All Saints, the Parish Church of Findern in Derbyshire, was built in 1869 on the site of a Saxon Chapel of Ease that had been destroyed by fire, it contains a tympanum (decorative stone from over a door) from the original Norman church. The church also contains an octagonal font from 1666 and a monument to Isabella de Fynderne who died in 1444.
The history of Findern can be traced back to the Domesday Book, when it was held by Burton Abbey as an outlier of Mickleover. A priory once stood near the church, where the monks were supplied with fresh food from the fishponds on Common Piece Lane. After the dissolution of the abbey the Fynderne family, as the principal land-owners, took ownership of the village and the remaining Chapel of Ease. The Fyndernes lived in a fortified manor house on Castle Hill, though none of the house remains.
Sir Geoffrey de Fynderne left the village to join the Crusades, and brought back the Findern Flower (a member of the Narcissus family), which in the UK only grows in the village, and only in particular areas. The flower has become an emblem of the village and is represented in many guises, including the emblem of Findern Primary School.
The cache is a small tube placed at the back of a sign, please take care to remove and replace carefully as it's quite a loose fit in its hidey-hole. It's not placed in the churchyard and the area is overlooked so please exercise stealth particularly as vehicles may be parked adjacent.
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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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