This cache replaces an early church micro at the same church. Building works have forced us to move the cache, and since the church is in the grounds of a school and there were no suitable alternative locations, it is now a multi-cache.
The original church, substantial portions of which survive on the south side, was build in the latter part of the 7th or early part of the 8th century so belongs to the scatter of churches created in the south east of England, following St Augustine’s landing in 597.
After 500 years without alterations, the Normans added the north aisle circa 1190. The pillar and two transitional arches of this enlargement survive. The renaissance statue of the Madonna and Child circa 1500, is north Italian and made of limestone. Traces of its original colouring remain to this day.
The pulpit is late Elizabethan in origin and is one of the noblest in England. It is Heptagonal shape and made of English Walnut.
The chancel was built circa 1240 and features exceptionally fine quadripartite stone vaulting and also still shows part of a fine 13th century mural of the adoration of the lamb.
St Mary’s is possibly best known for its rich collection of seven brasses. People come from all over the world to visit these. The famous brass of Sir John D’Abernon the Elder, dates from circa 1325 and is fully 6 feet in length. It lies next to the equally fine brass of his son, Sir John the Younger, dating from circa 1350.
There are six church bells in the tower, including a Pre-Reformation bell of circa 1450, cast by the famous woman bell founder, Joanna Sturdy.
To find the cache you need to find a bench at the given coordinates. This is in memory of a former bellringer at this church and has the dates 19AB - 19CD.
Very close to this location, on the nearby wall, you will find a war memorial. In the left hand (1914-1918) column count the total number of men who served in the East Surrey and Royal West Surrey regiments (E). In the right hand column (1939-1945) count the number of women named (F).
The cache can be found at N 51 19.(A-B)(E-F)(C+D) W000 22.CEC
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro@gmail.com.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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