The Commandery Traditional Geocache
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Tradition would suggest that the first building on the Commandery site was constructed in the eleventh century on the orders of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester (later Saint Wulfstan), as a hospital or almshouse (today a hospice) for the terminally ill and the destitute and pilgrims. Medieval pictures believed to have been made about 1490 were found in 1935 in what may have been a specially painted chamber for the dying, the pictures showing the life to come.
The first written record of its existence does not occur until the 13th century, in 1240 in "The Miracles of St. Wulfstan". This collection of stories refers to a Thomas of Eldersfield who was blinded and castrated after losing a judicial duel. According to the story Thomas was cared for at the Hospital of St. Wulfstan by Ysabel [sic] a lay sister that took pity on him. Thomas went on to make a miraculous recovery, having both his sight and manhood restored by a miracle of St. Wulfstan. The basic facts of this story appear to be true, as the legal case definitely went before the royal justices in 1221. This would suggest that the hospital was certainly in existence at that point and is nearer the dating of the buildings.
Another theory suggests that the hospital was built to mark the cannonisation of St. Wulfstan which occurred in 1203. As this date is closer to the first written record of the hospital's existence it is perhaps more likely, however the fact that a chapel incorporated into the site was dedicated to St. Godwald and not St. Wulfstan might suggest that the institution was in fact already in existence in 1203 and rather renamed to mark the canonisation of St. Wulfstan.
The name The Commandery suggests the original foundation was instituted by the Knights Hospitaller of the order of St John of Jerusalem in England whose administrative districts, often based just outside city walls, were called commanderies and keep that name today. An example where the chapel has survived but the other buildings have disappeared can be found at Poznan, Poland. The name commandery for their administrative districts remains in use today by the Venerable Order of St John.
Whatever the case may be, and it is likely that we will never know, the foundation of the Commandery is certainly shrouded in mystery.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Fgbc naq ernq gur vasb gura fubj vagrerfg va gur Oernfg Cyngrf!