Ardclach Bell Tower Multi-cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This cache has been placed for the event Spring
Caching in the Highlands 2007 please do not look
for / log until Saturday 21st April 2007 :)
Ardclach Bell Tower.
Located 9 miles south of Nairn this tower was built in the Mid 17th
Century. Built as a watch tower it is 2 stories tall with the lower
part of the building used as a cell. The upper part of the tower
has a fireplace with the initials MGB which probably refers to
Alexander' Brodie's second Wife Margaret. Alexander Brodie of
Lethan was a known covenanter which led to several punitive raids
against his estates. One such raid was carried out by the Marquis
of Montrose. The Bell tower is a later addition to the building and
was used to call worshipers to the nearby church in the valley
below.
Ardclach Church and Church yard.
Plain T-plan church in rubble with tooled dressings, built in 1756
as a remodelling of an earlier church of 1626. The church was
heightened and given round-headed windows sometime between 1836 and
1838. The interior was then recast in 1892.
The south elevation features 4 large round-headed windows, with
similar windows in the east and west elevations of the rear wing. 2
entrances sit at the north elevation of the rear wing.
The interior has now been mostly stripped, with the pulpit and
stone pews moved to the present Ardclach Parish Church (worth a
visit), though a 1766 mural monument remains in the east gable. It
was erected by Minister William Baron and his wife Jean Grant to
their son Hugh and "ten more of sons and daughters".
To find this cache you will need to visit both the church yard and
the bell tower.
From the Bell Tower itself.
What is the date on the gable wall. ABCD.
From the sign in front of the Bell Tower. When
was the church rebuilt. EFGH.
From the church yard.
The year
of birth of Mary Fielding. IJKL.
The year of birth of Peter Robin
Richardson. MNPQ.
Cache location. N 57
LJ.MG(A+B) W 03 PP.(J-A)L(Q-D)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Onfr bs gerr haqre ebpxf