This is a birthday cache for my geocaching partner, featuring his name, favourite type, series and type of cache to find. Happy Birthday Tom!
Saint Thomas's Church of England
The Church of St Thomas’, Upshire sits on the high ground above Waltham Abbey on Horseshoe Hill which is recorded as early as 1414 as the main road between Epping and the Augustinian monastery of Waltham Abbey.
The history of St Thomas’s starts during the latter part of the 19th century when in 1858 the Buxton Family took up residence in Warlies House. When they arrived, there was already a Reading Room and a school, attended by 70 pupils, and where church services for the village were held.
Sir Thomas Buxton and his wife Lady Victoria took a great interest in the life of the village taking an active part in the running of the school and the use and upkeep of the hamlet’s reading room. In 1895 Lady Buxton founded the Mother’s Union in the village and a few years later Sir Thomas commissioned the architects PBF Freeman and his partner GFM Ogilvy to draw up plans for a church in the village. In December 1901 Lady Victoria laid the foundation stone for the new church.
The church is a simple Arts and Craft design with clean lines and clear glass giving the interior, despite the dark wood columns and beams, a light, airy feel. The arts and craft theme continues in the fixtures and fittings.
The church was given the status of a mission church not a parish church, and placed under the direction of the Vicar of Waltham Abbey. In 1903 the Bishop of St Albans, within whose diocese the church was situated at that time, licensed the Vicar of Waltham Abbey to conduct church services in the Mission church.
In 1956, after 54 years, St Thomas’ was given the status of a parish church, albeit in partnership with Holy Innocents Church, High Beach when a new combined parish was formed. On 9th June Rev’d Joseph Crompton was licensed as the first vicar. When Rev’d Crompton retired in 1980 the combined parish was dissolved and St Thomas’ briefly reverted to being a daughter church of Waltham Abbey but in 1985 St Thomas’ was granted parish status in its own right within the newly formed Waltham Holy Cross Team.
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