Some History
St John the Evangelist Church, Woodley, is a grade II* listed building, built just over 100 years ago it is, as such, a relatively young parish church, with a still-active graveyard. The Rev. Ernest Angel Gray became the first encumbant of the Parish in 1881, the Church having been erected in 1873. Previously a congregational chapel was built here in 1834 and would have been served by a Curate.
The building is a typical Anglican Church design built in flint and stone, with a gabled roof, and an open bell tower. Today it is still a livey parish Church, with a number of daughter congregations.
Next door to the church is a grade II listed building which was originally the local school, and now used as a hall by the Church and Community. Accross the road, opposite the church, in Church Mews is a large house that presumably, originally housed the vicar. There is a lytchgate and lytchway from the mews to the churchyard - which also suggests that funeral processions would have moved from the mews to the churchyard for burial, especially as there is no lytchgate at the current boundary of the churchyard. Yew trees were traditionally planted in the churchyard, and a large yew tree can be seen in the grounds of the former school next door.
Until the late 19th Century Woodley was a tiny community and officially recognised as part of the parish of Sonning. Travellers would cross the River Loddon by the "sandy ford" and enter the parish by "the ley (clearing) in the wood", Wood-ley. By 1900, the population of woodley was still less than 1000.
Robert Palmer, born 1793, is credited with establishing Woodley as a community in its own right. He was a wealthy local man, living at Holme Park, now the Reading Blue Coat School. He was a magistrate and later High Sherrif, and also a MP for Berkshire. He is known for building the Church and School, however he would have been a very old man when the church was built, and he had died before Woodley became an ecclesiatical parish in 1881.
Indeed, the Church records indicate the Church was built in 1873, a year after Robert Palmer's death in 1872, however a building of this nature would have taken many years to put up and Robert Palmer was certinaly a major contributor to the costs of building St John’s Church, Woodley. In his will he also left funds to set up the Robert Palmer Almshouse Charity in Sonning. He died childless and left his estate to his siblings, with the majority going to his brother Richard Palmer, Rector of Purley. However by 1910 the Palmers had become victims of heavy taxation and death duties, and much of their estate was sold off.
About the cache
The cache is placed in such a way that you do not have to scrub around in the undergrowth, so please ensure you don't damage any of the fauna in the area - beware if you do step off the grass/track that there are brambles amongst the undergrowth! This does however mean that wheelchair users (and small children) would need assistance. The container is a micro, but there is room for a small swap item as well as the log, please trade fair if you take some 'treasure'. Thanks.
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication
To view the church micro stats page, please click here