Shrivenham Puzzler Mystery Cache

This seems to be the hardest of the formulas to crack so you can check your answer here Geochecker.com.

Go to this location, the way will be obvious once you work it out, to find a transposition code number, which will be needed for stage 2. As you walk, be careful - traffic can be fast here although there is a pavement most of the way (divert through the houses to avoid the grass verge of the main corner). Once found, go to WP 6.

WP6: Junction N51 36.198 W1 39.101
At this waypoint turn and go up Pennyhook Lane (Golf Club access road). You will get good views of the village through the hedge as you walk. Carry on to the next waypoint.

WP7: Number N51 36.319 W1 39.405
At this point look around. Note the 'red number' qrs.
Carry on up the lane - to your right you will see a nature reserve and SSSI, Tuckmill Meadows - a nice spot for a picnic, although access is through a kissing gate. Wheel chair/buggy users/cyclists should skip the next part and go back down the lane and return to WP5 Medlar Cottage before heading for WP 10.

WP8: FP1 N51 36.379 W1 39.620
Carry on up the lane until it meets the A420. Do not cross the road. On the far side the path continues to Pennyhooks Farm, an organic farm that runs courses for young people with autism spectrum disorder. Turn left/West and walk along the grass verge for a few yards to a footpath sign and stile on your left. If you come to a wide field entrance you've gone too far! Go over the stile and keep to the right-hand side of the field, and out of the crops (!). Take time to look behind you to the left and you will see some wind turbines, part of the Westmill Wind Farm Co-operative. You will also have some good views ahead of the village. Follow the footpath to the bottom of the hill/field and take the path/bridge slightly to the left, heading towards WP9.

WP9: FP2 N51 36.059 W1 39.228
At this point there is a footpath sign; carry straight on to WP10. On the way, on your left you will see a building, Yew Tree House, with two numbers on it. There is a common digit that appears a total of three times, make this t.

WP10: Church Gate N51 36.005 W1 39.186
You will approach WP10 from one of two directions - from the NW if you came across the field, or the East if you retraced your steps via WP5 Medlar Cottage.

From the East (WP5) as you walk up Claypits Lane, Wisteria Cottage on the corner was originally two cottages dating from the 17th Century. Beyond Normansby cottage (the home of some of the first doctors to practice in the village before they moved to the Elm Tree House) is a row of Almshouses. They were endowed by Sir Henry Marten, at that time the owner of Beckett House, in 1641. In the 19th Century they were extensively refurbished and two additional houses added at the eastern end. One of the cottages was made available to the parish nurse rent-free on condition that she looked after the other residents. Before entering the churchyard take an excursion to the right and follow the lane to Yew Tree House. This house has two numbers on it - there is a common digit that appears a total of three times, make this t.

From the NW (WP9) As you approach WP 10 you will see the churchyard on your right, and get a good view of the church.

Then, whichever approach you chose Before entering the churchyard, on the left as you turn in is Shrivenham House, originally the Dower House to Beckett House and extensively altered and extended in 1834. The original house was a two storey building facing west, a wing projecting east was added in the 18th Century from the north wall and the house was made rectangular by the alterations in 1834. Look around for a code beginning EN and ending with a 3 digit number - make this number uvw.

WP11: War Memorial N51 35.985 W1 39.239
Go to WP 11, the war memorial, which is an interesting monument in the churchyard. The church is well worth a visit. St Andrew's is a Grade I listed building and is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The chancel was repaired in 1395, but the current church was largely constructed around a 15th Century tower by Sir Henry Marten, following damage during the Civil War, between 1660 and 1690. What remains of the 13th Century church is in the west wall. The oldest item in the church is the 12th Century font at the western end of the nave, made of black Purbeck marble basin. Next to the churchyard is a delightful cottage, 17th Century Jasmine Cottage, once the home of the school mistress of the nearby Dame school (now the Church Room) built in 1803, where girls were taught sewing, cooking and other things which girls needed to know!

WP12: Manor Cottages N51 35.986 W1 39.295
Leave the churchyard using the path next to the Church Room, known as Bugs Alley for some reason! As you emerge, turn right up Manor Lane and walk past Manor Cottages, WP12, built in 1650. This area used to be the entrance to a Manor house - which was demolished in the 1960s for the development in Manor Close. Follow the road and bear right into the Recreation Ground (if you are lucky there'll be some cricket to watch). Good conker area here! There is a lovely avenue of horse chestnut trees, believed to be French horse chestnuts, providing thousands of conkers each autumn. Unfortunately they are suffering from bleeding canker and will be cut down and replaced by lime trees, of the non-sticky variety.

WP13: Dolls House N51 35.947 W1 39.586
Instead of taking the path between the avenue of trees take the path to the north, passing between the Shrivenham F.C. and cottages to your left (built by Lady Barrington to house military personnel who became disabled during WW1, now managed by the Viscountess Barrington Trust). The Rec is a good place for a sit down, and to work out the location of a micro (which you can pick up while doing the remainder of the walk around Shrivenham). The micro contains a codeword that will be needed to solve the second part of the puzzle.

Micro: N 51 (b-g)(m-l).(t-u+f)(j-c)(r+q-f) W 001 (r-a+v)(e+q).(c+v)(k+w-l)(s+n-g)

Continuing on to WP13 you will come to some new housing (2010). One house sitting on its own island/roundabout is fondly called the Doll's House. Carry on to the next waypoint.

WP14: Memorial Hall N51 35.873 W1 39.501
To your left is the Memorial Hall. The roof covering is Cotswold stone tiles supported by a massive hammerbeam roof of very large oak members, possibly the last of the great timber roofs to be built in the country and is said to be a copy of that at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle; do go inside and see it. The hall was built using funds raised by Lady Barrington to provide a lasting memorial to those Shrivenham men and women who died in WW1. It now houses the Shrivenham Heritage Centre, only open on Tuesday's, between 10 and 12, which holds a growing archive of local history and people.

Question 1: (Internet research). Who opened the memorial hall? (8,8)

Opposite the Memorial Hall are the four Pump Cottages, reputedly Queen Anne, and formerly called Well Cottages; between is a triangle with the well from which they took their name. The village pump was restored in 1993, and positioned close to its original site where it provided water for the villagers and any passing drover and his animals.

Question 2: (On-site clue). Who was commemorated in 2007? (5,6)

On the other side of the road is the village pound, used to hold animals that had strayed until a fine was paid. Now return along the High Street. Blacksmith's Cottage on the right is 17th Century and until the 1930s was where all the local horses were shod. Just beyond and diagonally opposite are several more 17th Century cottages. Proceed past the Methodist Chapel, opened in 1860 on a site donated by Lord Barrington (along with all the building stone), to the next waypoint.

WP15: Ivy House N51 35.906 W1 39.298
Ivy House is late 18th Century and was once a farm. A little further down Stainswick Lane is a row of houses called Coronation Cottages, dating from 1911. This might be a good opportunity for a diversion to a nearby cache, Boats Long Gone GCTR9W.

Question 3: (On-site clue). What is set in the wall of Ivy House? (8)

Opposite Stainswick Lane is a pair of 18th Century thatched cottages. Turn right and go past the current Post Office to the School. The Gothic-style school was built in 1863 and extended in 1899. A further extension was made in the 1960s which added a school hall, a library and office, and two more classrooms, more recently some 1950s-vintage classrooms have been replaced.

Question 4: (Internet research required). Shrivenham Primary School had a student that went on to a highly successful musical career - who was he? (6,7)

Carry on down the street to Elm Tree House, your starting point. The house dates to about 1700, although the rear is older than the front. The portico was built about 1780. The village green used to be directly in front of this building, and on the other side of the building between what is now a garage and the new vicarage (1985) was the village pond.

Stage 2 - Decrypt the Final Questions
Hopefully you enjoyed the walk around Shrivenham - now for the hard part! Fill in this grid with the answers to the questions 1-4 above: