Church Micro 2653 - St Peter's, Petersfield
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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A large nano container hidden near to the centre of petersfield.
YOU WILL NEED TO BRING A PEN...or email me a photo of you with the container.
Use the information found at St Peter's church to locate the cache.
http://www.stpeterspetersfield.org.uk/
THE HISTORY OF ST PETER'S CHURCH
The church has been associated with Bishop Walkelyn of Winchester, a cousin of William. Part of the manor was isolated from the parish church at Mapledurham by swamps and marshes so a church, a chapel of ease, was built and called St Peter's in-the-veld (veld - meaning an open and clear place) situated on a gravel ridge between two streams in the north of the manor.
The Causeway, the road to Portsmouth until the opening of the bypass, led across the boggy ground to the parish church at Mapledurham, now called Buriton. In an ancient charter of William, Earl of Gloucester and Lord of the Manor, patronage of the Church of Mapledurham together with the Chapel of Petersfield was granted to the Nuns of Eaton (Nuneaton). Pope Alexander III (1159-84) in his confirmation of this gift, calls them the “Church of Petersford with the Chapel of Mapledresham", an interesting (but erroneous) reversal which suggests that the growth of the town and church must by then already have outstripped the mother church at Buriton.
However, St Peter’s remained a chapelry to Buriton until 1886, when it became a separate parish. Since 1984 the two parishes have been held in plurality, so the Vicar of Petersfield is now also Rector of Buriton.
The original plan of St Peter’s Church is believed to have been cruciform with a central lantern tower, and the present chancel arch would have formed the east wall of this tower.Towards the end of the twelfth century a second period of building added the north and south aisles, taking the walls out to the north and south ends of the transepts and building a west tower to replace the central one. It is enclosed by the north and south aisles. The original walls were replaced by arcades of four bays. As can be seen from the shape of the pillar capitals, the two aisles were probably built at different times and it is possible that the roof heights were also different. The north and south doorways are original. The west doorway has been largely reconstructed but some original stones have been left in place. These show that the style and ornament were similar to the great chancel arch within.
It is not known whether the central tower was ever completed or if it fell down or was taken down when the church was enlarged at the end of the twelfth century. It is not likely that the church ever had two towers. The original masonry and the transept walls can be seen outside on the north and south wall, where the earlier courses of herringbone masonry distinguish it from the later stone courses of the aisles.
The tower was raised to its present height during the 14th century and a parapet added. The present parapet replaced the first which had become unsafe from weathering.
During the 15th century, windows with perpendicular tracery were inserted in the wall of the north aisle, in the east wall of the chancel and in the south aisle.
A major restoration occurred in 1873 under the architect Sir Arthur Blomfield. There are very few records of this rebuilding but it is interesting to note that Blomfield appears completely to have dismantled and rebuilt most of the nave and the south aisle wall in, as five of the pillars and much of the south wall are built on Victorian brick bases. Most of the chancel was also rebuilt so it seems likely that only the Norman arch and some of the tower and north wall were left standing during this restoration. The large 15th century east window and another at the east end of the south aisle were restored to their original Norman form with the insertion of small round-headed windows.
The interior of the building was made much lighter and more spacious in aspect by adding a clerestory to the nave, raising the roof and giving it the splendid timber trusses it now has. The apex of the old roof gable can still be seen over the west arch above the font. The side aisles were roofed in the manner of the 15th century.
Many memorials which were on the walls in spaces above the nave arcades were moved to the west end of the building. At the same time a sacristy and organ chamber were added on the north side of the chancel, replacing the Jollife family gallery (see above) which had its own private entrance to the church. In 1887 the north porch was added as a memorial. The stained glass in the church was installed during the 19th and 20th centuries. The fifteenth century font was removed from its position at the east end of the nave (see above) and replaced by a modern one at the west end. In 1946, the fifteenth century font was rescued from the churchyard, where it had been left for seventy years, and replaced at the east end. The timber ceiling of the south aisle was restored after fire damage in 1962.
In October 1998, the Church was closed for a year while a major project, the St Peter’s 2000 Project, was carried out to restore and re-order the building. This project was the largest since the Blomfield re-building of 1873.
The re-ordering of St Peter's had been under discussion for twenty years or more. However, the scheme was very much the brainchild of the then Vicar, Chris Lowson. His thoughts were crystallised by the parish architect, Paul Velluet, during the latter part of 1993.
NOW FOR THE CACHE:
Out the front of the church you will find a board to the left of the gate
* what time is the main sunday service? = A.BC am
walk into the church yard and turn right a short walk in you will find a single headstone standing on the bank
* what year did John Small die? = DEFG
walk around the church towards the rear gate
here you will find a headstone as part of the path with a name beginning with B.
*How many letters in the name? = H
THE CACHE CAN BE FOUND AT
N51 CC.(B-D)(F-D)(A-E)
W000 (B+F)H.FH(G/B)
This is the first cache I have set and hopefully the co-ordinates are accurate enough as they were taken using a phone (and checked using google maps)
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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
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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Tb va, ghea ebhaq, ybbx hc