The above coordinates are for the Church of St Peter and St Paul Trottiscliffe. It is a grade I listed building under English Heritage. This cache replaces the fine Church Micro which was originally placed by GeoCotch. I am pleased to say my cache keeps the original number.
The land on which the church stands was granted to the See of Rochester in 788 AD by Offa, King of Mercia. The first church was probably of wood but a stone one was in place by the time of the Norman invasion in 1066. The current church was finished in 1187, on the original foundations and incorporating some Saxon work in the walls. In 1999, a serious crack appeared in the east wall of the tower which was structurally pinned. Larger windows in the decorated style were added to the north and south walls in 1342 and in 1875 a new east window was added by the then rector in memory of his father, the previous rector. Between them they served the church for 93 years. The church, despite its modest size and fairly isolated position was always important due to its proximity to the Pilgrim's Way from London to Canterbury. The most prominent feature of the interior is the pulpit, an extraordinary object in such a simple and small building. Designed in 1775, it came from Westminster Abbey. It was moved from the Quire in 1820 for the coronation of George IV and not put back. In 1824 it was given by the Abbey Surveyor to a friend who lived locally without the knowledge of the Dean and Chapter but they finally consented to the gift and it remains at Trottisclife. The wooden panels on either side of the altar are of similar date but these came from Chart Sutton church when it was rebuilt after a fire. The carved plaques on the panels were presented in 1936
The Church is well worth a visit, as you can see from above it has a lot of history.
Consider ID: ABCDEF
Cache can be found at:
N51 19. D F (C+D)
E000 21. (A+E) (B-D) A
Cache is a magnetic nano (not using it's magnetic powers).
Congrats to LVT for their FTF