Church Micro #8765 Trelleck Multi-cache
Church Micro #8765 Trelleck
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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This cache brings you to Grade I listed St Nicholas Church, full of history and well worth going inside too, if you have the time, it is described by Joseph Bradney as "one of the largest and most handsome of the country churches in the county" of Monmouthshire.
From all around, St Nicholas’ Church can be seen clearly. Standing upright and bold in the middle of the town and its surrounding countryside, it acts not only as the centre of the area, drawing and holding it together.
The present building has been here since Trellech was a town larger than Cardiff or Swansea. Built proudly by its citizens, it was a symbol of the status of a town that had its own mayor and market, recalling Trellech’s importance on the disordered and dangerous border between England and Wales.
The powerful Marcher Lords, (the de Clares, Earls of Gloucester, Lords of Usk and Glamorgan), were responsible for this booming prosperity. Trellech was their arsenal, where the iron was forged out of which they made the weaponry and armour for their soldiers to use to control their estates and to extend them into the highlands of Glamorgan.
After the Welsh had sacked and burnt the town (in about 1250), the church was rebuilt in its present form, and survived the attack of Owain Glyndwr’s soldiers in 1404. The church that stood amidst all that industry and violence is now surrounded by peaceful countryside, continuing to serve and challenge its people.
With an elegant pointed and prominent steeple, a font and 17th-century sundial, it is a focal point of the village. The main part of the church building is of local Old Red Sandstone, with a three-stage tower. The spire can be seen for several miles around and is described by architectural writer John Newman as "the town's pride and joy".
A church on this site, probably a wooden structure, was endowed by Ffernwael ap Ithel and Meurig ap Tewdrig who were rulers of Gwent in the 7th and 8th centuries. The Preaching Cross in the churchyard may date back to this time, as may the font.
The present building dates from the 13th or early 14th century. The early English Gothic stonework has been dated to between 1225 and 1272, and that of the Decorated Gothic up to 1350. The church has a large clerestoried nave, with a much smaller chancel. The "impressive" interior has a "spendidly high" tower arch, and the five-bay nave has arcades on octagonal piers.
The altar rails and pulpit, dated 1640, are survivals of 17th century church interior design. At the west end of the church, directly below the window, is a Royal Coat of Arms for King Charles II dated 1683.
Records are held by the church dating from 1692. Complete lists of vicars, from 1359, and churchwardens, from 1763, can be found in the entrance to the south aisle. The rear of the main church door is inscribed "IHS 1595".
When the weathercock was removed from the spire in 1972 it was found to have been made in Ross-on-Wye in 1792. The original spire fell, damaging the roof of the nave, and a contemporary reference attributes this to "lightning and storms". In the belfry the cage housing the three bells is of a type similar to that found in others constructed about the year 1700.
At the end of the last century the church was in a neglected state and was extensively renovated and re-roofed. The Belgian slates then in place were replaced with Welsh slates in 1961. The chancel was replastered in 1972 and painted white. During 1974 considerable repairs were undertaken to the north and south aisles, and in 2001 the majority of the churchyard dry-stone wall was removed and rebuilt.
To find the cache, work out the following:
N51º 44.(A+B)CB
W002º43.(E-3)(D-B)C
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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Tebhaq yriry