At the listing co-ordinates you will need to locate a coat of arms on the floor of the porch, using the instructions below you will be able to work out the co-ordinates of the final hide, which is at
N52 22.A (B+D) (AxA), W001 45.(C+D) (A+B) (A+B+C+D)
A = Number of words in motto below shield
B = Number of stars on shield
C = Number of black greyhounds on shield
D = Number of red barrulets (stripes) on shield
THE CHURCH
With the building of a station and the arrival of the railway in 1852, the village of Dorridge started to grow apace. Houses - firstly workmen's cottages and then more elegant houses to accommodate commuters using the railway - sprang up and by 1877 there was a thriving community at Dorridge. The houses were mainly in the area of Packwood Gullet - hence the inhabitants were referred to as the "Gullet People"! Since 1865 there had been suggestions that Dorridge should have its own church. These suggestions found active support from the Rev. R.W. Johnson, the Vicar of Packwood, who in July 1873 published a quaintly worded appeal for funds to erect a Chapel of Ease.
A plot of land near the station and a hundred pounds were given by Philip Wykeham-Martin M.P., the Lay Rector of Packwood, and other contributions included a further hundred pounds from Mr G.F. Muntz and fifty from Mrs Wykeham-Martin. The church was to cost £825 but even in those days of low inflation the final cost was found to be nearly £1,000 when it was completed in 1878, even though the size of the church was reduced from a seating capacity of 200 to only 120. On November 19th the church was dedicated by the Bishop of Worcester.
Within ten years of the church being built, further development had taken place, particularly near the station. If you could transport yourself to Dorridge to the time of the first Vestry meeting - in 1887 - you would have found a large sales room (now the station car park) adjacent to the station. On the corner of Avenue Road and Dorridge Road was Dorridge House, from which the village took its name. The Forest Hotel was in its present position. Behind the hotel were four small cottages, demolished some years ago to make way for the shopping precinct. In the old shopping precinct was Oakfield House and its grounds. In Station Road, the "Vine" Public House had been built - next to it was the stockyard and next to that, the Gas Works. These developments were indicative of building construction throughout the village and it was soon found that the church was too small for the growing population. So, in 1894, Mr C.H. Jaques, a Churchwarden, offered the then princely sum of five-hundred Pounds for its enlargement, on condition that a similar sum should be raised before December 24th, 1894. This amount was duly contributed.
The work was entrusted to Mr J.A. Chatwin, a well-known Birmingham church architect, who designed a new Chancel, to be built of stone with Chancel Aisle Organ Chamber and Vestries. He also included in the plans a fine stone tower and nave but these have never been built. The cost would then have been £5,000 to £6,000. The additional land for the extension was given by Mr C.P. Wykeham-Martin, son of the donor of the original land.
Some delay now occurred for the following reason. When the church was built, it was to serve as a Chapel-of-Ease for Packwood Church and its Priest was responsible to the Vicar of Packwood. It was now felt that Dorridge had closer affinities with the village of Knowle. Therefore by an Order in Council published in the London Gazette on December 17th 1895 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners transferred the area to the Parish of Knowle. Henceforth the Priest at Dorridge Church would be a Curate of Knowle Church and Parishioners would have the right to be buried at Knowle instead of Packwood Church. All this caused some delay but in 1896 the work of building was commenced by Collins and Godfrey of Tewkesbury, the foundation stone being laid by the Bishop of Worcester on July 14th 1896. Various documents were put in a jar by Mr G. Simkins and placed under the stone. The cost of the extension was £2,300 and the Bishop of Worcester was again at the church to dedicate the new building on 6th June 1897. It was stated for the first time, when the appeal for funds was made, that the intention of the transfer from Packwood to Knowle parish was to make Dorridge a separate parish when the time was ripe. This suggestion that Dorridge should be a separate parish was repeated at a Vestry meeting in 1892 but it was to be 74 years later, in 1966, that it was finally implemented.
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