Richard Tristram (1660-1734) once saw bones in the churchyard being unceremoniously thrown out to make way for new graves. Not wanting such a desecration to happen to his own remains, Richard chose to be buried outside of church grounds. This Hitchin solicitor is commemorated by an inscription in St Mary's Church, Hitchin, but his body was interred in a field on the outskirts of the town; between the Stevenage Road and Folly Brook (now known as Ippolitts Brook). His son vested the field in trust so that his father's remains 'may never be disturbed or the land alienated'. The land has changed hands several times since the eighteenth century and the original gravestone, having fallen into decay, was replaced at the expense of local notary Charles Wilshere in 1856.
If you stand at Ground Zero for this cache and look south-east over the brook and into the field you may just be able to see through the hedge to Richard's grave. There is no public access to the field today, so you cannot inspect the grave site at close quarters. In the past, however, a sacrilegious farmer, annoyed at the damage done to his hedges by the visitors to the tomb, once removed the grave marker or sunk it below ground.
If you are very lucky and very quiet you might spot a water vole in the brook. Mr E saw one around dusk when planning this cache.
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