of them emigrated to the United States, selling the Gadfield Elm chapel to help raise funds. The emigres joined the great trek of Mormons across the United States, led by Brigham Young, as they fled persecution and settled in Utah, which has ever since been the spiritual capital of Mormonism.
Many people in this area therefore will have relatives in America, and every year hundreds of Americans re-trace their roots back to the south west of England. Among them were the famous singing sensations of the Seventies, The Osmonds, who visited in 2008.
The chapel at Gadfield Elm later fell into disrepair, but in 1994 it was bought by a trust set up by church members. It was restored and in 2000, church Elder Jeffrey R Holland, a descendant of William Carter and Ellen Benbow, who joined the church near Gadfield Elm, rededicated the chapel.
Today it is the oldest Mormon chapel in the world still standing and the last surviving memorial to the United Brethren. The chapel is operated as a historical tourist site by the LDS Church and admission to the public is free.
The Cache
To locate the cache, find the answers to the following questions:
Q1: How many letters are there in Mrs Gardner's first name? = A
Q2: How many letters are there in Mr Gardner's first name? = B
Q3: What is the first date mentioned? = CDDE
Checksum - A+B+C+D+E=22
The cache, a magnetic nano, can be found at:
N 51° 58.(A+E)(D-2)(E-C) W 002° 18.(D*C)(B-A)(C+E)
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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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