-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
One of a series of caches along some of the many footpaths / bridleways through Trent Park.
Trent Park dates back to the 14th century when it was part of Enfield Chase, one of Henry IV's hunting grounds. In 1777, George III leased the site to Sir Richard Jebb, his favourite doctor as a reward for saving the life of the King's younger brother, the then Duke of Gloucester. Jebb chose the name Trent, because it was in Trento (in the South Tyrol, Italy) that the King's brother had been saved.
During WWII, Trent Park was used as a special prison for captured generals and staff officers. Many of the rooms inside the mansion were equipped with hidden microphones and listening devices, allowing the British military to gather important military information.
In 1951, the estate became the then Trent Park College, which became part of Middlesex Polytechnic in 1978, which itself became Middlesex University in 1992.
In 1973 Trent Park was opened to the public as a 413 acre country park, which surrounds the university campus. The original mansion and a number of statues and other structures located within the grounds are Grade II listed buildings. The park is open to the public and the closest London Underground stations are Oakwood and Cockfosters.
Within the grounds of the country park, close to the Hadley Road entrance, is a small moated isle known locally as Camlet Moat. Not much is known of the origins of Camlet Moat, but it probably came into existence in some form when Enfield Chase was created as a hunting preserve by Geoffrey de Mandeville around 1140 AD. The origin of the name Camlet is a mystery (although there are rumours of it being abbreviated from "Camelot").
In 1429, the lodge was demolished and the materials sold to help pay for repairs to Hertford Castle.
Sir Philip Sassoon (cousin of the poet Siegfried Sassoon), who bought the estate in 1909, conducted excavations in the 1920s. The lodge was thought to be quite substantial with rubble masonry walls and glazed floor tiles. The moat was originally crossed by a wooden drawbridge. Excavated timber, thought to be from the drawbridge, was dated using dendrochronology (tree-dating) to c1357.
English Heritage refilled the excavations in 1999. Camlet Moat, now a scheduled ancient monument, was also allegedly a hiding place for the notorious highwayman, Dick Turpin.
Trent Park is popular with walkers, dog-walkers, cyclists and horse-riders so beware of muggles, but the park is big enough that you are not tripping over each other all the time.
The closest London Underground stations are Oakwood and Cockfosters. The car parks for Trent Park are on the North side off Hadley Road and on the West side off Cockfosters Road. Alternatively, the main footpath entrances are opposite Oakwood station, next to Cockfosters station, off Hadley Road at N51 40.061 W000 08.482 and off Enfield Road at N51 39.093 W000 07.512 (not far from another one of our caches GC1RPJ9 Hidden Pond).
The cache is near a footpath that we have frequently used on our walks around Trent Park. Paths can get muddy after it has been raining. The cache is also along Section 17 of the London Loop walking route, which covers about 8.3 miles (13.3km) between Cockfosters and Enfield Lock.
The cache is off the footpath that passes Camlet Moat and it is not within the Camlet Moat enclosure. The cache is a camouflaged 80mm by 54mm diameter plastic pot with an unused specimen pot inside (i.e. double-potted because the outer pot is not water-tight). Contains a badge for the FTF. Please make sure to replace the cache securely in position. Co-ords taken with a yellow EtrexH (the bumblebee) and although we took many readings, they weren't particularly consistent.
Congratulations to The Black Rabbit on the FTF.
Edit 07/06/14 - The paths around the cache appear to have been maintained, with the result that the bench that was part of the hint has disappeared. So the hint has been changed.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va n gerr, nobhg 22z sebz gur Ybaqba Ybbc znexre cbfg, njnl sebz gur Zbng.