All Saints Church Bolton
In the Commonwealth Survey of 1649 Bolton was a chapelry in the parish of Morland and described as belonging to the vicar of Morland with one house for the curate abutting onto the churchyard. It remained in the parish of Morland until 1868 and with Morland church was attached to the priory at Wetheral near Carlisle. According to the Royal Commission for Historical Monuments the church was built in the second half of the 12th century and has been the focus for the community’s religious and social activities throughout the ages. The Clerks accounts for 1732 record 0-2– 0d spent for Gunpowder treason an annual event and in 1762. 0-2-0 d For Coronation day presumably to celebrate the accession to the throne of George third in 1760. The chapel had no maintenance but the vicar of Morland’s duty was to find a reader there and pay him £7 a year out of his Tithes and Glebe land. There was a high turnover of curates reflecting the poor living. In 1753 the living was augmented by £1000; with £800 from Queen Ann’s Bounty in the years 1754, 1761, and 1785 and £200 was given by the Countess Dowager Gower daughter of the third Earl of Granville. Two estates were purchased with £800 (Glebe Farm now Glebe House and Bewley Farm) the remainder was used to purchase the Scarside estate at Orton. In 1829 the land owners were patrons to the curacy which was valued at £4 -0 – 0 d with £3 per year paid by the vicar of Morland and £1-10-0 d from the produce of the yard, surplice fees, tithes of garths chickens,eggs,ducks,hemp and flax.
The chapel was to be rebuilt in 1829 with £100 from the Society for the Building of New Churches but this does not appear to have happened. Most of what can be seen today is from the restoration in 1848 during the incumbency of the Reverend William Shepherd who was curate from 1833 – 1880. There are still several interesting Norman features remaining.
The earliest work is to be found in the Nave especially the North and South doorways and the western portion, originally part of a tower, with north, south and west walls four feet thick. The eastern wall was possibly removed at some later time, perhaps to enlarge the Nave. The north and south walls continue eastwards and are nearly three feet thick. It is said they were rebuilt in the 16th century on the old lines. In 1678 £16 was spent on restoration and it was about this time that the bell turret was added, the Chancel walls raised and the roof reconstructed. There was always a necessity to maintain the church and money was paid annually for glazing the windows of the church and in 1762. 0-2-0 d to Thomas Longmire for Mending the pulpit
Today the view of the church shows a small sand stone building with a bell tower set at the end of an avenue of Yew’s. A walk around the church and churchyard takes us on a journey through many centuries of the church noting past inhabitants of Bolton as we go. In the churchyard to the left of the porch is the stone effigy of a lady upright against the wall. Her hands are clasped across her breast and she is dressed in a long cloak or dress which could be that of 12th century Norman.
Her head appears to be resting on a pillow suggesting that she may once have lain on a tomb which could have been inside the church, although in the churchyard near the east wall of the chancel is a thick stone slab on which the effigy might previously have lain. Moving further to the left on the southwest corner of the church, on the face of the buttress and scratched into the stone is what some describe as an ancient sundial, said to be used to indicate when services would be held. These “sun dials” are found on other churches throughout the British Isles, sometimes found inside the porch which is not the best places for a sun dial, so their meaning is unclear. They may be remnants of old religions. Charles Cox notes in the County Churches of Cumberland and Westmorland that these small sundials occur on other churches in the county and are believed to be Saxon dials denoting the existence on the site of a previous Saxon Church.
On the North side of the church and built into the wall is a relief in red sandstone of two knights fighting; its significance is unknown, perhaps it commemorates a tournament or a memorial to a knight fighting the infidels in the crusades.
Now to finding the cache….
The cache is located at N 54 36.ABC W 002 33.DEF.
To find the cache you need to wander around the outside of the church gathering the required information. The questions are not necessarily in order.
A = The number of long bones depicted to the left of the church door +1
B = The number of Jousting Knights on the north side
C = The number of louvre windows in the tower/2
D = The last digit on the bench on the south side
E = The number of glazed windows on the south facing wall
F = The last date of the year William Nicholson died on the obelisk tombstone to the east.
Checksum = 22.
The cache is just a short walk away. Take care with traffic.
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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