Church Micro 15308...Sawston - Free Traditional Cache

In Sawston the original dissenters meeting house was (in 1810) a barn in Common Lane. It is not clear when this was first licensed. There may have been Dissenters in the village as early as 1728. The barn had become too small and in 1811 a new church was built on land behind the current church which was made available by Mr Brown. This first church was built about 100 feet from the High Street and was approached along a narrow alley. It did not pay in those days to advertise that you were attending a nonconformist chapel. It was a redbrick building with a white brick extension at the rear and a rather ugly box added during 20th Century at the front which was a projection room. That church became too small and in 1879 the foundation stones were laid for the current church building which fronts the High Street. By this time it had become acceptable to be a nonconformist. The church was run on Congregational lines. The Church later formally became a Congregational Church under the Trusteeship of the Congregational County Union. The church was responsible for funding its own buildings, operation and ministry. Each church member would be expected to contribute significantly to the costs and would have a vote at the Church Meeting where matters of policy and business were determined. The democracy of Church Meetings continues to this day. It was in 1980 that a Sharing Agreement was mooted. The Sharing Agreement came about partly as a recognition of the terrific input by young, mostly Methodist men and their families when the church was refurbished between 1978 and 1980. It was also a recognition of the need for pastoral care for Methodists within the village. It was at this time that the Church Meeting voted to change the name of the Church to Sawston Free Church (United Reformed / Methodist). This more fully reflected the congregation who came from numerous denominational backgrounds. Sawston Free Church is a shared church. It is owned by the United Reformed Church but is shared with the Methodist Church.

This is a traditional cache and IS at the published coordinates.

The cache is a 5ml tube.

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