St Mary the Virgin
The village of Sixpenny Handley lies in the heart of the historic and picturesque Cranborne Chase. The village name is derived from two medieval “hundreds” ‘Sexpena’ and ‘Hanlega’ which, over the years, local folk and the highways authority reduced to the memorable 6d Handley. Through the centuries the village suffered a series of fires and, in 1892, the whole village was virtually destroyed due to its remoteness from the nearest fire appliances. The church, dating back to the 13th century, remains
The chancel and parts of the nave date from 1350 when the church was a much smaller building. It was not until 1831 that the north aisle was added, and two 17th Century Jacobean windows were moved from the south side of the nave to be part of the new outer north wall. These two windows have interesting corbels carved on the outside, one being a hooded lady another the head of a man wearing a ruff, while on a second window are the heads of two hounds
Between 1876 and 1878, the church underwent extensive rebuilding. During this time the South Aisle was constructed and the porch, built around 1450, was moved to its present position. Before it had been the entrance to the main body of the church, the nave. A notable feature is its holy water stoup, which can be seen on the right of the main door on entering.
Until 1859, music was supplied by a barrel organ. In that year an organ was installed and a blind 17 year old, James Poolman, became the first organist and remained so for 44 years. The current organ underwent a complete restoration in 2006, thanks to an anonymous donation.
Of the three bells there is little known of their early history, but all were recast in 1881
The Churchyard is maintained under a strict conservation plan, providing a living habitat for many endemic species and has had considerable success in the Living Churchyard Competition organised jointly by the Salisbury Diocese and the Dorset Wildlife Trust.
When the cache was placed in April the area was deserted, but looking at Googleearth you might need stealth to retrieve this one at certain times of the year.
To find the cache look at the gravestone of the Adams family which is beside the church porch and use their dates. David ABCD-EFGH, Lilian JKLM-NPQR. You will find the cache at: N50 57.CGF W002 00.QMK
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If anybody would like to expand this series we would just ask that you contact sadexploration first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names and to avoid duplication.
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When I'm out caching I carry a supply of replacement log sheets so that I can help out the cache owner by carrying out any maintenance that's required.
If anybody would like to replace any logs that need urgent servicing in my caches, please do so. |