For this virtual there are 9 questions to answer and 2 photos to take as you take a tour around Southwark Cathedral. They are listed within the text as well as being summarised at the end.
At the time of setting the opening hours are Mon to Sat 9am to 6pm and Sun 8.30am to 5pm. However, due to services the recommended weekend visiting hours are Sat 9.30am-3.45pm & 5pm-6pm and Sun 12.30pm–3pm & 4pm–5.30pm. More details can be found on the cathedral website. The cathedral is free to enter although of course there are card readers all round the place if you do want to make a voluntary donation.
The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie stands at the oldest crossing-point of the River Thames at what was for many centuries the only entrance to the City of London situated across the river. A verbal tradition passed on to the Elizabethan historian John Stow suggests that the first Christian establishment was a community of nuns in the 7th century, but the first written reference is the mention of a 'minster' in the Domesday Book of 1086. In 1106 the church was 're-founded' by two Norman knights as a priory, whose members lived according to the rule of St Augustine of Hippo. The church was dedicated to St Mary and later known as St Mary Overie ('over the river'). Perhaps the most famous resident of the priory was the court poet John Gower who lived there at the start of the 15th century. He was a friend of Chaucer who was famous for The Canterbury Tales which begins in Southwark.
Several bishops oversaw different phases of building that shaped the cathedral that we see today. It was through Cardinal Beaufort, the rebuilder of the south transept, that the building was witness to its only Royal Wedding when Beaufort’s niece Joan married King James I of Scotland, in 1423.
The church ministered to its parish throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and various repairs and alterations were made to the building. The state of the building became a real cause for concern in the 1820s. Already in need of further repairs, the whole situation of the building was affected by the proposals for a new London Bridge to be constructed much closer to the church. The Bridge Committee suggested that St Saviour's be demolished and a smaller church be built on another site. After much argument the decision was made to restore the building, and it was largely due to the architect George Gwilt that major parts of today's Cathedral are still standing.
St Saviour's Church became Southwark Cathedral in 1905. The diocese which it serves stretches from Kingston-upon-Thames in the west to Thamesmead in the east and Gatwick Airport in the south. It has a population of two-and-a-half million people, served by over 300 parishes. In 2000, major extensions designed by Richard Griffiths were added north of the Cathedral; these provide meeting and conference rooms, a library, the Education Centre, the Shop and Refectory.
You need to approach the cathedral from the north side. There is a waypoint to head towards. The entrance to the cathedral itself is via this waypoint through the courtyard. Then head to the posted co-ords for the first stage.
Turn left after the entrance where there is an information board 'a window on the past'. Excavations in 1999 for the Millennium Buildings behind you, revealed almost 2,000 years of Southwark's history. What stone item is directly below the info board from the 13th century? (6)
As you turn back right and walk towards the main entrance into the cathedral, carved into the walkway are the names of churches in the Southwark diocesan. Find the The Good Shepherd, Tadworth (I'd look right rather than left). What is the town/village immediately below it? (10)
As you enter the cathedral itself there is a stained glass window above your head to Samuel Johnson of dictionary fame. Please take a photo of it with either yourself, a part of you or your caching name and post it in your log.
Immediately to your right as you are looking at the window is a list of all the Priors, Bishops, Provosts and Deans of St Mary Overie. Who was Prior between c1269 and 1283? (4)
Continue walking down this side past a map of Zimbabwe and go up a few steps. This is the entrance to the bell tower or Bishops Fox tower.
Seven bells were originally installed after the construction of the Tower, which began in 1310. In 1424, the bells were recast and augmented to 8 in celebration of the marriage of James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort. In 1734, the eight bells were recast again into a heavy ring of twelve, and hung in a bell frame made of oak. They became the sixth heaviest peal of bells in England.
A thirteenth bell was added in May 2005. In addition, the tower contains a separate, fourteenth bell, known as the St Peter’s Bell, which was originally cast for St Peter’s Church in Southwark. The Church was bombed in 1940 and the bell was moved to the Cathedral. It now serves as the service bell for all the daily services in the Cathedral when the full peal is not being rung.
According to the sign on the wall by the entrance to the tower, when were the bells repaired and re-hung? (4)
Keep going and you reach the end of the cathedral. Here you will find among other things the First World War Memorial. What is the first word in the sentence above St George? (4)
Keep walking back down the other side. It opens up to the left and the organ pipes are here. Also there is a bust to the memory of the Rev Thomas Iones. To the left of this is a memorial to which number fire force who gave their lives during the Second World War? (2)
Continue walking and you will get to Shakespeare's memorial and window. Last date on the line below him? (4)
Now go outside to the cathedral gardens. When I originally scoped this out Shakespeare was sitting on a bench and I was going to get you to take a picture with him but unfortunately he's had to be returned. Instead go and find the memorial to Mahomet Weyonomon (there is a waypoint should you need it), Sachem of the Mohegans of Connecticut, who travelled to England in 1735 to petition King George II for better treatment of his people. Unfortunately, he succumbed to smallpox in 1736 before their case could be heard.
As a foreigner, he was not permitted to be buried in the City of London, and he was interred in an unmarked grave outside St Mary Overie, now Southwark Cathedral. On 22 November 2006, Queen Elizabeth II dedicated this memorial (a sculpture by British artist Peter Randall-Page) accompanied by a traditional funeral ceremony conducted by members of the Mohegan tribe. I rang the bells here for its unveiling.
Please take a photo of the memorial with either yourself, part of you or your caching name and attach it to your log. If the garden is closed for any reason then it is possible to take this photo from outside the grounds through the fence.
To your left as you come back into the cathedral is a memorial to the Marchioness disaster.
The Marchioness disaster was a collision between two vessels on the River Thames in London in the early hours of 20 August 1989, which resulted in the deaths of 51 people. The pleasure boat Marchioness sank after being hit twice by the dredger Bowbelle at about 1:46 am, between Cannon Street railway bridge and Southwark Bridge.
How many handles does the ships wheel have (they look like exclamation marks !)? (1)
And finally you may have met the Cathedrals cat during your visit. What is his name (try at the exit and/or the shop if you haven't already come across it)? (5)
Question summary:
Include photos in your log of Samuel Johnson's window and Mahomet Weyonomon's memorial.
1. What stone item is directly below it from the 13th century?
2. What is the town/village immediately below it?
3. Who was Prior between c1269 and 1283?
4. When were the bells repaired and re-hung?
5. What is the first word in the sentence above St George?
6. Which number fire force?
7. Last date on the line below him?
8. How many handles does the ships wheel have?
9. What is the cat's name?
Now take the first two letters/digits of each of your answers so
ABCDEF.ABCDEFGHIJ.ABCD.1234.ABCD.12.1234.1.ABCDE will become
AB.AB.AB.12.AB.12.12.1.AB
Then send an email to AB.AB.AB.12.AB.12.12.1.AB@gmail.com with your username in the subject line. As long as you receive an acknowledgement then please log the cache with your photos. Failure to do either of these things may result in deletion of your log without warning.
I hope that you've enjoyed your tour of Southwark Cathedral.
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See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog. My account was selected from those that had a geocache published in 2023 with four or more Favourite points.