Church Micro 3124…Sissinghurst
Trinity Church
Trinity Church is the parish church of Sissinghurst, Kent. It stands on the main street running through the village. Sissinghurst is world famous for The National Trust's Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens, the former home and estate of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson.
Services are currently held every Sunday either at 10am or 6pm. There is Sunday School. The Rector at this church started in February 2020, and has been very helpful with the setting up of this cache
History
The present Trinity Church, built in 1838, was not the first place of worship in Sissinghurst.
The Chapel Of Ease
In 1401 Archbishop Arundel granted a licence “to those dwelling in the hamlet of Milkhouse within the parish of Cranbrook, that in the Chapel of Holy Trinity newly built within the hamlet of Milkhouse they may have Mass and other divine offices at suitable times by efficient chaplains”. The chapel was built for the convenience of travellers on the dangerous (and muddy roads in winter), and subordinate to St Dunstan’s in Cranbrook. It stood on a site now partly occupied by the garden of "Walnut Trees" at the corner of the road, still known as Chapel Lane, which leads to Golford and Benenden. The Chapel was closed in 1548 under the Chantries Act,
Milkhouse Street was the name by which the village was known until 1851 when, according to the Church Records, "the name changed to Sissinghurst, the former name being associated in days gone by with highwaymen and robbers, etc., the perpetrators being said to live in this parish. Cockfighting, outrage and robbery were freely committed by rogues who infested every corner of the road.
The general wish being to change the name with the change of character which had taken place. The name was taken from the nearby Sissinghurst Castle.
Trinity Church
The building of the current Trinity Church is almost entirely due to the generosity of three local residents
* Captain (later Rear-Admiral) the Hon. James William King, R.N., sixth son of Robert, second Earl of Kingston, who lived at Angley Park, Cranbrook from 1823 until his death in 1848. He was a Churchwarden of St Dunstan’s and Chairman of the Guardians of the Cranbrook Union Workhouse.
* Lady Louisa de Spaen (1786-1870) Daughter of Robert, second Earl of Kingston and sister to James William King
* Mrs Caroline Cleaver (1804-1883), the daughter of Lady Louisa and Baron Van Spaen.
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For reasons not entirely clear, they sought permission from the Archbishop to build a church at Tubs Lake. But this would serve the outlying parts of both the parishes of Hawkhurst and Cranbrook. However, the Archbishop refused, giving his opinion that there was a far greater need for a church at Milkhouse Street, and the founders fell in with his wishes.
Earl Cornwallis of Linton Park gave his land on which the Church and the Old Vicarage now stand - an area known as Lisles Plat (part of Bull Farm), which included the adjacent Bull Inn (now re-named The Milk House).
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J. Jennings, an architect, of Hawkhurst, was asked to submit plans in February 1837. The design believed to have been taken from a church at Casterton near Stamford.
The lowest tender for £1,280 was from James Reed, a builder from Hawkhurst. Sandstone was quarried at Sandway near Lenham and locally at Golford, near the green lane. The sand came from Angley Pit belonging to Captain King.
However, Mr Reed, poor man, had miscalculated the costs so badly that he found himself in the Fleet Prison for debt. The three Patrons/Founders paid his debts to get him discharged.
The cost of the building amounted to £1,525 1s 7d, legal and professional charges, £202 1s 6d, and Communion Plate, bell and furnishings cost £181 10s 6d making a total figure of a little over £1.900. Most of the money came from the three Founders and their friends, together with a sum of £105 from Lord and Lady Cornwallis.
Consecration took place on 25 September 1838 by the Rt. Revd W Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by 19 other robed clergy.
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The original appearance of the interior must have been severe - almost to the point of bleakness, until additions and alterations were made in 1893, when the chancel and sanctuary were added, or at least enlarged - and dedicated by Archbishop Benson on December 14th 1893
The above are excerpts taken (with permission) from an article titled 'A Brief History' by Peter Mellor (Sissinghurst Village Historian and Old Photos Archivist)
On to the cache - Church Micro #3124
This is the second Church Micro cache that has been placed here – the first one was placed by alfiedaisy in 2012 and archived in 2022
And so we are now putting out a new one - enjoy
Parking – There is usually room for at least 4 cars along the road from the church at the parking waypoint - a short walk west brings you to the church
At the given co-ordinates you will or should be standing in between the buildings with some circular brick work by your feet.
From here you will gather some information to enable you to work out the final coordinates where you will find a hand crafted cache.
Looking at the circular brickwork
Number of bricks in the inner circle = BA
Facing the road, now look to your right – there is a big window and below that a solitary airbrick
Number of 'cross' holes in the air brick = CD
Now facing back towards the road – look at the memorial cross in front of you
You will see 6 lines of text
Total number of words = E
Number of words on 2nd line = F
Number of letters in 5th line = G
Number of letters on 4th line = H
Number of letters in 1st word, 2nd line = J
Number of letters in last word, 2nd line = K
You will find the cache at
N51 0(A-B).CDE E000 FG.HJK
Please note: slightly over looked by neighbours who are aware, but please try to be quiet and not hang around to long at GZ
Please handle the cache carefully, it is a handmade cache (found inside a clip-&-lock) and does need gentle handling - There is room for a TB or two.
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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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If you cannot find the cache, do not assume it missing and do not put a throwdown as a replacement.
Maintenance is the responsibility of the CO – if any is required, please add an ‘Owner Attention Required’ log to highlight any issue.