Church Micro 12019 . . . Ilkley - St Margaret's
This multi should take around 10 minutes to do. The cache, a camo-taped preform tube, is hidden near a rapidly rotting stump-chair on the northern end of the woodland area adjacent to the church which stretches southwards as far as Wells Road and the start of the moorland.
Step 1: head for N 53 55.294 W 1 49.571 where you will find a circular inspection cover. The word stamped in the middle of this has A letters
Step 2: move a short distance to N 53 55.287 W 1 49.572 and look up on the end wall of the church which a B small square holes in it
Steps 3 & 4: continue up and around the corner to N 53 55.277 W 1 49.572 the location of the foundation stone of the parish hall. On the bottom line of this is a 4-letter acronym for a Latin phrase which means 'For the greater glory of God'. The alphanumeric value (A=1, B=2, C=3 etc) of the 3rd letter of this = C
At the same location, look up to your right where towards the top of the church wall you will see D small arched windows (ie. separated arched sections of glass).
Steps 5 & 6: now proceed to the entrance at the front of the church @ N 53 55.278 W 1 49.612. On the stone archway over the door are six small carvings, one of which is an easily recognisable bird, the name of which has E letters.
At the same location, to the right of the main door you will see a small side door with F panels.
Step 7: onwards finally to N 53 55.265 W 1 49.628, the location of a stone war memorial with G sides.
The cache is hidden at:
N 53 55.(C/2)D(F-B) W 1 49.(A-2)(E+2)G
The church was built in 1879, as part of the vision of the Oxford Movement, a movement of High Church members of the Church of England which eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The church continues to follow this tradition.
Until 1873 the only Anglican place of worship in Ilkley was All Saints' Church, but at that time it was not large enough to hold the congregation, this being the heyday of churchgoing, and services were held in the National Schools to deal with the overflow.
In December 1873, Mr Middleton, Lord of the Manor, transferred the present site to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The land was valued at 5/- per square yard.
A 'tin church', as it was known, was erected in the Riddings in 1874 and served for worship until the church building was completed. The trustees, headed by the then Vicar of All Saints', the Revd John Snowden, 
engaged the eminent architect Richard Norman Shaw to design a stone church to hold 600 people at an overall cost of £5,000, this to include walls and fencing and heating apparatus!
Sunday, 9 August 1874 marked the opening of the temporary church and the future tradition of St Margaret's was firmly set before the assembled congregation when the choir entered wearing surplices, until then, unheard of garments in Wharfedale!
It is recorded that those responsible for this advance in churchmanship would have liked to have had cassocks worn as well, but dare not go so far! Further the opening service was a choral Holy Communion, the first ever in this part of the world.
Thus it was that the new St Margaret's was to cater not just for the overflow from All Saints' but from the start was to be a centre of Catholic worship within the Church of England. It was decided to name the church St. Margaret’s as a compliment to Miss Margaret Snowden, daughter of the then Vicar of Ilkley.
On 1 May 1878 the foundation stone was laid for the present church and work proceeded apace. The original plan for a spire was abandoned because of the great weight it would have put on the hillside foundations and, for the same reason, the whole building as it stands now was built in one operation and not in sections as had been the first idea; paying for each section before proceeding with the next. It appears that the final cost of St Margaret's at the time of its dedication was £15,000.
This looks as though building costs in those days were like those of today, but the first figure of £5,000 was not intended to cover the chancel. This was incorporated in the design during building to give support to the tremendous weight already referred to; the girth of the supporting piers is evidence of this.
On 10th September 1879 the church was dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Ripon, Bishop Bickersteth, and a luncheon was held in the IIkley College next door, now Deaconess Court.
The money for the building and furnishing was raised by May 1886 and a long process of adding ornaments commenced.
Norman Shaw the architect of the church is best known as the man who designed the New Scotland Yard building in Westminster and was a notable domestic architect of his day. He kept his interest in St Margaret's right up to his death in 1912 and was himself responsible for the design of many of the fittings now in the church. It was in the design of St Margaret's that he gained his full membership of the Royal Academy and the original plans of St Margaret's are kept in Burlington House today.
The Organ was installed in 1901 by the renowned organ builders William Hill and Sons. An interesting 
clause in the contract was that for each week beyond the agreed date of 1st August 1901 that the church had to wait for completion, a fine of £5 would be imposed. The total cost was less than £2,000, but records do not show whether the firm went beyond the agreed delivery date! See & listen here to this great organ as played by the extraordinary blind organist Tjaco van der Weerd.
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