New Scientist Enigma 543 – Spires Point the Way

by Keith Austin

From Issue #1695, 16th December 1989

The quiet town of Spirechester is divided into nine square parishes as shown on the map. Each parish church has its spire precisely at the centre of the parish, and these are marked on the map.

The churches are named after St Agnes, St Brigid, St Cecilia, St Donwen, St Etheldreda, St Felicity, St Genevieve, St Helen and St Isabel. Each spire is topped by a weather vane which has, instead of a cock, the initial letter of its saint’s name.

Recently I walked in the meadows which surround the town and took a number of photos from different positions. Fortunately, no spire was ever hidden by another spire and the wind was such that the weather vane letters were clearly visible. However, I was not sufficiently distant from the town to capture all nine spires and, in fact, each photo contains just five spires. The orders of the spires of the photos, reading from left to right, were GEIAC, EACHD, EACDH, AECHD, IFCGB.

Starting with A (for St Agnes) list the eight churches in clockwise order around the outside of the square.