A short multi addition to the popular Church Micro series of geocaches, at the church in the bustling village of Raglan, best known for it's splendid castle and for being 'that place near the A449/A40 junction'.
The Church
Now dedicated to St. Cadoc (although originally to St. David), the church was built around the 13th and 14th century, expanded in the 15th and restored and rebuilt in the 19th in the 'decorative' style. The nave and chancel are both original and the tower, with it's unusual diagonal buttresses, was one of the 15th century expansions. In the 16th century the North (Beaufort) chapel was also added and is the resting place of some of the Lords of Raglan and Raglan Castle.
Interestingly the clock tower only has three clock faces as the benefactor, Miss Anna Maria Bosanquet, declined to provide a fourth face pointing east as she had fallen out with the owners of Raglan Station and didn't want to provide them a clock face for free!
Also, during the work done in 2016 a late-medieval 'wagon-roof' was discovered - a type of square pattern roof that was fairly common in the area at the time.
The Cache
The published co-ords will take you to the lychgate at the western end of the church and there is normally parking just outside on the road, but if not then there should be somewhere nearby. Then all you need to do is find the answers to the simple questions below and then put them in the final co-ords further down.
Before you head into the church grounds you will see a small plaque for a town trail just to the left on the wall with a QR code square on it and the words ST CADOC'S CHURCH, but there is also a number. This is A.
Look at the board to the left of the gate - what time is Holy Communion on a Wednesday morning? This is B. (Apparently the board has gone but the answer can still be found in the porch).
Take a look at the middle cross beam/bar under the lychgate roof and you will see (close to the centre and facing the road) some letters. How many? This is C.
Now head to the porch and you will see a symbol on the left end bit of wall (facing you) before you enter at knee height made up of a number of individual engraved lines. How many? This is D.
Now head inside the porch and on the left you will see a plan of the graveyard with related graves.
In area A number 17, John Jones, the chemist is in which plot number? This is E.
In area E there is a bare knuckle fighter (what a way to be remembered!) called George Davies. What is the red circle number associated with them (not the grave number)? This is F.
So pop your answers into: N51 4A.(B-E-C)(F-E)D W002 5(B-F).(A-C-D)(E-[CxD])D. The cache is a nano cache just a short walk away but you could also drive. The cache is at the world's stupidest place for a nice relaxing sit on a bench?! But look further and there is actually a view!
If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here
http://churchmicro.co.uk/
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at
http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html