Holy Trinity Church Winster
Before the Reformation Winster probably had an oratory, which was a place used just for prayer and not for typical church services. The first mention of Winster as a parish, and therefore having a church, was in 1583. In 1692 the Reverend Thomas Machell visited Holy Trinity Church and reported that it was ‘in ordinary repair … with one bell in a large square steeple’. He goes on to say that this steeple ‘fell upon a Sunday morning in time of Service and some of the stones fell upon Ann Comston but [thankfully] she was not harmed’. The old church was recorded as being whitewashed inside and out and was probably similar to the old school, which, now a community meeting room, still stands nearby (pictured below).
The present church, built in 1874-5 at a cost of £1200, contains some relics of the original one. In particular, the plain octagonal font is probably mediaeval. The church was altered in 1929 to accommodate a new organ, donated by Lady Holt of Blackwell in memory of her husband, Sir Edward Holt. A small brass plaque above the organ commemorates Mrs Edna Dickinson, who was the organist here for no less than 53 years. In response to a diocesan-wide initiative led by the Bishop of Carlisle in 1993, parishioners created the Winster Tapestry, now hanging on the South Wall.
The cache is a simple offset multi only a very short walk from the church. In the graveyard to the right inside the main gate, are two particularly prominent and interesting gravestones. Find the one made of beautiful Shap granite, with large pink crystals, dedicated to William Higgin Birket. Writing the date of his death as DD/MM/YYYY, convert this to AB/CD/EFGH. The cache can then be found at
N 54 EG.(B+D)(E+H)C
W 002 B(D+E).F(G-E)C
Checksum of calculated digits is 48
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