A simple off-set multi cache which is part of the ever popular Church Micro Series. It shouldn't take you any longer than 30mins to complete, and once you have the final co-ordinates you will be looking for a small micro cache- in a rather interesting host! St Mary's Church, Portsea is quite possibly the oldest church site in Portsmouth (Portsea Island) with archaeological research indicating there was a church here in 1170. The current church was built in the 1880s to a design by Arthur Blomfield and is a major landmark in the city. It's tower can be seen rising over the nearby houses and from as far as Portsdown Hill. WH Smith, then the First Lord of the Admiralty, supported the build of the church to help serve the needs of the city and to be an inspiration to those who saw it. The church building is a stand out example of its time and contains many fine artifacts- most notably the Walker Organ which was designed especially for the church. The building is a Grade II listed building and sits within a very large church yard. While many things have developed in Portsmouth, St Mary's remains a landmark and a place held in the hearts of many. In recent times the church has developed and it now holds concerts regularly by the Portsmouth Choral Union, the Portsmouth Festival and the Royal Marine School of Music. The present Church Council and congregation are keen to honour the vision and ethos of the builders of the church and to make sure it both remains a landmark, continues to serve the needs of the community and city and to inspire those who visit it. Recently the parish has completed major renovation and restoration work consisting of the main body of the church and the roofs. £1million was raised in grants and funds to do so, and they are now looking towards the future and now they can develop further the building and the site so it continues to fulfil the vision of the builders and honour the Christian presence in this place in future years to come.
NOW FOR THE CACHE PUZZLE.... At the given coordinates you will find a large blue sign with sixteen lines of text. Take away the NUMBER of the given TIME on the 6th line of text, from the NUMBER of the given TIME on the 7th line of text. This equals A.
At WP1, there is a WW1 memorial- take a look at the side that displays text facing the blue sign you were just at. What number is on here FOUR times? This number equals B.
At WP2, you will find a grave surrounded by black metal fencing. There is a year on the bottom line of text 18C3. What is C?
At WP3, you will find a pillar. On here is an inscription about the Rev W.M.Bussell. Give the month that he died its common numerical value, and multiply it by TWO to equal D.
At WP4, you will see several small memorials at floor level with room for flowers only. Find the memorial for Mr and Mrs KERBY. Then add the number of letters together in their first names, and then take away three from this value to get E.
At WP5, you will find a plaque laid on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. How many cross emblems surround the text? This equals F.
*****You will find the cache at N50 48.ABC W001 04.DEF*****
The cache is within walking distance, and can be a hot spot for muggles and dogs. I have been advised that where the final cache location is closes overnight so I would suggest finding during daylight hours. This multi has been changed on 18/02/2015- however the final location remains the same so if you have already figured out the co-ordinates there is no need to redo. Also, judging by the DNFs and the increased time it will now take to solve I have increased the difficulty level accordingly.
****************** ******************** 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.co.uk See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series. ****************** *******************