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The coordinates take you to the war memorial in the Minster grounds.
Most of the Minster building dates from the 12th century. It is dedicated to St Cuthburga, sister of Ina King of Wessex who founded a Benedictine Nunnery here around 705 AD. In 871, Ethelred, the brother of King Alfred the Great was buried here.
In 1496 Henry VIII’s grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, founded a small chapel in the Minster and the priest attached to it had to be in permanent residence and 'to teach grammar to all comers'. This was the origin of Queen Elizabeth’s School. Lady Margaret’s parents are buried near the high altar.
The Minster has a very old clock, probably dating the late 1300s. In the centre there is a dark blue ball with the sun going around it, pointing out the time on a 24-hour dial. The clock also tells the position and phase of the moon. The works for the clock were made in the 18th century and are kept in the belltower. They ring bells every fifteen minutes. This quarter-hour chime is rung by the Quarter Jack, a Grenadier Guard who can be seen on the outside of the belltower".
The Minster also has a chained library which was founded in 1686. It was one of the first public libraries in the country. The Revd William Stone made the first donation and the books were not originally chained. When Roger Gillingham gave more books in 1695 he insisted that the books be chained up, but also that the Library should be accessible without charge for the people of the town as long as they were ‘shopkeepers or the better class of person’.
As you walk around the Minster you should spot a seat dedicated to the memory of Sir Charles and Lady Rugge-Price. The plaque on the see has two dates ABCD - EFGH. The cache can be found at
N50 (A+C+H)D.B(G+H)(G-H) W001 GF.(A+C)C(G-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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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.
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