 In the12th century a Norman Church was built and various additions have since been made. Although the present church building is not mentioned before 1272, the list of Rectors dates from 1279 and parts of the church are definitely of an earlier period. The 17th century three decker pulpit is one of the most interesting features in the church. The lowest ‘deck’ was used by the Parish Clerk and was entered from the Nave, where he sat and was responsible for saying the ‘Amens’. The Parish Clerk today is responsible for the maintenance of the Parochial Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths, but is no longer required to participate in services. The middle and top levels were entered from the Chancel and were used respectively for the reading of the Scriptures and Preaching of the Sermon, as they are today. This type of pulpit is very rare and few examples exist. The Font is possibly Saxon. In 1893 Henry James Abbott, who was doing some gardening, dug it up in the Old Rectory garden. He wheeled it up to the Church in his wheelbarrow and it was placed where it belonged.
There are two galleries; the first was for the Church minstrels to play their instruments and the second was possibly for the poor of the Parish or for the children of the Charity School. There are two private pews, one for the occupants of Castle Malwood and the other, which now houses the organ, for Minstead Lodge. The extra long hat pegs were for the accommodation of the tall stovepipe hats that were worn by many men who attended church. There are six bells, the first was cast in the 15th century and is inscribed ‘Sancta Maria’. The second is inscribed ‘Love God R.B.1604’. The third is inscribed ‘In God is my hope 1638 J.H’. The fourth and Fifth were cast in 1980 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and inscribed ‘By Subscription’. Following a successful fund raising effort by the Minstead bell ringers a new treble to augment the ring to six bells was installed in June 2013 and is inscribed ‘Taylors of Loughborough 2013’.
To claim this virtual cache you need to answer the questions below
- At the lynch gate how many rectors are listed on the plaque ?
- At the above co ords who is the famous person buried here?
- What objects have been left on the grave?
- Who is the person buried in "treasured memories of my dear sister"?
- Upload a picture of you (face shot not necessary) or your gps device or a piece of paper with your caching name clearly written on it taken by the famous persons grave.
Please send your answers to me via my profile or email, you don’t need to wait for confirmation before logging but any logs that are not followed up with the answers may be deleted.
Please don’t include your answers within your log as they will be deleted immediately.
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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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Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
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