YORKSHIRE MONUMENTS - THE KINGS MANOR
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A PUZZLE CACHE FOR THOSE LONG WINTER NIGHTS OR A LAZY SUMMERS DAY, WHICH WILL TEST YOUR MAP SKILLS AS WELL AS SATISFYING YOUR CACHING NEEDS.
The route to the cache site has open ditches next to it and can be very slippy after wet weather, please be careful if taking children along.
The location given is not the location of the cache but of THE KINGS MANOR (or Manor Hill Mansion) which is a small wood situated on an island in the middle of a moat. The story relating to this site is as follows:
At some distance from the house of Cowick Park are the remains of a moated tower, which is said to have been erected for John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. This ruin, dates from AD 1204.
King's Manor or Manor Hill is a moated site. Cowick Manor together with the rest of the Lancastrian inheritance passed into the ownership of the Crown in 1322. Edward II ordered various improvements at Cowick; chamber accounts 1322-4 refer to works on the 'houses' of the manor which were roofed with tiles and fitted with new fireplaces, and also to the digging of a great ditch 40 ft wide and 10 ft deep around the inner court in the summer of 1323. Cowick was among the Chamber Manors taken by Queen Isabella in 1327, and was afterwards held by Queen Phillippa. It returned to Lancastrian owners in 1370. An account at the time of John of Gaunt, 1373-4, refers to the Hall, kitchen, privy chamber, larder, pantry, stable and bridge.
The outer courts are under plough. The moat survives, dredged in 1976 prior to stocking with fish. Dredging operations watched over by M J Dolby for the Department of the Environment revealed the central stone pier and part of the inner abutment of the bridge on the N stretch of the moat. A sole plate of the bridge, 8.20m long and 0.45m x 0.25m in cross section, containing mortice holes, was recovered near the central pier. Other finds, deposited in Doncaster Museum, included timber planks, parts of three wooden bowls, a mallet with an oak head, leatherwork, a wide range of pottery vessels dating down to the early 16th century, including many products of the West Cowick kilns, decorated floor tiles, a key and an arrowhead both of iron, together with bones of cattle, horse, pig, sheep and red, roe and fallow deer. Samples were taken for environmental analysis and timber sections were obtained for dendrochronology.
The location co-ordinates for The Kings Manor cache are on a (!) sign affixed to a grey box at the roadside approximately 275 metres South South East of the Geographical centre of the county of Yorkshire. This box is approximately 12 miles from the actual cache location. Their is room for one car to park adjacent to the grey box.
To find the centre of the county of Yorkshire, you will have to locate where the northern, southern, eastern and westernmost points of the county are. Link the northernmost point with the southernmost point, then link the easternmost point with the westernmost point (Google earth will help). Where the lines intersect is the centre of the county.
The use of Streetmap 1:50000 mapping and the information below will help you confirm where the northern, southern, eastern, and westernmost points are located. Its up to you to work out how they help (they are in no particular order).
aCeiKllnssyy aCeFHilllmst aehiSstt aCeelnoRssv (3760) (8817) (5708) (2134)
NO SPOILERS IN LOG PLEASE
Good luck with your search. So what are you waiting for! Go get it!!
Congratulations to Burn AXs on a fast FTF Considering they had the puzzle to solve first.
Additional Hints
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Prager bs Lbexfuver (naq gur terl obk): Pybfr gb Prqevp Obetrf (1:25000)
Pnpur: Vg'f n fgvpx hc! Nobir tebhaq, abg jngre!