Minal, about 1906
To those who do not live in the area we need to explain that locally, Mildenhall is pronounced (and often written) Minal.
The Norman church of St. John The Baptist is one of the gems of Wiltshire. Tucked away at the end of a cul-de-sac, it gets no passing visitors but for those who make the short diversion form the village's main street, they are treated to an interesting exterior and one of the finest Georgian interiors you will find anywhere.
By 1800 the Church of England was in trouble and many parish churches were in need a extensive and expensive maintenance. For many places, their church would have to wait for the Victorian "improvers" to intercede which usually resulted in wholesale rebuilding or remodelling. But not so in Minal. In 1816 twelve wealthy parishioners realised the urgent need to repair their church and spent the princley sum of £2000 on creating a splendid Georgian interior; box pews; twin pulpits; singers gallery; wood panelling. Thankfully the result survived the Victorian restorers.
The church was a favourite of Sir John Betjeman and in a radio broadcast in 1948 said "You walk in to the church of a Jane Austin novel, into a forest of magnificent oak joinery". Indeed the church scenes from ITV's production of Jane Austin's "Emma" were filmed here in 1996.
The church is open during normal hours every day. Regular Church services are held at 10am on the 1st 2nd, 3rd & 4th Sundays of the month only (plus obvious holy days). The "Related Web Page" link above has more details and should be consulted if you are travelling from afar.
Cache Details
Parking is at the published co-ordinates. It is a narrow lane so please park sensibly. If it is busy why not park a the village pub and partake of some refreshments.
This is a Church Micro with a twist. You are looking for a 4 inch long tube. To find this cache, you will need to find the 3 words described below. You then transcribe them into the middle row of the table in the correct sequence. This should be not result in any empty boxes or spare letters. Then using your code breaking skills, translate the letters into numbers and record them on the bottom row. Finally translate the letters in the formulae into the numbers you have assigned to the letters on the top row and go find the cache!
Simple!
WORD 1
The church has a fine pair of matching pulpits. On each's rear sounding board there is a word carved into the wood. Facing the alter, what is the word on the pulpit on the right?
WORD 2
In the churchyard you will see a Wargraves Commission headstone. Record B Witts's rank.
WORD 3
Finally locate a recent grave for Alfred and "Rene" Rawlings. Note down Rene's true Christian name.
Proceed to N51 25.(B - E)(F - J)(U + Y) W001 42.(C + J)(M - X)(V + P)
The sum of ALL digits in the co-ordinates is 52
THE ROUTE
The route is along a public footpath but there is no waymarking - follow the arrow!
CHURCH MICROS
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