Sir Robert Sibbald and the Wandering Gardens Multi-Cache
Sir Robert Sibbald and the Wandering Gardens
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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Another cache in the history of science in Edinburgh series. This is a multi with a bit of a walk from the source of information to the final location.
Extracting the log from the cache can be a bit challenging. You might want to bring a pin or a needle with you to assist in this task.
The inspiration for this cache came from listening to a BBC Radio 4 Material World program about a science walk around Edinburgh which stopped off at Waverley station to talk about Sir Robert Sibbald.
The coordinates given for this cache take you to the entrance to Waverley station in Edinburgh. Within the station is a plaque bearing his name with the information needed to determine the coordinates of the final location which is related to Sir Robert Sibbald.
During the winter I visit the station pretty much every weekday but I had been completely unaware of either this plaque or Sir Robert Sibbald until listening to the aforementioned programme. There is another plaque in his honour at Teviot Place just within the main entrance of the Edinburgh University Medical School on the left hand wall as you go in, along with plaques to other great medical worthies such as Lister. I didn't know about this one either despite cycling past the building nearly every day.
Sir Robert Sibbald (1641 - 1722) was a physician, a geographer and a natural historian. He was born in Edinburgh, but his family fled to Linlithgow in 1645 to avoid the plague.
He was educated initially in Cupar, near the family estate, and later at the High School and University in Edinburgh. He studied medicine at Leiden in Holland and Paris - before returning to Edinburgh.
Along with his friend Andrew Balfour he established the first botanical gardens in Edinburgh at Holyrood in 1671 containing according to his biography some 800 to 900 plants. These gardens were known as Physic gardens since the aims were to supply fresh plants for medical prescriptions and to teach medical botany to students. By 1676 it was realised that there wasn't enough space within the 400 by 400 feet at Holyrood, so additional land was leased from what was then Trinity Hospital and is now the area around platform 11 in Waverley station.
The gardens moved from Holyrood and Waverley to Gayfield Square in Leith Walk in 1763 - this was a bigger site but more importantly away from the pollution in the centre. There is already a cache near this site - The Rhubarb Field by Tupperware Party which contains a lot more information about the history of the gardens. The gardens moved again to their current site on Inverleith Row in the early 1820's. I wonder if they had been cross-breeding the plants with triffids?
Sibbald was one of the founders of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh in 1681 and was elected as its president in 1684. The College is a body concerned with professional standards and medical education. It has its headquarters on Queen Street and has recently established a Physic Garden, based on the original one created in 1671 by Sibbald and Balfour. Unfortunately this is not directly accessible by the public, although access can be gained by prior arrangement during the week and it can be hired as a location for events. More information on both it and the originals can be found at (visit link)
Sibbald was knighted by Charles II, who appointed him as both a physician and 'His Majesty's Geographer' for Scotland - perhaps an early geo-cacher at heart?
He was commissioned to write a geography and account of his native Scotland, acquiring a number of maps as part of this purpose, although his own atlas of Scotland was never published. This handwritten work at some 230 pages is currently being transcribed - a fairly monumental task.
In 1685 he was appointed the first Professor of Medicine at Edinburgh University.
In 1697 he donated his natural history collection to the University of Edinburgh.
He died in 1722 and is commemorated by a plaque on the south wall of Greyfriar's Kirkyard, although not buried there.
The following year his collection of manuscripts was sold at auction, with most of the material going to the Edinburgh Advocates Library.
To find the final location of the cache you first need to find the aforementioned plaque in Waverley station commemorating the site of the physic garden. There are four dates on this plaque.
Date 1 - 1ABC
Date 2 - 1DEF
Date 3 - 1GHK
Date 4 - 1LMN
The final location can be found at
N 55 57.F (B-A) L
W 3 11.N K (H-F)
This is an urban location and is therefore likely to be subject to lots of wandering muggles. The location of the plaque and the final location are both wheelchair accessible - although Edinburgh's hills and slopes would suggest that some assistance would likely be needed.
GPS coverage wasn't trememdous when the cache was placed - but hopefully the coordinates should get you close. The container is a magnetic nano cache.
When you find it please note carefully EXACTLY where you found it (as you remove it) and replace it in the same spot. The location was chosen carefully with an obvious "marker" - although said marker is not unique. If you need to move away from the location to sign the log I suggest you cross reference your location with a landmark such as the one in the hint to make sure of getting back to exactly the right spot.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Bccbfvgr evtug unaq cvyynef
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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