This cache was placed for the Astons Christmas Caper 2024.
The Church:
It is known that a church existed at this spot in about 1080, for the advowson (right of presenting an incumbent) was included in a grant made by William the Conqueror to the Abbey of Preaux in Normandy. Bishop Jocelyn of Salisbury (1142-84) notified the Abbot of Preaux that he could present a parson only with the consent of Nicholas, son of Torold, whose family appears to have given its name to the village.
The Nave is clearly Norman, but there is evidence of earlier origin, notably the rough square-headed doorway now set in the Victorian north wall and leading to the Vestry. It is probably Saxon, and was in the original north wall opposite the doorway. The south doorway is also early; there is a similar one at nearby South Moreton. The Chancel was rebuilt in the early 13th century, the south Transept added in the same century and the west Tower a little later. Apart from the partial rebuilding of the Transept in the 14th century and the insertion of windows, there seems to have been no major alteration until Victorian times. In 1852 the church was stripped of its box pews and of galleries in the Transept, and the Chancel arch renewed. In 1863 the arcade and north aisle were added, a Norman window from the north wall being used at the west end of the aisle. The organ chamber and vestry were added early in the 20th century. The date of the South Porch is uncertain, but it was probably built in the early 19th century using parts of 14th and 15th century screens from elsewhere in the church. The original transept roof was replaced in 2000 using the design and wood (unstained green oak) of the 13th century structure.
(Acknowledgements to theastons.net)
(Picture copyright Bill Nicholls, thechurchexplorer.blogspot.com)
The EarthCache lesson (taken from Wikipedia):
Granite is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous intrusions. These range in size from dikes only a few centimeters across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometers.
Granite is typical of a larger family of granitic rocks, or granitoids, that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions. These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase (the QAPF classification), with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though a few (known as leucogranites) contain almost no dark minerals.
Granite is nearly always massive (lacking any internal structures), hard, and tough. These properties have made granite a widespread construction stone throughout human history.
The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a completely crystalline rock. Granitic rocks mainly consist of feldspar, quartz, mica, and amphibole minerals, which form an interlocking, somewhat equigranular matrix of feldspar and quartz with scattered darker biotite mica and amphibole (often hornblende) peppering the lighter colour minerals. Occasionally some individual crystals (phenocrysts) are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic texture is known as a granite porphyry. Granites can be predominantly white, pink, or gray in colour, depending on their mineralogy.
A phenocryst is an early forming, relatively large and usually conspicuous crystal distinctly larger than the grains of the rock groundmass of an igneous rock. Such rocks that have a distinct difference in the size of the crystals are called porphyries, and the adjective porphyritic is used to describe them. Normally the term phenocryst is not used unless the crystals are directly observable, which is sometimes stated as greater than 0.5 mm (0.020 in) in diameter. Phenocrysts below this level, but still larger than the groundmass crystals, are termed microphenocrysts. Very large phenocrysts are termed megaphenocrysts. Some rocks contain both microphenocrysts and megaphenocrysts. In metamorphic rocks, crystals similar to phenocrysts are called porphyroblasts. Porphyries are formed by a two-stage cooling of rising magma. First, deep crustal magma cools slowly, allowing formation of large phenocrysts. Second, the magma cools rapidly at shallower depths having been injected upward or extruded by a volcano, allowing for formation of small crystals in the groundmass. Granite with small phenocrysts has cooled more rapidly so that the phenocrysts have had insufficient time to grow large before the magma has passed below the temperature at which this can take place.
The alkali feldspar in granites is typically orthoclase or microcline and is often perthitic. The plagioclase is typically sodium-rich oligoclase. Phenocrysts are usually alkali feldspar.
The EarthCache:
When standing outside the entrance porch on the south side of the Church, turn around and locate the fine memorial to William Stevens. The plinth and column are made from polished granite. In order to claim this EarthCache, examine the column and answer the following questions by sending either a message (via Geocaching.com) or an email to the CO:
1) what colour minerals can you see in the granite?
2) are the sizes of the different colour grains similar or different?
3) what is the largest size grain you can see and what colour is this?
4) given your observation of the size of the grains, do you think the granite cooled slowly or quickly? Give the reasoning for your answer.
A photograph of your visit is optional but please do not include spoilers that give away answers to any of the questions. Logs containing such spoilers may be deleted.
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If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please visit
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
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