Church Micro 1843...Kingswood Multi-Cache
Church Micro 1843...Kingswood
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Park at the published coordinates and make your way to the additional waypoints and use the information you find there to solve the following formulae :-
Northings D A° J (A+C). (B-J) (E-G) F
Westings H I G° G A. B (E-F) (F+A)
You will eventually be looking for a Micro Sized container fitted with a Nano Sized log.
Church History
This Place of Worship was founded after 1139, and we understand it is still open.
Kelly's Directory of 1923 records that St Mary the Virgin's Church was erected in 1723 - "a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of nave, north transept, organ chamber and vestry, west porch and a western turret containing a clock and 8 bells". It was restored in 1906, at a cost of £1,200, and has sittings for 380 persons. It also mentions the custom of ringing a curfew every night at 8 o'clock.
An early OS Map (OS 1882 1:2,500) labels the church as dedicated to Holy Trinity, though later Maps record it as St Mary's.
The parish registers date from 1598, so it would seem that the building in 1723 replaced an earlier church. This is confirmed in the return for the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/333/1/1/1), where the Perpetual Curate, George L. Wiedemann remarks that "the present Church [was] built in 1723 in place of the dilapidated Church previously existing formerly connected with the Abbey of Kingswood. A very ancient Parish - originally a Rectory now a Perpetual Curacy as the Tithes were charged with a Money Payment in the reign of Charles II." The Abbey's origins can be traced back to a grant by William de Berkeley to the monastery at Tintern, Monmouthshire, in 1139.
Kingswood was formerly a detached parish of Wiltshire, but was transferred to Gloucestershire in 1844. It is referred to in Kelly's Directory as "Kingswood (near Wotton-under-Edge), so called to distinguish it from Kingswood, near Bristol".
St Mary's Church, the Congregational Chapel, and Kingswood Abbey Ruins are all within a short distance of one another - a veritable 'Holy Corner'!
Denomination
Now or formerly Church of England
St. Mary's is one of very few churches built in England during the reign of George I. It was constructed in 1723 to replace the Lady Chapel of Kingswood Abbey, where the people of Kingswood had worshipped since the Dissolution and which had fallen into disrepair. The adjacent Abbey Gatehouse is a national monument, administered by English Heritage.
The church contains an early 18th century font, a fine George I coat of arms in oil on canvas, an imposing contemporary chandelier, stained glass from Kingswood Abbey and a pipe organ by William Sweetland of Bath, still with its original tracker action. Both church and churchyard contain memorials which predate the church.
In 2009 partial funding was obtained from The Georgian Group and other organisations to meet the cost of restoring and cleaning the George I armorial and its original carved and gilded frame, which now hangs in St. Mary's Room.
Friends of St. Mary's support the maintenance and refurbishment of the church. Money raised by Friends has so far funded an audio system, a hearing loop, electrical repairs, restoration and redecoration of the porch, a new lighting installation and complete redecoration of the church's interior.
Friends also helped finance the refurbishment of the transept, including the glass and oak-panelled screen which has created St. Mary’s Room, a widely used community resource (details and hire charges on request). The transept remains part of the church and the screen can be opened to accommodate larger congregations and the popular Music at St. Mary's concerts.
“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)
Pebff gur oevqtr.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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