Whitchurch Hill - St John's Church Traditional Geocache
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Whitchurch Hill - St John's Church
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The community of Whitchurch Hill and comparatively modern St John's Church (designed by Francis Bacon of Highclere) are 1.5 miles and some 300 feet up the hill from the village of Whitchurch on Thames and ancient church of St Mary's. When Canon Slatter became Rector of Whitchurch in 1880, he was immediately confronted with a problem, as the churchyard at St Mary's was full, and the previous Rector had already sacrificed part of his treasured garden. Canon Slatter set about finding a site for a new burial ground. He also perceived a need for a building where Divine Service might be heard by the ' poorer inhabitants'. He wrote that they had been 'greatly discouraged from attending the old parish church by the gradual encroachment on their privileges by the growth of the lower village and the number of houses erected for the wealthy.'
It's worth noting that the land up the hill was open heath until divided up between the landowners and assuming its present pattern in the early nineteenth century. Old maps refer to it as 'The Wasteland' or 'Whitchurch Common'. Here cottagers had enjoyed certain rights and sources of limited income in return for their duties to the landowners. The old way of life of the rural population on the hill was very different from that of the grander, more recent incomers down in the lush water meadows in the valley. We can appreciate Canon Slatter's perception of the need for a church where the cottagers might feel at home.
Major benefactors were the Palmers of Bozedown. Mr Palmer gave the handsome choir stalls and pews, and later the lychgate in thanksgiving for the safe return of his two sons from the 1914-18 War. After Mr Palmer's death, the porch was given in his memory by his family, who remained active and generous in the parish.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Svaq gur zrgny pbaqhvg ehaavat qbja gur bhgfvqr bs bar pbeare bs gur cbepu.