The church of All Saints at Dale Abbey, is breathtakingly beautiful.
A semi-detached building (the other part of the building, now a house, used to be a pub!), it dates back to the 12th century, and was originally the infirmery for the neighbouring abbey, the remains of which can be seen in a field nearby. After the dissolution of the monasteries, this became a church for the tiny hamlet which remained after the abbey was demolished. Dale also slots into the Robin Hood legend, for one of the Merry Men was from here - Alan-A-Dale, the minstrel. Dale Abbey parish was a “peculiar”, meaning that it did not come under the control of the local bishop – instead, it was directly controlled by the lord of the manor. Indeed, in the 18th century Lord Stanhope, who held the manor, decided that he wanted a bishop’s throne installed in the church to prove the point. Also, since it was not subject to the normal rules, Dale Abbey was a bit like Gretna Green, in that people could get married here without the usual reading of the banns.
Inside, the church is tiny; measuring just 26 feet by 25 feet – one of the smallest churches in the country. It has a few 17th century box pews, a 17th century pulpit, and there are 13th century murals still visible on the wall. Entering the church is like going back in time, and it is not surprising that the church is a Grade I listed building.
For this multi cache, you will have to visit two waypoints to obtain information which will lead you to the final location.
Waypoint 1 is the church itself (the initial coordinates are at the edge of the churchyard, so that its icon does not to totally cover an existing multicache) – you do not need to go into the church, which is normally locked, but you will need to look around the exterior of the church and the churchyard. In particular, you need to look at the main door to the church, a pair of graves next to the side gate, and a Commonwealth War Grave in memory of Sapper A. Fryer.
A = The combined ages at death of Milley Freckleton and Elizabeth Deavrill, divided by 10.
B = The second digit of the date in May when Elizabeth Deavrill died.
C = The final digit of the year in which Elizabeth Deavrill died.
D = The first digit of Sapper Fryer’s service number.
E = The number of keyholes in the main door to the church.
F = The first digit of Sapper Fryer’s age when he died in 1918.
When you have finished at the church, go to the bottom of The Village to Waypoint 2, where you will find some interesting information about the village.
X = “The Flourish” multiplied by the “Thatched Barn”
Y = “Tater Ole” multiplied by “Abbey Gatehouse”, minus “Tattle Hill”
The final cache can now be found at: N 52 X.ABC W 001 Y.DEF. This is a short walk away – the final part of the route is not paved, but it should be relatively easy. The cache is a micro container. Please bring your own pen(cil)
Please do not search for this cache at night. Dale Abbey is an isolated rural community, and the cache is not too distant from the nearest housing - it would not be good to cause alarm to local residents.
****************** ********************
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.
****************** *******************