To find the cache, visit the war memorial and find the following information and a bench for G. Be careful especially with children as there is an unfenced drop. Unless specifically mentioned please use the First World War section.
A=Letters in ACKRILL's first name?
B= How many L's in the Surname of ALBERT T?
C= How many PERROT's?
D= How many letters in BURTON's first name?
E= Letters in CHURCHILL's first name?
F= How many MARSH's are there?
G= Total number of WW2 entries +3?
H= WW2, How many Sprakes?
Checksum of these numbers = 32. N50 4A.BCD W002 4 E.FGH
Symondsbury Church stands in the centre of the village, and was probably built on the site of an earlier one. The date of its construction is not known, but the first Rector of whom there is a record came in 1325.
The Church was originally Gothic but the pillars are Perpendicular.
The Tower was the earliest part of the present building to be erected, and it is probable that it superseded an earlier Tower. The whole of the Tower was erected during the latter half of the Fourteenth Century. The walls of the lower stage are three feet thick, while those of the next stage are increased in thickness by an ingenious ‘corbelling’, and arches over these.
In the North and South Transept there are Hagioscopes or Squints – that is spyholes through which the congregation in the transepts could see the priest at the altar. It will be noticed that the view through the Squints does not now reach the Sanctuary – evidence that the Chancel has been lengthened.
The Transepts, Nave and Porch were certainly erected during the Fifteenth Century. The roof over the Nave is a Fiftenth Century barrel roof. It has seven bays each divided into four compartments with moulded purline ridges and transverse ribs and wall plates with shields and carved bosses. The framework of wood was made at West Bay by the shipwrights there. The South Porch is Fifteenth Century, square and battlemented with gargoyles in the cornices, the outer doorway is pointed with three mouldings, the inner doorway is chamfered. On the South Porch wall, there was, until recently, a famous old mass dial. The whole of the ancient stone roof coverings have been removed, and large blue slates of uniform size substituted.
The church register was started in 1558.
At one time there were galleries in the North Transept and at the west end of the Church which were removed during the restoration of the church in 1920. At the beginning of this century the music was supplied by a harmonium in the west gallery and it was there that the choir sat. The Church was full at every service. The pews were high with tall hinged doors and elegant wooden candlesticks set in the middle of alternate pews – three oil lamps hung from the roof. Those who sat in the Chancel sat with their backs to the altar, turning to face it when they stood for the Belief. (The oak doors of the Chancel pews were used for panelling during the 1920s restoration programme). Next to the Rector’s Desk was a tiny pew for the Church Clerk.
During the restoration the floors of the building were pulled up with the exception of the paved aisles. This revealed the position of the vaults below. The whole of the North Transept below ground level consisted of a sub-divided vault in which 9 interments had taken place, including those of Gregory Syndercombe, Senior, Gregory Syndercombe, Junior, and Gregory Raymond. A second large vault was found opposite the main doorway containing the remains of members of the Battiscombe family – in whose memory a tablet can be seen high up on the wall above. The actual burying place of William Gulston, Bishop of Bristol, was not found, but it is understood he was buried in the Chancel aisle. These vaults were completely filled in with soil removed from under the floor boarding. Among the soil moved in the Chancel were found several pieces of Fourteenth Century tiles, which were later re-laid near the step of the Font.
The Heating apparatus was put in place during the 1920 restoration. Mr. Ernest A. Hutchings, a member of the Choir, and an expert engineer, voluntarily carried out the actual installation, helped by the Rector and Messrs. R.G. Follett and P.G. Fry.
The Choir Stalls are of special interest and value to Symondsbury people – the whole of the carvings, with the exception of four panels in the Clergy stalls were executed by amateurs within the Parish, namely Rev. C.F.L. Sweet, Mr. Sidney Cookson, and Mr. Ernest Hutchings and are therefore irreplaceable. The four panels in the Clergy Stalls were the work of a lady friend of the Rev. & Mrs. C.F.L. Sweet. The Stalls and Altar were made up by Messrs. Harry Hems & Sons of Exeter.
The Organ was given in memory of George Charles Waldron Sweet and Leonard Herbert Sweet, Captain 1st Hants Regiment. Captain Sweet was killed in action June 26th 1916 aged 23 years and Rev. G. Sweet was drowned whilst punting at Oxford, August 7th, 1919, the day following his wedding, aged 29 years. The Organ was built by Messrs. Griffin and Stroud of Bath.
The Font was formerly the property of the Bedfordbury Chapel in St. Martin’s Lane, London.
Windows west and south of the Tower have Ogee arches, the others are slightly pointed, above, a projecting string course divides it from the Belfry; the embattled parapet on the top of the Tower has gargoyles at the angles. The Chancel may be part of the earlier Church as traces have been found of a lower and narrower arch with a doorway or window.
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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.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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