Church Micro 2491....Hargrave Traditional Geocache
Church Micro 2491....Hargrave
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
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30ml tube
The Church in Hargrave was dedicated to All Hallows, but is also known locally as All Saints. The present Church is of the late transition period from about 1160 to 1207, so the date is about 1190 – 1200. There was an earlier Church on the site but no traces of it are left, though it is thought that the South Porch may have belonged to it. During the restoration, evidence was found to suggest that there was once a wooden Church on the site and there were remains of stone coffins found under the Church near the porch, some containing skeletons. The general character is Early English, with additions, or repairs carried out in the Decorated period (14th Century) and in the Perpendicular period (15th Century). However, despite this, by 1858 the Church was in a very dangerous condition.
The Rev. Robert Sibley Baker was responsible for the restoration of the Church, which he set about raising funds for immediately after he had organised the building of the school, which is now the Parish Hall. The school was built for the village in 1855 and opened in 1858. It was closed in 1955.
The work of restoring the Church began in February 1868 and the Church re-opened for worship on 21st October 1870. Mr. Baker found it very hard to raise the money to pay for the work on the Church and was in very straightened circumstances when he died. He was a very talented woodcarver and used his skill by selling his carvings to help pay off the debt on the Church. He kept a large golden eagle in the Rectory which was used as a model for the eagle lecterns he carved. The large lectern in Peterborough Cathedral was carved by him, and also the ones in the chapel of New College Oxford, and Haileybury College. One of his finest carvings was a clock case in the hall at Burghley Park which was carved from the wood of a lime tree planted there by Queen Elizabeth I in 1568. The eagle escaped one day, and was shot by ‘an ignorant rustic’ (his words!) whose excuse was that he thought it was the evil one.
“If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.
There is also a Church Micro Stats page found via the Bookmark list”
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
oruvaq terra