A-Road Anarchy - A11 Besthorpe - The Dial Stone Traditional Geocache
A-Road Anarchy - A11 Besthorpe - The Dial Stone
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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A cache'n'dash just off the A11 between Wymondham and Attleborough. Please be careful when parking, the site is near a round-about. There is parking nearly on top of the cache, on a farm track. Enjoy!
When the act of Parliment was passed which allowed turnpike (toll) roads to be built in England, one of the first three roads authorised was between Wymondham and Attleborough. It was the first turnpike road to be built after the Great Northern Road and was constructed in 1695. Sir Edwin Rich donated £200 to repair and make the road in 1675 and this pillar was placed to commemorated his donations. It was known as the Dial Stone, as it used to have a sundial on the top as you can see from the intend in the top.
The traveller Celia Fiennes, who visited every English county between 1697 and 1698, recorded her journeys in 'Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary'. She noted having to pay 'a penny a horse' at the 'barr' (the turnpike) to go towards 'mending the way'.
The pillar was restored in 1985 and reset after the Wymondham/Attleborough bypass was built.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Srapr cbfg