**The cache is not at the stated coordinates**
About 1539 the people of Billinge, who till now had had to travel into the centre of Wigan to attend the Parish Church, decided that they should have their own place of worship within the village. A chapel of ease was built, paid for by the inhabitants, which, according to Rev Wickham, was probably similar in size and design to those which were built at Rivington in 1540 and Langho in 1557. The church at Rivington has been modified since then, Langho is virtually unchanged but is no longer in use for worship. It was almost certainly very poorly furnished, for when the King's Commissioners arrived in 1552 the only thing which they considered worth taking was the bell!
By 1718 a new chapel had been built which was one of the finest in the area at that time. Unfortunately the name of the architect is not known though St James' Church in Over Darwin, designed by Henry Sephton and built about 1720, is very similar. It is known that a James Skaesbrike was a prime mover in the construction of the new building, a memorial to his generosity can be seen on the South wall of the nave, and that the Bankes family also made an equal contribution. It is unfortunate but we know little about Mr Scaesbrike except that he was a Liverpool merchant who had relatives at Winstanley. The new church was a rectangular building with a small apse at the east end.
This chapel had a capacity of 200 at a time when the population of Billinge was only about 900, an expected attendance of more than 20% of the residents, we would need several extra churches to accommodate so many today.
In 1823 and 1824 the capacity of the church was increased by the addition of first the north and then the south galleries.
In 1907 a celebrated architect of the time, Mr T G Jackson RA, was employed to extend the church, the apse was moved eastwards and the choir and transepts were added. If one looks at the outside walls of the building the newer work is easily identified by the different stone used to supplement that already available. At this time also the galleries and the box pews were removed, the oak panelling of which the pews were made was installed all round the church and is still to be seen there today, if you look closely you will see the marks left by hinges and catches from the old pew doors. The brass lectern was given in memory of Canon St George and is a copy of that given to York Minster in 1686.
To find the cache you will need to visit the church and locate an unusual coffin shaped grave on the south side of the church.
What date is inscribed on the grave? These numbers are ABCD.
The cache is located just outside the church grounds at N53 30.(D)(B+2)6 W002 42.(A+2)(D)(C+1)
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.
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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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