St Illtyd’s Church stands alongside the ruins of a Norman Castle known as Newcastle. The church has a great deal of historical significance. It is a Grade II* listed building overlooking Bridgend and is known locally for it's illuminated cross which can be seen from some ditance at night. It is a Victorian decorated, Gothic rebuilding of an earlier 14th Century church which is steeped in local history.
There has been worship on this site for almost 900 years when the first recorded priest was Fr Gilbert in 1153. The church was originally dedicated to St. Leonard, the patron saint of prisoners. Throughout the years many battles have taken place here. In 1226 the Welsh from Afan attacked both the church and castle in an attempt to regain land taken from them by the Normans. Many more attacks like this occurred, including in 1404-05 where the church was severely damaged by Owain Glyndwr and his army
At the coordinates you will have a rather good view over the town, we used to come up here to watch rugby for free before they got a big fancy stand and it was a great spot for the fireworks displays that used to happen on the pitch each year too. You will also find the final resting place of Matilda and William Riley, 3 facts from their monument will give you the final coordinates...
Matilda died 1Ath October William outlived her by 2B years Children mentioned on the South facing side of the monument (C)
N51 30.ACB W 3 35.CBA
(Checksum (MM.DDD) = 33)
Travel to your destination quietly and stealthily, it's a peculiar spot and very close to neighbouring houses. The cache is easily spotted by a cacher though, so you can be swift in your logging and replacement.
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?id=275067 please read the "Place your own Church Micro" page http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/place_your_own.html before you contact him at http://churchmicro.co.uk.
See also the Church Micro Statistics page http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/cm.html and Home page http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html for further information about the series.