Church Micro 9503...Cornwood
This is a pretty little church the very quiet village of Cornwood, Devon. The village has specific significance for myself as my grandfather ran a football club in the village when i was young.
A Little Bit Of History
The Church is built on the highest point of a low ridge overlooking the original village which, 700-800 years ago, would have consisted of a straggle of cob and thatched cottages, running from the present cross-roads down towards Langham Bridge on the road to Ivybridge, together with some ten outlying farms.
It seems surprising that the countryside at the head of the valley of the Yealm River supported, in those days, a population who could have afforded to build such a large church. On the other hand the Parish is a large one, extending from the line of the A38 between Ivybridge and Lee Mill in the south to the moor on the skyline in the north. In particular it contained, even then, four great houses and their estates. Three of these were manors mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 - Cornwood (the present Delamore estate), Blachford and Fardel. The fourth house, Slade, was in existence in the reign of Edward I and was important enough to be shown on its own on the first map of the County of Devon in the late 16th century.
The oldest part of the Church is the squat, slightly tapering tower. The remains of its lancet windows suggest that it dates from the early part of the 13th century. It was probably part of an earlier building whose nave and chancel may have corresponded in size with the present nave. We know that the Church and three altars were rededicated in 1336.
The addition of the final bay of the chancel, the porch, the vestry and, in 1984, a small annex against the north side of the tower, does not alter the basic design of the 14th century church in the Perpendicular style which is characteristic of so many churches in Devon.
There is more information to be found about the churches history and goings on on their web site. Which is www.cornwoodchurch.com
Now Onto The Cache
The church has fairly large grounds with nice clear paths throughout. We would suggest to use the main entrance to have a good look at the church. Once at and facing the main entrance to the church turn around to face the graveyard and you will see a large cross memorial. This is a memorial to the men of Cornwood who lost thier lives in the world wars. There is text written on two sides of this memorial you will need to be facing the text that starts "To the glory of God". You will need to count the lines of text and the number of words in them to work out the co-ords.
- The number of lines of text including "to the glory of God. This gives you B
- The number of words in the 3rd line of text. This gives you A
- The number of words in the 2nd line of text minus the number of words in line 4. This gives you C
- The number of words in the 1st line of text. Minus 1.Gives you D and
- The number of words in the 6th line of text plus 1. This will give you E
To find the cache go to N 50 24.ABC W 003 57.ADE
FTF honours can be claimed by all who find the cache on the first day :D
If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here
http://churchmicro.co.uk/
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at
http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html
