St. Mary's Church, Salford
At the western edge of the village of Salford stands the 12th-century parish church of St Mary, with its crenellated tower soaring high above the surrounding landscape like a beacon.
Park at the suggested parking and take a short walk to the posted coordinates which is the church gateway, where you will find memorial stones to William & Florence Hill.
Walter died in 19AB
Florence died in 19CD
Now follow the path around to the back of the church and waypoint 2 where you will find the gravestone of Susan Colston who died on the EFth October 201G.
The final cache is a very short walk away at N51 5F.(A+B)(C+D)(E+F) W001 3G.(D-E)CA
The cache contains a log sheet only so please bring your own pen as the log must be signed to claim the find.
HISTORY
The church dates to the Norman period, though it was comprehensively rebuilt by GE Street in 1854-55. Thankfully, Street preserved many of the original Norman features, including the south doorway with its simply carved column capitals. Even more impressive is the blocked north doorway (best seen from the outside).
The doorway features a beautifully carved tympanum with figures of a centaur drawing his bow and a lion flanking a maltese cross. The centaur is almost certainly a depiction of the Zodiac figure of Sagittarius, while the lion is probably Leo. Similar carvings can be seen at Hook Norton, about four miles away.
The doorway arch the protects the tympanum has drip-stops on each side in the shape of a beast-head.
Inside the church, the best Norman feature is the beautifully carved font, made of oolitic limestone. The font bowl is set on a later octagonal base. The bowl is decorated with intersecting blind arcading. There are 27 columns in the arcading, of which only 4 have decorated arches and base mouldings.
Unfortunately, the original Norman chancel arch was rebuilt during the Victorian restoration. The west tower is also Victorian, though it incorporates several small single lancet windows that appear to be 12th century. There are two medieval gargoyles on the tower parapet.
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See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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