Shenley (originally Senlai or Scenlai) is one of the oldest
villages in Hertfordshire and is even mentioned in the Domesday
book. The village is located on the old London Road between the
City and St.Albans. Until recent times it had one small shop and 4
pubs! Sounds about right to me!
The Cage is a small domed-shaped building bearing the
inscription ‘Do well. Fear Not. Be sober. Be Vigilant’. The
building served as a ‘lock-up’ or temporary prison for villains
accused of various crimes, until they were taken to the
Magistrates' Court at Barnet. It was last used as a prison in 1914
to hold a deserting soldier overnight.
The Pond probably dates back to medieval times. It is spring fed
and very rarely dries up. Local legend says it was used to dunk
witches for “Trial by Ordeal” but there is no hard evidence to
confirm this. Nowadays it is home to the Shenley Ducks (so please
bring some bread along!)
The first village school still stands next to St Martin’s
Church, although it is no longer used as a school. It was built in
1??1 for ‘poor boys of the manufacturing classes.’
"For centuries there have
been legends about treasure that was removed from the Roman City of
Verulamium when it was overcome by Queen Boadicea and the Iceni. It
has been suggested that the hoard was buried halfway between
Verulamium (St Albans) and London. The spot was even marked -
Salinae. Looking at a map of Roman roads, this could be
Shenley."
Tia is our chocolate labrador who is still as mad and happy as
ever despite having 2 major operations on her knees. If you see Tia
out for a walk with myself or my wife and our rescue greyhound
"Lucky" stop us and say hello. Tia's also a Travel Bug so ask us
for her tag number!
Tia's Treasure Trail is a
Circular walk approximately 1.42 miles (2.3 kilometres) in length
or slightly shorter if you take the short cut! When we walk
Tia along this route it normally takes us around 30 to 40 minutes
so we suggest you allow an hour to collect the co-ordinates and
find the cache!
The initial co-ordinates are for the entrance to the car park
for the Black Lion pub, now an Indian restaurant (There had been a
pub here since 1756). Either park here (the food is very good and
the owners friendly) or on the street close by (parking
lay-by).
Waypoint 1 - The Cage
Co-ordinates - N51 41.559 W000 16.890
How many windows are there in the Cage? = T
Waypoint 2 - The Memorial
Co-ordinates - N51 41.542 W000 16.879
This is a memorial to the men of Shenley who gave their lives for
their country in both World Wars.
How many Holzmeyers? = U
How many Rowsons? = V
How many Plumbs? = W
How many Letchs? = X
Waypoint 3 - The School
Co-ordinates - N51 41.393 W000 16.813
The date the old village school was built is above the windows -
1YZ1
By now you should have all the information
you need to solve the puzzle and find the Treasure!
The final co-ordinates for the cache are -
N51 41.V(Y-(Zx2))(W-X) W000 16.Y(Z+U)(Z-T)
The actual cache is a tupperware box inside a black outer bag
and it's location is visible from a busy path! Therefore please
move away from the cache site to sort through the Treasure,
exchange bugs, fill in log, take pictures etc. When you replace the
cache please ensure that everything is "back in place", as you
found it, because muggles often walk and play here, particularly
small inquisitive ones and especially in Summer!
Please ONLY take or swap one item and discover the
rest!
When you've found the final cache you can either retrace your
steps back through the village or continue westwards on the public
footpath to a main road which will return you to The Black Lion
pub. Did you find the short cut?
"There comes a time in
every rightly constructed boy's life when he has a raging desire to
go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure."
Mark
Twain
A Knight's Quest for hidden
treasure!