Unknown Sailor #2 - The Murder! Multi-Cache

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Hidden : 8/7/2011
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:


They walked upon the rim of the Devil's Punch Bowl; and Smike listened with greedy interest as Nicholas read the inscription upon the stone which, reared upon that wild spot, tells of a murder committed there by night. The grass on which they stood, had once been dyed with gore; and the blood of the murdered man had run down, drop by drop, into the hollow which gives the place its name. 'The Devil's Bowl,' thought Nicholas, as he looked into the void, 'never held fitter liquor than that!

In Nicholas Nickleby (in the scene where Nickleby was walking from London to Portsmouth) Dickens was referring to the murder on 24 September 1786 of an Unknown Sailor who was met by three men in the Red Lion at Thursley as he was travelling to his ship in Portsmouth. He bought them drinks and they then followed him and murdered him in the Devil's Punch Bowl. They were quickly apprehended at the Sun Inn in Rake, West Sussex, tried and executed, and their bodies hung on Gibbet Hill. The unknown sailor was buried in Thursley churchyard and a memorial stone was erected on Gibbet Hill near the scene of the crime.



The Sailor's Stone was erected by James Stillwell of nearby Cosford Mill soon after the murder. It was sited on the Old Coaching Road from London to Portsmouth close to the site of the murder. The inscription on the front of the stone reads:

ERECTED
In detestation of a barbarous Murder
Committed here on an unknown Sailor
On Sep, 24th 1786
By Edwd. Lonegon, Mich. Casey & Jas. Marshall
Who were all taken the same day
And hung in Chains near this place
Whoso sheddeth Man's Blood by Man shall his
Blood be shed. Gen Chap 9 Ver 6


[NB the following part of the inscription was clearly added at a later date]
See the back of this stone

THIS STONE WAS ERECTED
A.D. 1786 BY JAMES STILLWELL ESQRE. OF COSFORD
AND WAS RENOVATED SEP 24TH 1889 BY
JAMES JOHN RUSSELL STILLWELL ESQRE OF KILLINGHURST
THE DESCENDANT AND REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STILLWELLS
OF COSFORD AND MOUSHILL
The inscription on the back of the stone reads:
THIS STONE
was Erected
by order and at
the cost of
James Stilwell Esqr.
of
Cosford
1786


Cursed be the Man who injureth or removeth this Stone


When the London to Portsmouth road was lowered to its present location (though soon to be ripped up!!) in 1826 the stone was removed and placed alongside the Punch Bowl bend. It was then removed back to its original location (and the curse on the back of the stone added). The stone was then returned down to the Punch Bowl road. Finally the stone was moved again in 1932 back to its original location when the main road was widened.

The cache has been hidden a short distance from the stone to avoid arousing suspicion from ramblers reading the information board!

The information board was installed on the 221st anniversary of the sailor's death! To calculate the co-ordinates for the cache, find the following numbers from the board:


Benchmark on the front of the stone is A76ft above sea level

2BCm to the Celtic cross

D=Number of postcards that illustrate the story


N51°06.AB(C+5) W000°43.D(A-B)(D-B)


THERE ARE NO NUMBERS FOR THE BONUS CACHE IN THIS ONE!

Thanks to Matt Cussack and Peter Armstrong for granting permission/liaising with the National Trust. Geocaching on National Trust property is at your own risk.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Haqre pbapergr ng gur onfr bs gerr fghzc

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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