Let sleeping policemen lie... (part 1) Multi-cache
Let sleeping policemen lie... (part 1)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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... but not be forgotten. A pair of simple offset caches telling the story of "The Icknield Street Murder". DON'T FORGET TO TAKE IN THE NEARBY "LET SLEEPING POLICEMEN LIE... PART 2" CACHE TO GET THE FULL STORY!
PC Davies was stationed at Beoley in the latter part of the 19th century. One February evening PC Davies went on night patrol leaving home as usual at 10pm. He met up with his colleague from Wythall at Portway at 1am and they walked together to Weatheroak where they parted, PC Davies intending to meet the Alvechurch PC at 4am. Unfortunately the Alvechurch PC was unwell and did not go on patrol that night. The following morning a farm-worker from Rowney Green was travelling to Weatheroak on Icknield Street when he discovered the body of PC Davies lying in a pool of blood.
The Constable had been severely beaten and his throat had been cut. The farm-worker sent for help but also had the presence of mind to protect several footprints in the area that did not match those of the PC. In a ditch 200 yards away were found his whistle and his oak stick (what might today be called a truncheon). The footprints were allegedly recognised as those of a Moses Shrimpton, a known poacher and hen-stealer. Five stolen chickens were found in a nearby ditch and Shrimpton's footprints were later found to match those adjacent to the body. Shrimpton had recently completed a term of 7 years of penal servitude for attacking another policeman.
Shrimpton was arrested in Birmingham later that day. He showed signs of a fight and both his clothes and knife bore traces of blood. He was tried at Worcester Crown Court and was sentenced to death - he was executed at Worcester Prison. A story also told from that time tells that due to Shrimpton's age (he was 65) and slight body, a miscalculation in the length of rope/drop required to ensure instant death resulted in the execution actually severing his head from his torso in an clean break.
PC Davies left a wife and two children. At the time of listing this cache Worcestershire Constabulary report that he is the only Worcestershire policeman to lose his life during the course of duty.
The co-ordinates quoted are for a gate/verge on Icknield Street suitable for parking, or you can park at the nearby Coach & Horses Public House in Hill Lane, Weatheroak, in readiness for the after-find celebrations.
Within 200ft of this gateway, on Icknield Street itself, no more than a metre from the road, you will find (but you have to look for it) a plaque marking the site of the tragedy. This is not intended to be hidden - if there is leaf or soil debris covering the plaque please gently remove it, then you can be a part of preserving local history too. When walking this 2,000 year-old Roman road think what it might have been like as a lonely February night beat ...
The plaque displays numbers and/or letters and you will need these in order to find the final location, which is nearby. Derive A, B, C, D, E and F in the order they appear on the plaque - if the characters are letters then a=0, b=1, c=2 etc, if they are numbers then simply use their numeric value. The cache is located at:
N 52 (B-C)C.FD(E-D), W 001 F(A-B-C).(E-D)A(E-D)
The cache is a small container with room only for a logbook, pen and swaps.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Cyndhr vf hcuvyy sebz tngrjnl, nobhg 160-180 sg ba yrsg va onax ng xarrurvtug naf vf nobhg gur fvmr bs n yncgbc. Pnpur uvqr vaibyirf n fgvyr.