Church Micro 6545...Caerhays - St Michael Multi-cache
Church Micro 6545...Caerhays - St Michael
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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A short multi around a delightful, small rural church closely associated with the nearby large estate of Caerhays Castle.
The Church of St Michael Caerhays is a small gem of a place and bears witness to the lives of two great families – the Trevanions and the Williams, who have occupied nearby Caerhays Castle Estate for centuries, as well as many local farming and peasant families who still live in the area.
A recent geological survey attempted to locate the site of the original Trevanion House, which is recorded as far back as the early 13th century.
The Church was re-dedicated by Bishop Bronscombe to St Michael and all Angels in 1259. Little remains of the original Norman church except the carving of the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) which ornaments the north doorway. The impressive font, carved in local Pentewan stone, also dates from this period. There are a number of delightful stained glass windows which were installed in the 1860’s. There also remains some amazing memorials to members of the Trevanion family which have survived extensive modifications and enlargements to the Church over the centuries.
The Church is open from 9am to 5 pm daily and is well worth a visit inside to see some of the amazing features of this little Church. Once inside, it is not difficult to see, on the tower arch, why the extensive stone buttresses just to the left of the main entrance are necessary.
The graveyard is still in use and is a delightfully peaceful place with lovely views across the valley to the East from where you can see the tower of Gorran Church peeping over the distant horizon. There are many large tombs and monuments which are, at first sight, slightly incongruous in such a small rural Church but the nearby location of the large Caerhays Estate is the reason for this. A number of the tombs and plaques inside and outside the Church bear witness to the fact that privilege and power do not immune families from tragedy.
The Cache
The headline coordinates take you to the green door of the Church Tower.
Stage 1 – How many separate stained glass windows are there in the window above the door? – Answer – A
Walk widdershins (anti-clockwise) around the outside of the Church to:
Stage 2 – N 50 14.659 W 004 51.432 - Charles Paddy fell asleep on BC th January BCDC aged EE Years.
Carry on in the same direction around the church until you reach the East end wall. Lovely views from here on a nice day.
Stage 3 – N 50 14.666 W 004 51.421 - Find the grave of CLARA marked by a large Cornish style cross.
She was born : December FD th BCEF
She was married: August D th BCCG
She died: October H th BCCG
Now use the nearby seat to take your rest whilst working out the final location which is a short drive away with adjacent roadside parking.
The Final Cache is at: N 50 BG.H(D+F)G W 004 AB.GED
The cache is a small camo'd click lock box. Room for small swaps and trackables.
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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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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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