The town of Melbourne in South Derbyshire has many churches of historical interest, and these Church Micros will introduce you to a few of them. Melbourne itself has some interesting historical links; Thomas Cook who is considered the founder of modern tourism was born in the town in 1808 (see the Baptist Church Micro) and in case you're wondering where the major city of Melbourne, VIC, Australia got its name from, it was so named in 1837 for Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister of Queen Victoria.
St Michael and St Mary is the Parish Church of Melbourne. When the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086 there was already a church at Melbourne although no details of it have survived. The current church was built in the 12th Century and has the feeling of a "Minature Cathedral". One theory to explain this is that it is thought to have been built between 1136 and 1156 when Adelulf (Aethelwulf), who was appointed its first bishop by King Henry I, lived here. Another theory suggests that it was built as a royal church by Henry I as part of his manor at Melbourne. with the West Gallery being a "royal pew" and the rare feature of an upper chancel which was reserved for the King's use.
Now to the cache, due to proximity to other caches this is a simple offset multi which will take you to a location with a scenic view of the church. Using the information on the noticeboard, go to N 52° 49.abc' W 1° 25.def' where
a = The last digit of the time of Evensong
b = The seventh digit of the Rector's telephone number
c = The sixth digit of the Rector's telephone number
d = The repeated (consecutive) digit in the Rector's telephone number
e = The hour of the time of weekday services
f = The first digit of the time of Parish Communion
Bonus information how many stiles are visible at this location, call this bonus digit C.
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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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