The posted coordinates for this cache will take you to the site of the former church of St. Mary Magdalen in Stony Stratford. The tower is all that remains of the former church. A little confusingly, there's a modern Roman Catholic church on the other side of the street called St Mary Magdalene. I think the tower of the old church is a bit more interesting than the modern building, so that's where this takes you. The cache is not at the posted coordinates, and it is not within the disused graveyard which surrounds the tower. Before you move on, have a look at the tower, and read the history below. The coordinates will have brought you close to an information board. You'll want to look at this!
The history
The church of St. Mary Magdalen, in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, dates from as early as the 13th Century. It saw the Plague, Medieval Fayres and Civil War. It was destroyed by fire in 1742. The fire originated in the Bull Hotel, having been started by a maid who had scorched some sheets – she heard her mistress approaching and quickly pushed the sheets up the chimney and out of view. The sheet caught alight and the ensuing fire went on to destroy much of the east side of Stony Stratford (and some of the west) including 146 houses, several famous inns and the Mary Magdalen Church of which only the tower now still stands. (Source: http://www.magdalentower.co.uk/)
There's an interesting information board near the tower which tells you a bit more about the tower.
The cache
The cache is located a short walk away from the tower.
Before you leave, you need to look at the information board. Using the information on the board, find the values of A, B, C and D where:
- A is the last digit of the year that Lipscomb published his book
- B is the last digit of the year in which the parishes of St Mary and St Giles were united
- C is the last digit of the year of the fire that destroyed the church and much of the town, and
- D is the last digit of the year that Browne Willis died.
Using those values, convert the following into a set of coordinates:
N 52° 03.BBA′ W 0° 51.CDA′
Once you've found the cache, please replace it exactly as found, and be a bit stealthy as muggles may appear when you least expect them!
Well done to YardleyCrew for the quick FTF!
The series
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