Dyrham history goes back to the battle of Deorham which took place near to the present day church in 577. Two Saxon leaders - Cuthwine and Ceawlin fought against the Britons and killed Three of their Kings on the site.
The modern day deer park that is on this site is thought to have been a deer park for many centuries and is thought to pre-date the Church and the manor house on the site.
Parts of the Original Church have been dated from 1280. In 1420 the Church tower was built and in 1470 the Church was enlarged and altered. The font in the Church is older than the Church, being late Norman - about 800 years old. There is also a small amount of ancient glass in the tracery in the East window.
The house directly next to the Church is Dyrham Park which is a National Trust property. Dyrham house was rebuilt in between 1692 and 1704 for William Blathwayt who was secretary of War for William III. The National Trust aquired the property in 1959 from the government and has been dedicated as a permanent memorial to the people who died in the second world war.
The cache is a micro which should be a fairly easy find on the outside of the Church grounds. Please take care to use stealth as this can be a very busy area and please replace as found to give the next cacher the same experience !
**************************************
For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro@gmail.com.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
*************************************
Congratulations go to Leonards193 for a well deserved First To Find !!!