Milton GeoCache Series
After our recently placed GeoCache Series at Great Western Park (GWP) (cache #1-11, 14, 17-19, 30-32, 35, 38), Didcot (cache #12-13, 15-16, 20-25, 29, 33-34, 41-42, 44-45, 47-48, 53), Harwell (cache #26, 36-37, 43, 46, 54-55), Chilton (cache #27-28), Sutton Courtenay (cache #39) and Milton (cache #40, 49-52), we decide to place a few more caches in other parts of Didcot and surrounding villages, in order to honour local heros, and to reflect our rich local history, stories and heritage. We hope you will enjoy these new caches and may also learn something new when you are caching, thank you!
Milton #56 - St Blaise Church (Officially known as Church Micro 15628...Milton - St Blaise)
Milton St Blaise is part of the DAMASCUS Parish (Drayton, Appleford, Milton, Sutton Courtenay with Steventon), and Milton itself is an abbreviation of the original name of the parish, Middletune, which means "the middle tun", the middle village of a group of villages.
The church is dedicated to St Blaise, the patron saint of wool combers, with Milton being a centre of the wool industry at the time the church was built. There are only three other churches in England dedicated solely to St Blaise.
Beneath the chancel steps of the church is the Barrett Vault, built in 1769 for the Catholic family at Milton Manor House. Here a unique burial took place in 1781, that of the Roman Catholic Titular Bishop of London and Salisbury, Richard Challoner, this was only three years after Catholic priests in England were able to emerge from hiding and just six months after the anti-Catholic Gordon riots in London.
The Church of England burial service was used by the Rector, who in the Register describes the Bishop as "a very pious and good man, of great learning and extensive abilities". In 1946, the Bishop's coffin was removed for reburial at Westminster Cathedral.
The earliest recorded reference to Milton states that in 956 King Edwy gave fifteen hides of land in Milton to his thane Alfwin, who gave them to Abingdon Abbey. Of the Saxon building nothing remains. The present church dates from the early part of the 14th century, though largely rebuilt in the mid-nineteenth century by the architect Henry Woodyer, who introduced plenty of his original mouldings. The church is a Grade II* listed building.
All that remains of the 14th century church is the porch, the lower parts of the tower and the southwest corner of the nave. The stone roof of the porch originally had no tiles on the outside, like the Treasury roof at Merton College Oxford, which is of the same date. It is not known what the 14th century entrance–arch from the churchyard was like; the present one dates from the 16th century. Hand-made glass was put in the windows in 1959.
The base of the tower also dates from the 14th century. In the north-west corner is a tombstone to William Heath, d. 17 April 1651. The Register of 1758 states the fee for burying in the tower, so presumably it was customary to bury there. The original clock was made by a local blacksmith and had only one diamond-shaped face. It was bought by money paid in fines by pheasant poachers, and when the clock struck the hour villagers used to say, "Hark to the old pheasant crowing!" The present clock was made by Gillett & Johnston in 1923 and was a gift to the church from Sir Mortimer and Lady Singer of Milton Hill House (and of Singer sewing machine fame).
The 1552 Inventory shows that there were four bells in the tower; Richard Keene of Woodstock recast these into five in 1682. These five bells were hung in a wooden frame which dated from around 1640, predating the bells. Following a public subscription, a sixth bell was cast by Mears & Stainbank in 1906. In 1999 a decision was made to replace the six bells with a new and lighter peal of eight bells hung in a new frame on one level in the tower. Of the previous bells, the old second has been retained on display in the church, the remaining five have been sold and form part of a ring of six at Hackthorn in Lincolnshire. The eight new bells were cast by the Whitechapel Foundry in London and form the first complete ring cast to Gillett and Johnston profiles since the closure of the Croydon foundry in the 1950's. The new bells were first rung on 2 July 2002. Full details of the bells are given in the tower.
About this multi-cache:
At the published coordinates, you will be standing in front of the gravestone of Mr. WALKER, who died at the age of AB.
Now please move to Stage 2, where you will be looking for the gravestone of Mr. SMITH, who passed away on CD August 18EF.
Then please move to Stage 3, where you will be standing near a war memorial. The number of fallen soldiers during WWI is G, and the number of fallen soldiers during WWII is H. And the number of letters in the surname of the fallen soldier during the Korean War is J.
Finally, please move to Stage 4, where you will be looking for a bench in memory of GERALD, who was born in KL January 19MN.
The final coordinates are a short distance away at:
N51 37. ( A + B ) ( E - F + A - C ) ( H - G )
W001 18. ( J - H ) ( N - L ) ( ( M + D - A ) / K )
The checksum of all the digits in the final coordinates is 46.
Please also note:
Please bring your own pen, and open & close the cache lid carefully so the cache and log book can survive longer.
Please also replace exactly as found due to obvious reason, and please be careful with the possible thorns and stinging nettles. Long sleeves, trousers, and gloves are recommended.
Thank you and enjoy GeoCaching!
FTF: Congratulations to Daffodilbob for their FTF on 27 December 2025!
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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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