Church Micro 11952.... Radstone St. Lawrence
Well done to Caesersghost for the quick FTF!
I was out caching with Pesh and Norfolk12 in the area and we saw this lovely little village church - unbelievably without a Church Micro cache!
So after a quick check we decided to place our own whilst we were here!
There is limited parking in the village, please be courteous and don't park in front of driveways or on private property.
The church and the footpath to it is close to residential property in a small hamlet so I would advise not to go at night and if questioned about what you are doing, please explain about geocaching.
The Church:
This old church in the pretty little hamlet of Radstone dates from the 12th century with Norman features such as the font and the gable roofed West tower.
Later additions in the 13th and 14th centuries are the chancel and the North and South aisles
The church was partly restored and re-roofed c1853-8. Merton College held the advowson from 1869 when it became a parish church and repaired the chancel roof in 1969 as they had chancel repair liability, which may or may not have been passed on to the present owner. The nave was covered in lead around the year 2000. Recent repairs have left the church in good shape for the future.
The four colonies of bats, including the largest roosting colony of Natterers in the county, are welcome but sometimes untidy guests, and measures have been take to help them gain access. They tend to fly along the line of the old railway track. There is also a small colony of Common Pipistrelle which uses the church, and sightings have been made of brown long-eared bats and the rare Leisler’s bat.
The church is a Grade I listed building.
St Lawrence's is now part of the parish of Helmdon with Stuchbury and Radstone, which in turn is part of the of the Astwell Group of Parishes.
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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@gmail.co.uk.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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