The parish church of St. Mary in Basing is an ancient building steeped in history. Though the church we see today is largely 16th century in date, there are glimpses of earlier developments to be seen and the site itself has a long pedigree stretching way back into the mists of time. The earliest definite surviving mention of a church in Basing comes from a 1077 record of the rights of advowson owned by the Abbey of Mont St. Michel at Basing Church and a second dependent chapel in Basingstoke. This patronage was confirmed nine years later in King William I's national survey, the Domesday Book: The oldest structural features of the present building are the early 12th century northern and southern crossing arches under the tower. Some believe these may date from as early as 1089 when, presumably, the Monks of Mont St. Michel had the old wooden Saxon building, rebuilt in stone. It appears to have been a church of cruciform plan with chancel and nave of the same dimensions as those of today and transepts of the same width as the present aisles. It has been suggested that the eastern end may have been apsidal in shape, necessitating the positioning of the altar in a spot much further west than at present. This is indicated by the now blocked squint of uncertain date near the tower-crossing.
The above coordinates will take you to a resting place for Olive Astridge, and the date is May AB..CDEF
The cache is at N 51 16. B A F…. W 001 02. D (F – A) (A + E)
If you add up all the digits in the coordinates it should come to 53
For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?id=275067 please read the "Place your own Church Micro" page http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/place_your_own.html before you contact him at churchmicro@gmail.com. See also the Church Micro Statistics page http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/cm.html and Home page http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html for further information about the series.