St. John the Baptist
The Parish dates back to the time of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) and a church has stood on the present site for over 800 years, being built before 1189.
Having been through extensive alterations around 1270, it was mostly destroyed by fire in 1676 and as such the registers only date from this time.
A board in the tower today tells us that the church was rebuilt in 1680 by John Altfield Richard Cotherell. It looks as if that the church was re-dedicated to John the Baptist after the rebuild as, before then, the dedication seems to have been to All Hallows or All Saints.
Part of the walls, one or two windows in the South Aisle, and the Tower survived and remain as part of the present building, albeit with brick cladding.
Further enlargement and building took place in 1838 costing £379 2s 1d and a clock, manufactured in 1840, was added in the west side of the tower.
However, due to poor workmanship, much of this work had to be demolished in 1874 and the Church was rebuilt as it is today. The cost for this was £2,712 14s 2d.
Not a great deal has changed to the building since 1874.The west doorway was rebuilt in 1898, and in 1901 the old sanctuary and chancel were restored to their original use when they were made into a side chapel – the St. John’s Chapel. This chapel was restored and refurbished in 1955 and in 1928, tall pinnacles on the Tower became unsafe and were removed, leaving the battlement appearance that is seen today.
A straight forward micro. The cache is not within the churchyard so do not try and look for it there - you won't find it!
The cache has a log book only but no pen so please bring one with you.
If anybody would like to expand 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