Grittleton Gambol #3: Church View Traditional Geocache
Grittleton Gambol #3: Church View
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The church you can see from the cache is St Mary the Virgin Church, Grittleton. formerly known as All Saints Church, Grittleton.
Some are accessible to wheelchair users. There are a couple of stiles and footpaths across fields. Part of your gambol will take you along the Fosse Way, a Roman road which starts in Exeter and travels diagonally across England to Lincoln. The village is in Wiltshire in the area of South Cotswolds, an area of outstanding beauty. For further information on the area see related link, above.
From the GZ you are able to get a fantastic view of the Church in the village. The church was built upon 12th century foundations and even earlier links with King Edmund the Magnificent, Saint Dunstan and Glastonbury Abbey.
The Abbot of Glastonbury at the time was Dunstan...later St Dunstan. Dunstan was made Abbot of Glastonbury by way of a thankyou to Dunstan for saving his life when on a hunting trip in Cheddar. Dunstan was able to promote Christianity and the Benedictine rule as a result. As this was a time when the religious belief of a country was that of its ruler, the religion of the Danes in England was overturned and Christianity became the way.
This church at Grittleton therefore, is on the site of an early establishment of Christianity in England. Evidence of Norman architecture can be found within the church, indicating how long the building took to construct. There are wonderful mosiaics and carvings and the low ceiling gives a warmth which is welcome on a cold visit. The three tier tower, with battlements and pinnacles, was built 1380 AD. The 14th century tower was heavily restored in 1865-7 by AW Blomfeld.
The church, originally Roman Catholic of course, belonged to Glastonbury Abbey for 600 years until confiscation in 1544 as part of the Reformation.
If you have time, do go to visit it. The mosaics are fabulous.
Additional Hints
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