Old Marston is a pretty village on the outskirts of Oxford.
The parish church of St.Nicholas, first built in the late 12th century, originally stood on what was virtually an island in the midst of the marshes surrounding the river Cherwell.
The name Marston derives from Anglo Saxon meaning "marsh town" which was a very apt description at the time .The only access to Oxford was via a ferry- first mentioned in 1279, which crossed the river near to the present day Victoria Arms and which was still in use,in one form or another, well into the 20th century.
The oldest parts of the church ( built in the late 12th/early 13th centuries) are the chancel arch, the 7 arches of the nave and the inner south door.They are built from Headington limestone stone.The tower was built in the 15th century and the porch in the 16th century and much work was done through Victorian times until the present day.
The village paid an important part in history as the house, where Oliver Cromwell once stayed and where the terms of the surrender of Royalist Oxford were negotiated during the English civil war, can be seen in Mill Lane. There is a very good description at GC5NBZN Cromwell House.
A lesser claim to fame stems from the fact that in 1815 the Reverend John Russell bred the first Jack Russell dog from a female terrier that he bought from a milkman in Old Marston!
Now to find the cache at N51 46.ABC W001 14.DEF
The headline co ordinates take you to the pavement outside the lych gate of the church.
On the church side of the Lychgate look up. There is an inscription in Latin.
A=Number of letters in the 4th word plus 1
B=Number of letters in the 1st word minus 1
C=Total number of words in the inscription plus 1
Now go to the the nearby bench.
The top line is a quotation from a poem by Philip Larkin.
D=Number of letters in the 4th word
E=Number of letters in the 2nd word minus 1
F=Number of letters in the last word
The cache is a short walk away and not in the churchyard.
There is easy parking near the church and buses(14A) run between Oxford rail station via Old Marston to the John Radcliffe hospital.
If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here
http://churchmicro.co.uk/
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at
http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html