St. Oswald's Church, Methley
The Church of Methley was in existence at the time of Domesday, but has been wholly rebuilt, and in the present fabric is nothing peculiar, except the chantry on the South side of the choir, founded and endowed by Robert Waterton, in 1424, and which contains many monuments of exquisite workmanship. The greatest piece of antiquity about the Church, is a statue of King Oswald, the Patron Saint, over the south door, far more ancient than any part of the present edifice, and probably contemporary with the foundation of the church and parish. The figure is that of an aged man in robes, with crown and sceptre, somewhat decayed, but yet expressive and majestic in decay.
The spire at St Oswalds was added at the end of the 18th century. It was in need of repair in 1784 after damage by lightning, later re-built in1901 but this was removed in 1937 after being declared unsafe.
The Castleford-born artist Henry Moore was a frequent visitor to the church. Nikolaus Pevsner documented the church and Methley Hall as part of his Buildings of England series in the late 1950s. Alan Bennett visited the church in December 1998 as mentioned in his collection of writings Untold Stories (2005), a visit which was filmed as part of a special The South Bank Show charting the writer's early life.
To find the cache, take Sarah's number and assign it as ABCDE FGHIJK.
The hide is at N53 44.(F-H)(G+J)J W001 24.(F-G)C(J-H)
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