The cache is just off one of the roads leading up to the church. Please bring tweezers and a pen and leave it covered as you find it.
The story of South Creake·parish church begins about 900 years ago with the building of a private chapel by the Beaufoe family, who had been given land in the village by King Henry I. Like many godly folk, they gave the church away to a monastery, Castleacre, whose ruins can be seen off the Fakenham to Swaffham road. Castleacre is known for having rebuilt its churches and the present chancel dates from those early days.
The first church was built of wood. The monastery, in all probability, rebuilt it in stone though little of what they built remains. The late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries saw the expansion of many churches with much larger windows, early English and Decorated in style, with a larger nave roofed, it is said, with thatch, and a tower. In the fourteenth century the nave was rebuilt with larger windows in the perpendicular style, a less steep slate roof with clerestory windows and, internally, the angel roof and the rood screen with its staircase. The great rood, a statue of Christ on the cross set in the chancel arch, dominated the church.
In 1537, Castleacre monastery surrendered itself to king Henry VIII; ten years on his death, all the decorations in the church were removed: statues and altars were smashed, the Rood torn down, vestments and church plate sold; processions were banned, saints’ days abolished. Henry’s three children, who ruled one after the other, had different religious views: Edward pushed the Reformation forward; Mary, his half sister, a Catholic, made the people of South Creake, and everywhere else, put back their statues, their Rood, and their stone altar; Elizabeth made them take them down again.
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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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Well done to CarrieNic on another FTF