It is widely accepted that there has been a place of worship on
the site of the Parish Church of St Mary at Eastling since
Anglo-Saxon times.
The oldest surviving parts of the present building are the base
of the south-west Tower, the Nave and the western part of the
Chancel. All are thought to have been built by the 11th century,
possibly on the foundations of an earlier church.
Some time after this Doddington Church and living were given to
the Archbishop of Canterbury. It may then have become a chapel to
the Church of Teynham, (also in the Archbishops patronage.)
presumably served by clergy from Teynham.
The remainder of the Tower and the central part of the Chancel
are Norman. The North and South Aisles and the Arcades between the
Aisles and the Nave were built in the 13th century. In the 14th
century, the Chancel was extended eastwards to create a Sanctuary.
Also in that century, the St Katherine Chapel and an Arcade was
added to the south-east corner of the building. In 1855-56, the
Nave, North Aisle and the South Arcade were substantially rebuilt,
the West Porch added and the Nave re-roofed.
Futher information can be found
on this
page
There is ample parking in front of the church.
Beware, there is Danger Of Death at the given coordinates - take
note of the numbers below the sign: ABCD4E
The cache is located nearby, at N 51 16.EB(A-B) E 000
48.(C+B)AD
Please ensure that you hide the cache back correctly, so that it
is completely out of sight of muggles.
The cache is a 35mm film canister containing a log book, please
take your own writing implement.
*** PLEASE NOTE ***
There is no need to enter the church grounds either for the
clue or the cache.
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