Ringlemere Chalice - Sandwich Bonus Mystery Cache
Eastry Cache Bandits: archived in favour f a traditional
Ringlemere Chalice - Sandwich Bonus
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Coordinates are for parking not the location of the cache. To find the cache you will need to visit the associated micros in Sandwich and grab the clues. The cache is located within 1 mile of the coordiantes and can be reached using unpaved footpaths
Think that geocaching is all about finding treasure. Well, in 2001 Cliff Bradshaw certainly found some in one of the fields near this mystery cache. He found a sacred vessel with a metal detector only 18in below the surface of Ringlemere Farm at Woodnesborough, near Sandwich. You’ll see from the photo that its been discovered by the plough on a few occasions over the years.
The Ringlemere cup dating from the Early Bronze Age (approximately 2300 BCE) has a curved base, is exquisitely embossed and has broad handles attached by rivets with lozenge-shaped washers. Its owner was almost certainly an individual of exalted status, probably some sort of local priest-ruler who would have used the cup in shamanic rituals.
Shamans throughout history have used psychotropic substances and other methods to induce, in the form of hallucinations, what they believed to be contact with the spirit world. In the Bronze Age the hallucinatory drink would probably have been made of opium or some other available natural drug mixed into an alcoholic liquid such as mead (honey and water).
In the whole of Europe only 18 Bronze Age gold chalices have been discovered – 10 in Hungary and Romania, one in Switzerland, one in Germany, three in Brittany, France and three in England. The cup is similar to the Rillaton gold cup found in Cornwall in 1837.
As a result of a coroner's inquest it was constituted as Treasure under the Treasure Act 1996 and the British Museum bought it for £270,000. In a 2003 survey, the cup was number 10 in the list of British archaeological finds selected by experts at the at the British Museum.
So Cliff was a very lucky fellow. The C4 Time Team came to Eastry a couple of years ago and dug at Ringlemere and sites all around Eastry. Alas they found no gold or evidence of the Saxon palace which was sited nearby but I guess we all can’t be lucky: will you be ? You’ll have to find the coordinates first which are placed in micro’s all around Sandwich. The final cache is big enough to hold the cup and is a short walk away from the WP marking Ringlemere Farm. Good Luck !
Cache located at: N51 AB.CDE / E001 FG.HIJ
Visit the following caches for the clues:
Gazen Salt Reserve - Sandwich #1 - GC1Y4KV
The White Mill - Sandwich #2 - GC1Y4KF
The Butts - Sandwich #3 - GC1Y4JD
Guildhall - Sandwich #4 - GC1Y4JR
Town Quay & Barbican - Sandwich #5 - GC1Y4K8
Ringlemere Chalice - Sandwich bonus - GC1Y4H4
Congratulations to Meer and MooToo for their FTF - indeed for FTF 5/6 of this series !
Also well done to Fat-pigeon for coming second so soon after MooToo and Meer had completed the series. His first day caching and this was #9 of the day !
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ng gur onfr bs gur gnyyrfg gerr