This offset multi takes you around the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin Church in the Oxfordshire village of North Stoke. The above coordinates take you to the Lych-gate. The cache is not at this location.
Apparently this church is the only one anywhere on the entire length of the Ridgeway Long Distance Path where the path actually runs through the churchyard – and the cache is also accessed from the path!
The Church
The chancel of the building we see today dates back to around 1240 when it was under the patronage of the Abbey of Bec in Normandy – the Norman and Saxon buildings which preceded this are long gone. The nave is a little later, possibly due to the construction being interrupted by the Crusades. Inside are some wonderful 14th Century wall paintings and more information on the building’s history. The church is usually unlocked so do go and have a mooch around!
The Cache
The Lych Gate is said to be built using some of the timbers from the old Goring Bridge. It was completed in 1923 and is a memorial to the son of Dame Clara Butt who sadly died of meningitis while still at school. There is a quote here from the Book of Wisdom
A count the number of words in that quotation - the answer is 1A
Close to the graveyard and Wormald waypoints you should find the information to answer these questions:-
B is the number of letters minus 2 in the first Japanese word on the headstone of John Graham Ewing. I wondered why there was an inscription in Japanese – it appears John Ewing received an OBE in 1975 “for services to British commercial interests in Japan” but I cannot discover anything more about him.
C is the number of letters in the last word on the first line of the plaque recording Sir John Wormald. Apparently Sir John played a key role in the development and widespread use of Fire Sprinkler Systems. He also was Chairman of the Rationing Committee during WW1 and built the Village Hall here in North Stoke and restored its church building.
Finally, you need to find the grave of Mr and Mrs Odd!
D is the number of letters in the first word of the second line.
E is the number of letters in her middle name plus 1
F is the number of years between wife and husband's deaths
The cache - which is a magnetic micro - can be found closeby at N51 34.ABC W001 07.DEF. Please replace carefully
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