Canute Cache #1 - Canute Woz 'Ere!
A
cache
by nadaj
Hidden
:
2/27/2010
Difficulty:
Terrain:
Size: 
(Small)
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A quick cache and dash, or a nice walk with the bonus of a cache!
This is one of a series of 3 caches, called the Canute Caches.
Local folklore has it that in the time of King Aethelred the Unready, when Canute the Dane was storming across the country, a fierce battle took place in this area.
Canute and his army were based at Cherbury Camp, near Charney Bassett (Canute Cache #1), but the Saxons moved secretly up to Uffington Castle, to “persuade” them to leave.
A young shepherd boy, named William Pusey, saw their armies marching across the Downs, and being sympathetic to the Danish cause, blew his horn to warn Canute of the ambush.
The two armies met at the crossroads near Gainfield (Canute cache #2), at a field which is now known as The Gore, because of all the blood that flowed that day during the battle. At first the English were pushed back to Stanford in the Vale, but they soon recovered ground when the Danes stopped to eat honey on Honeycomb Hill. The invaders eventually managed to Gain-the-Field, and when Canute also gained the whole Kingdom, the brave Berkshire shepherd boy was rewarded with all the land within the sound of his horn and the manor which still bears his name – Pusey Manor (Canute Cache #3).
Charney Bassett
There has been a settlement at Charney Bassett since Anglo-Saxon times. The earliest surviving records of its history show that there was a grant of land to the Abbot of Abingdon Abbey in 811. The surrounding area was originally marshland and the meaning of Charney is “island in the River Cearn”, which is an alternative name for the River Ock.
About a mile north of the village is Cherbury Camp, an Iron Age earthwork. It looks like nearby hill forts, but is unusual in that it is built on more or less level ground. The fort, or camp, covers an oval-shaped area about the size of three football pitches. It consists of a high bank surrounded by a series of concentric ditches. There is a good walk to the Camp, and although you cannot access the Camp itself, it is still impressive to see.
This cache is not placed on the footpath to the Camp, due to issues with a cache that was here previously, nor is it at the Camp, as this is a listed ancient monument.
This cache can be done as a cache and dash, but we do recommend the walk to the Fort. You are looking for a small clip lock box, which is big enough for small swaps.
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Additional Hints
(No hints available.)
