This cache is based around the Church of St. James the Great in Hanslope.
With its spire of 186 feet high, St James is a local landmark, visible from the M1 motorway and the West Coast railway line. Its earliest parts date from 1160 when the church was moved from somewhere to the east of Park road.
The Chancel is the oldest part of the church and interesting features include the C12th Priest's door and the south wall of the Chancel.
The village war memorial is within the church and the Soldiers' Chapel is a monument to the fallen of Hanslope in both World Wars. The stained-glass window above the altar commemorates those from World War One.
Perhaps one of its most memorable events was in 1804 when after a terrible storm the spire collapsed. It was later rebuilt went feet lower than its original height.
Hanslope churchyard contains some locally famous remains including Alexander McKay (1804-1830), who died after a bare-knuckle fight in nearby Salcey forest and Joseph Knibb (1640-1711) clockmaker of London and Hanslope.
More recently a bench was commissioned as part of the World War One centenary commemorations.
Now for the Cache!
This is a short multi-cache that sees you collect information to gain the coordinates of the final cache by an anti-clockwise walk around the church from the entrance gate. The final cache is not far from the church grounds so you won't need to reposition a parked car. Below are rough coordinates and descriptions of each location that holds some information.
The cache's listed coordinates are for the first location. Look for the resting place of Walter Herbert Crick who died on the 19th of August in what year? 197G
Walk up the path to the Church's main entrance, N 52° 06.783 W 000° 49.648, and look the left. How many letters are in the 3rd word of the writing on the top of the notice board. F
Next make your way to N 52° 06.778 W000 49.663°, where you will find a bench paying homage to the Mother's Union Centenary. What year where they founded? 188A
Continue around the church to N 52° 06.766 W 000° 49.639, this time looking for the resting place of Thomas Barrett. In which year did he pass away? 196B
Move on to one of the exits of the church at N 52° 06.775 W 000° 49.592, where you will see a gate with spikes on the top. Excluding the broken spike, how many are there? C
Remaining inside the church ground move to the before-mentioned centenary bench at N 52° 06.782 W 000° 49.606. How many letters are there in the 6th word of the writing etched onto the bench? D
Finally move to one of the smaller doors of the church at N 52° 06.781 W 000° 49.633. How many visible locks are there on the door? E
Using the values to the letters you now have, find the cache at N 52° 0B.AGA W 000° 4(C-1).D(E^2)F
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
You are looking for a tiny 5ml container.
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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