The parish church at Thurnham is dedicated to St Mary the
Virgin.
The church is set just off the Pilgrims' Way about a third of a
mile south from the ruins of the 12th Century Thurnham Castle.
Thurnham is one of the oldest parishes in the borough and is
mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1085 which lists a church and a
local population of “some 150 souls”.
St Mary's church has certainly been in existence since Norman
times and probably before that. The pre-Norman church is a Grade 1
listed building with parts dating from the 12th century.
In the north wall of the nave is a blocked Norman window, while
the north chapel may be entered under an arch of possibly
twelfth-century origin. For much of its history this chapel was the
private pew of the Sheldon family.
The nave runs straight into the chancel which is distinguished
by a graceful east window of four lights capped with three circles
of tracery. Below the window there is much panelling given in the
early part of the twentieth-century and a small single sedile,
piscina and aumbry of thirteenth-century date.
St Mary’s also contains several memorials to local families,
stained glass windows dedicated to the memory of local men killed
in the First World War, and a wooden plaque commemorating those who
died in WW2.
One of the people also remembered here is Alfred Mynn, the
acclaimed Victorian cricketer, “that Lion of Kent who distinguished
himself in the game of cricket”. He was born at Goudhurst and lived
for some years at nearby Bearsted, but when he died in 1861 his
body was brought to Thurnham and he is buried in St Mary's.
In 1977 a stained glass window was installed in the church to
the memory of Col Alexander Thurnham who was directly descended
from the first Sir Robert de Thurnham in the 12th century.
The cache is a 35mm film canister containing a log book and a
small pencil (So may be best to take your own writing
implement).
The coordinates take you to a gate in memory of Elsie Attwood
ABCD - EFGH. The cache is not located within the church grounds, it
is located at Northing 51 17.(B-D-E)(A+D+E)(G-E-A) Easting 000
35.(F-D-E)(A+E)(D-A)
Please ensure that you hide the cache back correctly, with
plenty of coverage.
If anybody
would like to expand this series please do, I would just ask that
you let sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the
Church numbers and names to avoid duplication