The Priory Church of St. Peter
The Church
This church is the surviving part of an Augustian priory founded by Henry I in 1131. In its heyday it was of cathedral proportions, serving a large Augustinian community. After the dissolution of the monasteries all except the original nave was lost, and its height was also reduced by one third. Even so it is a large and impressive building, full of history.
The church has Norman architectural features, medieval brasses and wood carving, eighteenth-century monuments and modern stained glass. The building has been involved in many significant events of English history including the Peasants' Revolt. It was at the priory, in the 16th century, that the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon was pronounced, followed by the dissolution of the priory itself soon afterwards. Parts of the original priory church, with its fine Norman nave and magnificent west front, survives as the town's parish church.
It is also said that the church is haunted by the ghost of a canon or a former prior. The ghost first appears in the southwest corner of the church, as if he has just walked through the wall from where the Prior's house used to stand. Turning to the right, he walks along the south aisle of the church until just before the Lady Chapel. He then turns to the left and walks along the front of the church, stopping to genuflect in the direction where the original altar would have stood. Finally, he turns to the right and walks through the east wall of the church.
As you walk around the church, take note of the white lines that are painted on the grass, theses indicate the parts of the monastery that are no longer there.
The Cache
To find the final coordinates for the cache you will need to visit a few locations around the church first and find the answers to some questions.
Firstly, go to N51º53.135 W000º31.138
At the information board for the Medieval Physic Garden, find out the following:
How many letters are there in the name of the plant used for liver jaundice?
How many letters are there in the name of the plant used for kidney stones and urine infections?
Subtract the second number from the first number to give you a value for A.
On the planting plan, what number category do the above two plants fall under?
This will give you a value for B.
Next, go to N51º53.145 W000º31.102
There is a small plaque on this memorial where you will find the answer to the following:
This memorial was refurbished in 20CD.
Lastly, go toN51º53.195 W000º31.002
Here you will find the seafarer's resting place.
How many letters are there in the month that Charlotte Murdin died?
This will give you an answer for E.
What are the third and fourth digits of the year that she died?
Subtract the third digit from the fourth to give you an answer for F.
You can now find your way to the cache at N51º53.ABC W000º31.DEF
Happy caching!
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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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Congratulations to Smokeypugs, Lujoco and Grumpalot666 for joint FTF
The Queen Eleanor Pilgrimage
Following the death of his beloved wife, Queen Eleanor, on November 28th 1290 at Harby, near Lincoln, King Edward Iaccompanied her funeral procession on its journey to London, where she was to be buried in Westminster Abbey. At each place that the procession stopped overnight, the King ordered a cross to be erected in her name. These crosses are now known as the ‘Eleanor Crosses’, although very few of the twelve originals now remain intact. The twelve sites are: Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St Albans, Waltham Cross, Cheapside and Charing Cross.
This cache is currently the closest cache to the site of one of these crosses and forms part of the ‘Queen Eleanor Pilgrimage’, along with Lincoln Cathedral, where her viscera are interred, Blackfriars, where her heart was placed, and Harby and Westminster, the start and end of her final journey.
Further information on the crosses can be found here.
A bookmark list of all the caches currently in the series can be found here.
A badge has been produced for each of these caches for you to collect and place on your profile as you visit them. The first four cachers to visit each of these caches will receive a commemorative ‘tag’ and a final badge for their profile. Contact Tentmantent if you think that you qualify.