St John The Baptist Church, Northwood
St John The Baptist was originally built in 1150; not quite the oldest surviving Isle of Wight church (an accolade likely to be attributed to St Boniface Old Church in Bonchurch), but not a bad effort!
Originally it was linked to the main (mother) church in Carisbrooke and was considered one of Carisbrooke’s four chapels, along with churches in Newport, Shorwell and Gunville.
In the 18th century, as can be seen in the 1794 print, the church structure included a large square wooden tower however restoration work during the reign of Queen Victoria, resulted in the tower being removed in keeping with a more “gothic” appearance. Despite it being renovated there are still several original features including a Jacobean pulpit and a Norman arch.
Friends of Northwood Church describe St John The Baptist Church as looking like “every child’s drawing of how a country church should be”
There is plenty of car parking nearby in Chawton Lane.
To find the cache, head to the published coordinates and find the memorial to Jane and George
In what year did Jane die? Call this ABCD
How old was Jane's son when he died? Call this EF
Make your way to the sundial waypoint and note the time, round down to the nearest hour. Call this G
The cache may be found at
N50 44.(C/F)(B-E-A)(B) W001 18.(G/G)(D-F)(A+F)
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See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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