Birch Cross Traditional Cache
Workyticket: As no response from the CO we are going to archive this one.
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(regular)
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Birch Oak Farm, documented since 1219 (as La Birche or Byrches) and part of the Yarcombe Manor Estate, there is an interesting threshing barn built in the mid 19th century by Sir TTFE Drake, of the Sir Francis Drake line. Many buildings in the parish have a stone inset and inscribed with the name of a Drake family member and the year of construction.
We have left nice things here - please swap for similarly nice things!
Brief History of Yarcombe
Yarcombe is first mentioned in historical records in 854AD when known as “Aertancumbes” thought to come from the Old English for “clear water”. Before the Battle of Hastings, 1066, Yarcombe was owned by the Benedictine priory of St.Michael’s Mount in Cornwall. Following the defeat of King Harold, King William I gave the village to St. Michael’s abbey in Normandy.
Yarcombe was allowed to decay, its lands largely unused until the Magna Carta of 1215 brought stability to the country and by 1264, Yarcombe had both a church and a mill and grew in wealth and population. The Black Death and poor harvests in the 14th century lead to a labour shortage which in turn lead to the destruction of the feudal system where people had been tied to the manors on which they lived: the peasants became free farmers.
In 1536 Henry VIII began the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Yarcombe became Crown property. In 1581 Sir Francis Drake, not long after returning from the first English global circumnavigation, bought the lordship and manor of Yarcombe for £5000. The lands remained in Drake family ownership until 1931. At this time, Lady Seaton, due to massive death duties, had to sell most of the lands. Some remain in trust to the descendent Meyrick family.
Today Yarcombe, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is a quiet village surrounded by rolling meadows and ancient woodlands.
Yarcombe Walk, 2.5 miles
There are several geocaches hidden along this walk of varying types and difficulty.
Starting at the Yarcombe Village Hall where you can park, leave the car park and turn right along the lane until you come to a footpath on the left, just before Lower Pithayne Farm.
Continue along the footpath, keeping the hedge on your left to the top of the hill to turn right onto the concreted bridleway. Leaving Whitehorns Farm on your right, follow the track and field boundaries, keeping them to your right to the end of the bridleway. Turn left and then first right down the lane to the T junction at Birch Cross where you can join footpath “45” uphill, passing the copse to your right. Continue straight across the lane, keeping on footpath “45” back towards Lower Pithayne Farm and then returning to Yarcombe Village Hall.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx gb gur gerrf