Church Micro #8286 Avalanche Memorial- St Andrew's Multi-cache
Church Micro #8286 Avalanche Memorial- St Andrew's
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The Avalanche Memorial Church, also known as the Church of St Andrew, is a 19th-century Anglican parish church, located in Southwell village. It was built in 1879 and remains active to date, as part of the Portland Parish - a host of three churches; the other two being St. John's Church (St John the Baptist) and All Saints Church. The church, along with its boundary wall, has been a Grade II Listed building since September 1978.
History
In September 1877, two ships, the SS Avalanche of the Shaw Savill Line and the SS Forest, collided off Portland Bill during stormy conditions. The Avalanche was a three-year-old, three-masted iron clipper of 1160 tons. Captain Williams and his 34-member crew were taking 63 passengers, men, women and children, to their homes in New Zealand, particularly Wanganui. The Forest was a wooden vessel of 1,423 tons with a crew of 22 at the time of the disaster. As a result of the tragedy, 106 people, including whole families, perished that night.
By the dawn local fishermen at Chesil Cove spotted a boat of survivors flying the distress flag. Despite stormy conditions two lerret boats, each holding seven fishermen, were able to rescue the survivors and bring them ashore. The bravery of the fishermen was rewarded after Portland's rector made an appeal in the Standard newspaper, and testimonials were presented to each rescuer.
Once the disaster had become national news, relatives and friends of those who died in the tragedy requested that a memorial should be erected on Portland. The rector of Portland put forward the suggestion of a new church for Southwell, which was in need of having its own church, and was also close to the site of the collision. A national campaign followed, which raised £2,000 through donations. The donations did not just come from Portland and England, but also from the affected families in New Zealand.
The church's design was of an early English style, by the architect and diocesan surveyor C.R. George Crickmay. Built by Lynham and Bayliss of Portland, was completed by 1879, and was consecrated and dedicated to Saint Andrew by the Bishop of Salisbury on 3 July 1879.
The church celebrated its centenary in 1979, with preparations commencing in 1975. The descendants of the casualties, and of the Portland fishermen, were invited to the event. A number of photographs, a Shaw Saville House Flag, and a Nova Scotian Ensign were obtained for the church, while an inmate of HM Prison The Verne donated a scale model of the Avalanche. During the event in 1979, the Portland fishermen descendants presented a stone tablet to the church.
Content The church features memorials to those drowned and testimonials to the bravery of the local fishermen. Some of the windows, the lectern, and the pulpit were originally funded by friends of those who were drowned. In addition to this artifacts have been recovered from the tragedy, and these are displayed in the porch, as well as a model of the Avalanche set in a glazed recess on the north side of the nave. There is a picture of the Avalanche, an artist's impression of the two Portland lerrets coming into land after the rescue and a framed copy of the testimonial presented to William Flann. There is also a brass tablet listing the names and, where known, the descriptions of the passengers and crew of the Avalanche. The most notable artifact is the large anchor of the Avalanche. Divers located it in 1984 and, after seeking permission, managed to raise it and donate it to the church, where it lies outside to this day. Inside the church, stained glass windows display scenes from the tragedy. Today, the church remains well-maintained and is open to the public during the peak season.
Design The church was built of Portland stone by Lynham and Bayliss of Portland, featuring rock-faced stone, windows and buttresses, and a two-bell turret. The stone used to construct the church was all dressed by the kivel, a traditional pick-shaped quarryman's tool. It is a small church with seating for approximately one hundred people; the inside length is 71 ft. and the extreme breadth 24 ft. It was built with rock-faced random-squared coursed stone with ashlar dressings and has a bright red clay tile roof. The church's unplastered 4-bay nave features arch-braced trusses and two purlins, as well as a bell-cote to west gable, north porch, south baptistry and lower chancel. It is designed in a simple Early English style with lancets, buttresses and coped gables throughout. The west front has three stepped lancets under statue niche and double bellcote, along with a boiler house to its left and double plank doors under statue niche; stone stack. Inside, the baptistry has a single lancet to east and west, and triple lancet to south. There is a double-chamfered segmental-pointed chancel arch, and the north side has lancets with colonnette screen and a decorative tile floor. The round stone carved pulpit sits on short marble columns and the font is found at the west end of the nave. The windows are locked in deep embrasures to flat segmental heads. All remaining stained glass is of the 19th century except the south side nave by chancel arch, which features centenary glass by Jon Callan of Southwell from 1981. The window was formerly blocked by a pipe organ, which was removed in 1974. The former baptistry, now vestry, has a boarded ceiling and heavy marble columns to responds.
To find the cache, work out the following:
N50º 31.(A+1)(A+2)(A+2)
W002º(A-4)A.A (A-4)(A-A)
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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
EUF zntargvp