CLAYDON CONUNDRUM (Bucks)
The starting location is:
N51° 55.286 / W000° 57.343
I recommend you park next to the road in Middle Claydon, around N51° 55.550 / W000° 57.189, where a public footpath starts. It's also near a letter box, and can be found just a few hundred yards up the road from The Hornets Claydon Spooks cache. Follow this footpath into the grounds of Claydon House to reach the start location. This is National Trust property which means the house and grounds are officially closed out-of-hours, and for the winter months. However, the footpaths (which follow the access road out of the 'front gate', as well as passing the front of the house and exiting to the south) and cache locations are always accessible - for free!
You may recognise Claydon House from the cover of OS map 165 (a very handy thing to own!), or because it was featured in BBC's Vanity Fair and the Hollywood production of Emma. Learn more about this amazing house and grounds on the National Trust web site. Some history and a chilling tale to get you in the mood:
The Ghost of Sir Edmund Verney
There's a famous tale of the split between a father and son who argued about whether to support the King or Parliament during the English Civil War. They were the Verney's, and this is the story of the father, Sir Edmund, who is said to haunt his family home at Claydon House in Buckinghamshire.
Sir Edmund Verney became a Royalist standard bearer who carried the King's flag into battle. He was killed in the battle at Edgehill in 1642. According to legend, Sir Edmund was captured by Cromwell’s men who demanded that he give up the King's flag. Sir Edmund refused, saying, "By the grace of God, they that would wrest that standard from my hand must first wrest the soul from my body." So, unsurprisingly, he was killed. However when the Roundheads tried to take the standard from his lifeless hand, they found they could not unlock his grip, so they had to hack off his hand to finally capture the standard instead. Later in the battle, the King recaptured the standard and discovered Sir Edmund's hand still grasping the pole. Charles I recognised it by the signet ring with the King's portrait on it. Sir Edmund's body, like so many others, was buried somewhere on the battlefield. No one knows where, but his severed hand was returned home to Claydon. Even now, above the altar hangs the very armour that covered the standard bearer's hand, still holding on to the pole.
When the family vault below the church was opened some years ago it was discovered there was no coffin for Sir Edmund , only a casket large enough to contain a hand. Sir Edmund reputedly haunts the house, wandering pathetically about the little chapel, seemingly looking for his lost hand. It's said he has been seen by many visitors to the house. There are also stories of a spectral glowing hand, drifting around the churchyard, hunting for its long lost body. Spooky!
At the start location, locate a topless column, traditional symbol of the end of a bloodline, and the boxy ornate tomb next to it. Here you need to read the birth and death dates of a later 'Edmund Verney', Edmund Hope Verney. Convert these dates into the format d/m/yyyy. Now fit those numbers into this table:
Born: A / B / 1CDC
A=____ B=____ C=____ D=____
Died C / E / 1FGH
E=____ F=____ G=____ H=____
Interestingly, he was Liberal MP for North Buckinghamshire between 1889 and 1891. On the
12th of May 1891 he was expelled from Parliament, after being sentenced to a years imprisonment for a misdemeanour. Namely, 'procuring a girl under the age of 21, Miss Nellie Maud Baskett, for an immoral purpose'. An MP in a sex scandal? Never!
Now comes the tricky bit. Further clues to three possible 'cache locations can be found at:
Location A) Easy access to N51° EE.DDF / W000° E(B+D).GFG,
where Sir Henry Verney left you a clue in [1ij5 (or is it a 3?)]
He leads you to N51° EE.j(j+1)(j-1) / W000° E(C-G).H(i+G)(i+G)
N51° ___ ___.___ ___ ___ / W000° ___ ___.___ ___ ___
Leads to N51° ___ ___.___ ___ ___ / W000° ___ ___.___ ___ ___
Location B) Take marked footpaths and/or the disused iron road to N51° EE.F(D-1)G. / W000° E(B+D).CBH,
where X markes the spot! Sign: X over [kl]
It sends you up the line to N51° EA.(k-G)(k+k)(l+G) / W000° E(A+G).(l-k-k)(l+D)(k+l+G)
(Note: My GPS went a bit crazy here -all the iron around?- so just stick to the obvious 'path')
N51° ___ ___.___ ___ ___ / W000° ___ ___.___ ___ ___
Leads to N51° ___ ___.___ ___ ___ / W000° ___ ___.___ ___ ___
Location C) Take marked paths across fields or drive to N51° EA.GBC / W000° EC.A(B+D)A,
where a 'hello sailor' date on a wall [1mnn]
leads you to one possible resting place at N51° EA.H(m-1)n / W000° EC.nn(m-n)
N51° ___ ___.___ ___ ___ / W000° ___ ___.___ ___ ___
Leads to N51° ___ ___.___ ___ ___ / W000° ___ ___.___ ___ ___
At the two 'fake' locations you will find 'fake' caches, complete with a note of apology from me for making you run about all over the place. [Please imagine an evil laugh here] Only the REAL cache has a log book and trinkets in it, but if you find either, or both of the 'fakes' you are welcome to take/leave a little something behind as a consolation prize to any unlucky souls that follow in your footsteps. I've popped a black bag in both, in case anyone fancies a little cache 'n' trash fun.
Finders of either of the 'fakes' are allowed- no, encouraged to take it to swap with the real geocache when they eventually track it down. The real cache would then need to be quickly collected, transported and hidden back where the fake was picked up from. What I'm trying to achieve here is a cache that's never guaranteed to be where you think it might be, even if you've done it before. To that end, please don't say which location (A, B or C) you found the real cache at, or whether you moved it to one of the other locations, when you log your find online. Thank you! (Note: It would be helpful to note any nefarious cache-swapping behaviour in the log book though)
Anyway, I hope that's clear, and happy hunting for the treasure- wherever it's got to!
The 'real' cache (a small tupperware box) originally contained:
1x Egg-shaped candle
1x Flyer for The Phoenix Trail
1x Wooden eggcup
Plus the usual: Cache notice, log book, pencil.
While you're in the area, I suggest you try The Hornet's
Claydon Spooks which is a quick walk up the road. Fancy something more demanding? The Planks by Jaq is the other side of Steeple Claydon. Or else try my own
ROMING IN THE WOOD traditional cache.
The last two are both within short driving distance.
A small experiment - Please feel free to rate your visit to this cache out of ten in your log.