St Mary the Virgin, Buckland
The Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin is largely a 12th-century building, with a 13th-century chancel, tower and transepts, a 14th-century octagonal baptismal font and some minor Victorian additions. The main north and south nave doors are unusual in having a matching pair of Norman arches. Also in the church is a late 12th-century Crusader chest. In the chancel is a triangular locker containing the heart-burial (1575) of William Holcott of Barcote Manor. He was a staunch Protestant who only just avoided being burnt at the stake by Mary Tudor. After the Reformation, he became a zealous lay preacher, often gracing the pulpit in his "velvet bonnet and damask gown...sometimes with a gold chain".
Other monuments in the church include a number of 14th-century tomb recesses, an inscribed slab with a floriated cross to Dame Felice la Blonde and a number of monuments to the Yates of Buckland Manor, including the brass of John Yate (1578), and hatchments of the Throckmorton family. The Barcote Chapel has a decorative mosaic, made in 1890–92 in memory of Clara Jane, wife of William West, of Barcote Manor. The bell tower had a ring of six bells until 1915, when they were increased to eight by the addition of a new treble and second bell. In 1636 Roger I Purdue of Bristol cast what are now the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh bells. In 1721 Abraham II Rudhall of Gloucester cast the tenor bell. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the third bell in 1898 and the new treble and second bell in 1915, and recast the seventh bell in 1960. St Mary's also has a Sanctus bell that John Warner and Sons of Cripplegate cast in 1854. St Mary's church is a Grade I listed building. Its parish is part of the Benefice of Cherbury with Gainfield.
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Enter the church through the main entrance porch
and to the left you will find a plaque "Benefactions to this Parish"
- In 17A3 Henry Southby Esq of Carswell gave a Meadow at Thrupp
- He also gave the further sum of 2B0.N.S.S.
- In 1855 C00 was expended on the Erection of the School
Now make your way to the Barcote Chapel in the
south transept, here you will find a decorative mosaic.
- To the right of the sailing ship there are D whales
- There are E martyrs above the bishop
- There are F words directly below the Apostles St John & St Andrew
This will give you the information required to solve the co-ordinates below
and lead you to the cache which is a short walk from the church:
The cache is located at - N51° 40.ABC' W001° 30.DEF'
Checksum for all the numbers in the final coordinates is 35
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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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