There was a Saxon church on this site and although the date of
building is not known a stone church was first mentioned as
existing in c.973. The church was in the possession of Westminster
Abbey, who received the income, and was a mother church with a
college of priests ministering to a number of churches and chapels
in the surrounding area. The unusual dedication is to a saint who
is believed to be Welsh but with Breton and Cornish
connections.
It is probable that Westminster Abbey rebuilt the church c.1080
and evidence of this building can be seen in the lower courses of
the west wall of the nave. There was a major reconstruction in the
late 12th century and the side aisles were added in the mid 13th
century. The chancel was remodelled between 1350 and 1370 and is
out of alignment with the nave. The very impressive and massive
tower took 50 years to build and was begun in the early 16th
century and, after remainig partly built for some years, was
completed in the early 1550s financed by the Duke of Northumberland
. There is little evidence of the earlier Norman tower. The
Hungerford chapel was built by Sir Edmund Hungerford, who died in
1484.
There was a fairly heavy Victorian restoration in 1863-4 when
the jumble of family pews, the galleries and a screen were removed.
The southern wall of the south aisle was also rebuilt. The church
was the original parish church for Cricklade and its parish has
always included the greater part of the town. In 1952 St. Sampson's
was united with St. Mary's and in the 1970s the Church of St. Mary
was declared redundant and St. Sampson's was again the only parish
church in Cricklade. A church clock of 1658, made by Richard Hewse
of Wootton Bassett, which was originally in the belfry is now sited
at the rear of the south aisle. The octagonal font is 15th century
in the Late Decorated style. Four bells were recorded in 1553 and
there is now a peal of five. There are the remains of a churchyard
cross near the north gate, while in c.1818 the 14th century high
cross was removed from the High Street and set in the churchyard,
without its stepped base, in its present position. The parish
registers from 1672 (christenings) and 1695 (marriages and
burials), other than those in current use, are held in the
Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office.
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
To view the church micro stats page, please click here
The given coordinates will take you to the grave of John and
Anne Cuss. John died aged G and Anne aged H. G - H = A
From there take a stroll around the church yard. You will need
to find information from 3 benches.
John Arthur Denning died aged BC years
Frederic Freeth was a High Bailiff for D years
"Tony" was aged EF at the time of his death
Once you have found this information you should place it in the
forumula below to give you the location of the final cache. Please
note that due to the proximity of the other caches in the area
(both traditional and hidden finals from other multi's) the final
for this is a few minutes walk away so do not worry if your GPS
shows c400m.
The final can be found at N51 38. (A+B) (C-D) (E+F-D), W001 51.A
D (E+F-C)
Good Luck - The cache contains a special geocoin for the first to
find