GC1BBPE Royal Exchange Square (Unknown Cache) in Southern Scotland, United Kingdom created by Big Rab

This cache has been archived.

Deceangi: As the Cache Owner has failed to action a Needs Archiving Log, I'm Archiving this cache for Non Maintenance.

Please avoid geolitter by removing any remaining traces of your cache or contact a local cacher to do so for you. If you are having difficulty doing so then please contact me via my profile and I will try to get someone to assist. This is particularly important if your cache appears to contain Travelbugs or Geocoins.

Deceangi Volunteer UK Reviewer

GC1BBPE ▼

A cache by Big Rab Message this owner

Hidden : 4/18/2008

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

A cache located in the heart of Glasgow with countless muggles around

TO CLAIM THIS CACHE YOU MUST SIGN THE LOG ANY FURTHER VISUAL LOGS WILL BE DELETED.

INITIALS ONLY PLEASE IN LOG

Royal Exchange Square was planned and laid out by Archibald Elliot & Robert Black in the 1820's and 1830's. These gentlemen also designed many of the buildings in the square, notably the Royal Bank at the western end, which is currently part of Borders bookshop.

The centrepiece of the square is the Royal Exchange (picturted above), designed by David Hamilton (picture in gallery on cache page). The building now houses Glasgow's Museum of Modern Art, which opened to the public on 29th May 1996.

The Royal Exchange is regarded as David Hamilton's architectural masterpiece and dates from 1829, when it was built around an existing mansion house which had been erected by tobacco merchant, William Cunningham in 1778. The total cost of the expansion was around £50,000.

The old house had been acquired by the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1817, who occupied it for 10 years until their nearby premises were completed. It was purchased by the New Exchange Company in 1827 for use as a business exchange and served that purpose until after the Second World War when it was bought by the City Council.

The portico features a magnificent row of huge Corinthian columns facing onto Queen Street. If you look closely you can see the difference in stone colour of the earlier mansion house to which Hamilton added a new front and back. The rear addition, which was built on the former garden, contains the main hall which has a richly decorated arched ceiling which could well distract you from the fine range of art works on display.

The equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington at the front of the building was created by Baron Marochetti. It was unveiled on 8th October 1844 before a large number of Waterloo veterans.

The Duke of Wellington

The Royal Exchange was purchased by Glasgow Corporation in November 1949 for £105,000 to accommodate Stirling's Library and the Commercial Library. The library opened on 30th April 1954 after a long wait for approval from the Scottish Secretary for capital funding. The library moved out in 1993, but returned in June 2002 when the basement area reverted to its former use. It now has the added attractions of a café and internet access which should increase the use of the building with the general public.

When the decision was made in May 1992 to use the building as a gallery, the Council approved the expenditure which eventually came to nearly £10million after the unexpected costs of eradicating wet and dry rot and piling for a new lift shaft were taken into account.

The published coordinates will take you to a sign in Royal Exchange Square, from the sign you want to take 21 paces in a North West direction which will lead you to the corner of the Gallery of Modern Art where the cache is hidden. SEE PICTURES IN THE GALLERY.

The cache is a magnetic nano.

The reason for doing this is because the GPSr reception at the cache location is poor.

INITIALS ONLY PLEASE IN LOG

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

haqre gur unaq envy nf vg zrrgf gur jnyy

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)