Church Micro 2054...Downswood Traditional Geocache
Long Man: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I'm archiving it.
Andy
Long Man
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Church Micro 2054...Downswood
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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An easy location to get to. This is a
small cache containing a log only. This is the second cache as the first was muggled, [:(] in a slightly different location. Please use stealth as I don't want to replace it again. Thanks. Keep an eye out for cache North downs view whilst in the area.
OTHAM CHURCH. The Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Otham is some
distance from the old part of Otham Village. It is now fairly
central to the population of the Downswood Estate the building of
which was completed some 30 years ago. The Doomsday Book records a
church in Otham in 1086. A diocesan survey carried out in 1992,
found that the main structure of the nave is indeed Norman and
dates from the late eleventh century. So this is the church of
Doomsday which would have been rectangular with a small chancel at
the eastern end. Over the centuries repeated changes have been made
to the church and these can be discovered by walking round the
inside and the outside of the building. The first change was the
addition of the tower in the late 1100s and built, like the nave,
of the freely available local rag stone. However, it wasn’t
until the 1400s that the upper wooden part of the tower was built
and this allowed the bells to be hung; the largest of which has
been ringing since 1400 and is one of the oldest in Kent. When the
tower was added, the chancel was extended eastwards. The next
change came early in the 1300s when a fine new doorway was inserted
into the north side of the nave (although of considerable
architectural interest, this was later blocked up by the
Victorians). Around this time, the western end of the Lady Chapel
was built. 200 years later, the eastern end of the Lady Chapel was
added and the altar moved eastwards to its present position. This
caused a problem with restriction of space in the chancel which was
further extended. At this time the inside of the church would have
been open and it is unlikely that there would have been any seating
apart from a few benches and perhaps a stool for the priest. There
may have been wall paintings depicting Biblical stories but the
main difference from today would have been the rood screen which
separated the nave from the chancel. The church wardens’
accounts which survive from the 1660s show a continual struggle
over the next 300 years to find the finance to maintain the church
fabric. In 1864-5 extensive repairs, including the rebuilding of
the western end of the nave and removal of the gallery were carried
out. The roofline was changed and some alterations to the chancel
were made. The floors were tiled, a new pulpit installed and the
whole appearance of the inside changed by the installation of pews
in the nave and chancel. It was around this time that most of the
stained glass was donated. Thus over the 900 years of the life of
the church, there has been continual change both in the structure
and the internal ordering and it was with this background that
phases one and two of the Open Church Project have recently been
completed.
"If anybody would like to expand to 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. There is also a Church Micro Stats page found via the
Bookmark list”
Why not look out for cache North Downs View whilst in the area.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
pryrevgngr fvtahz