The origins of Oughtibridge date back to the first part of the 12th century. There was a ford over the River Don managed by a man named Oughtred. When a bridge was built on the spot in approximately 1150 it became known as Oughtred’s Bridge or by his nickname of Oughty’s Bridge and the small settlement around the bridge adopted the same name.
A forge, manufacturing files was opened at the end of the 18th century. This was followed by a paper mill, tannery and a small brewery. These have all now disappeared. The last to close was the paper mill in 2007.
Today’s village has 3 churches, a school, a brass band, a sports ground, four public houses, a restaurant and various shops. Oughtibridge Gala is held every year in Coronation Park on the last Saturday in June and is one of the biggest village galas in the area, organised by local volunteers.
THE CHURCH
At the bottom of Orchard Street, Oughtibridge, near to the bridge which crossed the River Don was a small workshop known as the “Tip and Shuttle Shop” and here seems to have been the origin of Zion, the oldest Free Church in the village. A few devout men of vision, after holding outdoor meetings near the bridge, must have felt the desire for a building in which to worship God, for it is recorded that the foundation stone of our present Church was laid on 11th March 1833 by Mr George Grayson, who became one of the first Church members. The proceedings were conducted by the Rev David Dunkerley, who afterwards became the first pastor of the Church. (extract from Zion URC 150th Anniversary Celebrations, 1983).
An anecdote from this period records the high standards set by the small congregation. In 1835 the Church members decided to hold no further communion with Mary Denton, a member of the Church, because she had married an “unbeliever”, “until she repent and confess her sin”.
It took just four months from laying the foundation stone to erect the Church. It opened for public worship on 18th July 1833. More land was purchased in 1879 to build the Sunday School, which opened ten years later. Zion remained an independent church until 5th October 1972, when the United Reformed Church of England and Wales was formed and Zion became a member of the union.
The building you see on Langsett Road South is not the church, but the church hall. The church itself is hidden behind.
THE CACHE
The cache is not at the given co-ordinates, which take you to a foundation stone beyond the door into the church hall. Use the information on this stone to solve the formula and find the cache.
N53 25.ABC W001 32.DEF
A = The last number on the stone
B = The fourth number minus the third number
C = The sixth number minus the first number
D = The third number on the stone
E = The number of letters in the surname of the person who laid the stone minus the number of letters in the name of the village she lived in.
F = Number of letter L on the stone
Parking is available along Langsett Road North. Please note this is part of the Oughtibridge one-way system. Stealth will be needed at the final co-ordinates. Bring a pen to sign the log and please replace the cache as found.
LOG ETIQUETTE
Geocache owners take time to plan and place their caches, so they'd like to hear your feedback on whether you liked or disliked any aspect of the hide, or if some cache maintenance is needed. Single word, acronym, or emoticon logs may be easier when you are logging in the field or have a lot of caches to log, but it doesn't tell the cache owner or other finders anything about your adventure (or lack of one) in finding the cache. Please keep this in mind when logging your visit. Thank you.
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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.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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