GC15FZT Medieval Village (Traditional Cache) in Southern England, United Kingdom created by Mandarin Lake (Adopted by ayepee)

This cache has been archived.

ayepee: Time for this one to go

GC15FZT ▼

A cache by Mandarin Lake (Adopted by ayepee) Message this owner

Hidden : 8/28/2007

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

Bumps and hollows covering the field here tell you that you are on a medieval main street. Typically, you will be walking in a hollow way with flat-topped banks on either side. Houses once stood on the level areas and with a little mindplay, it is possible to make out enclosed areas behind.

Banks and ditches mark out places where these villagers once kept livestock and grew a few crops. The street is sunken because it was worn away over many years by wagons, the movement of people and cattle and helped along by the wind and rain. There are around 80 deserted villages in the Cotswold and, surprisingly, many sites have avoided the plough.

It is easy to say that the village must have been abandoned because of the Black Death, the dreadful plague that swept across England in 1348-48, but there is more to it than that.

During the Norman period, the Cistercian Order of monks established their abbeys at Hailes, Kingswood and Bruern as they did throughout England. Their life was one of solitude, devotion and meditation cut off from the outside world. They were not allowed to accept any form of tithe or revenue from others but could accept gifts of land. Because the basis of their creed called for them to be established as far away as possible from the habitation of others, they felt obliged to remove the villagers from their expanding estates.

Throughout the 13th and parts of the 14th century Europe suffered from a climate change with severe winters and cold, very wet summers. This resulted in crop failures and livestock diseases. Here in the Cotswolds overgrazing and poor soil fertility only added to the problem, putting too great a stain of village communities that were already in slow decline anyway. Many families left the high Cotswolds for the Vale of Evesham and the Severn Valley, never to return.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

va ubyybj ng onfr bs gerr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)