All Saints' Church – a bit of history
The church is on a site of religious significance, at the highest point on a ridge. A 1200 year old yew tree is close to that point. This was the heart of a Saxon settlement, perhaps with a wooden church. There has always been a story that Berin, the great British missionary, preached to the people here. He later became Bishop of Dorchester, and history calls him St. Birinus.
The foundations of the church were laid in 1160. The church developed in four distinct areas. The earliest is the twelfth century nave. In the fourteenth century the chancel and the south aisle were added. Five hundred years later, the north aisle, kitchen and vestry were built. The belfy is from the nineteenth century, a solid timber frame covered with oak shingles and surmounted by a broad spire of the same materials. There are three bells, two are from the late fourteenth century and bear the stamp of the Wallingford foundry and the third was cast in Reading.
The cache
The cache is accessed of a public path which runs just to the east of the church building. It's a well-used route so watch out for muggles! The cache is not at ground level
Mid-March tweak to location (and coordinates) - cache page altered
If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here
http://churchmicro.co.uk/
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at
http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html