All Saints’ Parish Church is believed to have existed since at least 1256, and thought to have been commissioned by Roger Le Peytevin of Altofts Hall. However, a prior church is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. It is likely that the current church stands on the lines of the original.
In 1256, Le Peytevin, a Norman Baron, granted the church to the Hospital of St. John, of the Knights Hospitallers, at Newland.
The building is in the perpendicular style, being built mainly of coursed dressed sandstone blocks under a stone slate roof and consists of a three-bay chancel with a south chapel adjacent, a four-bay nave with north and south aisles and a clerestory. A tower was added to the western end in the 15th century. In the 19th century, clergy and choir vestries were added as well as an organ chamber. The building was granted Grade II listing in 1965.
The church was internally re-ordered in 1991. The church houses the Freeston Tomb, the burial place of Sir John Freeston of Altofts (d 1594), who by his will provided for an almshouse at Kirkthorpe and a grammar school for Normanton and Warmfield. His benefice still provides funding for the current secondary school in Normanton, the Freeston Academy.
In 1906, a medieval altar slab bearing five incised crosses was found under the sanctuary floor, where it had probably lain since the reformation. It now stands in the Lady Chapel and is used for weekly Eucharist. The window at the east end of the Lady Chapel depicting the fall of the Walls of Jericho, is a war memorial to the fallen of the Great War. The window to the left of the porch was an addition in the late 1970s as a memorial to the explorer, Martin Frobisher of nearby Altofts.
All Saints' possesses two ancient silver cups, now housed in a collection at York Minster. The oldest was made in London in 1655 and is inscribed "Normanton cupp 1674". The second is two-handled porringer inscribed "The Gift of Mrs Henry Favell of Pontefract to the Church of Normanton for ever 1699"
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The cache is situated at:
N53 41.ABC
W001 24.DEF
You will need to find three gravestones to solve this puzzle, all are located on and around the triangle of grass at the starting coordinates.
William Beard tragically drowned at the age of 24. In what year was this? 1AB9
Elizabeth Hopkins died on the 21st April 1YZ0. Subtract Z from Y to give answer C
Alexander Brown, vicar of this parish, lived from 18D4 until his early death in 18E9
A + B + C + D + E = ? Got a two digit number? Good, add them together to get answer F
You now have all the information that you need. The cache is a magnetic key safe. Happy hunting!
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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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