Church Micro 6071...Kilkhampton Multi-cache
Church Micro 6071...Kilkhampton
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Church Micro 6071...Kilkhampton
A 12th century parish church dedicated to St James the Great, much rebuilt in the 15th century. Kilkhampton was briefly in the hands of the Priory of St James in Bristol, which later gave the manor to Tewkesbury Abbey.
The dedication to St James is a bit of a mystery, especially amongst Cornish churches, which tend to be dedicated to Cornish saints. There are two plausible explanations for the dedication. One is that it was named for St James due to its brief association with Bristol Priory. The other is that Kilkhampton was on the direct pilgrim route between Caldey in Wales, through Cornwall, to Compostella in Spain, where the relics of St James were though to lie.
Whatever the mystery, the church itself is a lovely building, possessed of a nicely carved 12th century south doorway, the oldest surviving relic of the Norman church on this site. It is possible that the doorway was carved by masons from Tewkesbury Abbey. It has four moulded columns with carved capitals, and is decorated with carvings of odd, beastly faces, and traditional Norman zigzag patterns.
Much of the rest of St james' church dates to a late 15th century reconstruction undertaken by the Grenville family. The Grenvilles were also responsible for the south porch, which bears the date of 1567.
Kilkhampton church is best known for its collection of gloriously carved bench ends. Carved bench ends are something of a Cornwall specioality, but even among Cornish churches, the carvings at Kilkhampton are something special. There are 31 benches in the nave with both ends carved, and another 41 benches in the aisles with one end carved. The carvings depict a variety of subjects, including fanciful arabesque ornamental fringes, heraldinc shields, Biblical symbols, and heads of different sorts.
The other major feature of note is a 16th century font made of granite, with an octagonal bowl. The bowl has a very odd inscription in inverted Lombardic script. Below the inscription is a frieze, and below that are a set of heraldic panels.
For the next stage you will need to find the resting place of Alfred William Burrows & his family. Mark the year that Alfred died as ABCD & the year that Annie died as EFGH.
The cache is placed at N50 52.(G-H)(A+E)(C-E) & W004 29.(B-G)(E+H)(C-A)
“If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first at churchmicro@gmail.com so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list”
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(Decrypt)
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