George and Dragon Mystery Cache
TeamTunsKeen: this seems to have had its day given its current condition it can no longer be a viable cache hide.
thanks to all who found it
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This is the location of a war memorial, one of the major public commissions of sculptor Charles Leonard Hartwell (1873-1951), was unveiled in 1923 by Earl Haig. It is now Grade II listed. The bronze figure of equestrian St George, in the act of vanquishing the dragon, surmounts a tall 6-metre high Portland stone pedestal on a wide stepped base.
The slaying of the dragon by St George was first credited to him in the twelfth century, long after his death. It is therefore likely that the many stories connected with St George's name are fictitious. Please note that the cache is not at the given location above.
St. George travelled for months by sea until he came to a shore to rest. Here he met a poor hermit who told him that everyone in the land was in great distress, for a dragon had long ravaged the country for five years. Through the king's fields it raged and it tore up, by the roots, the harvests of barley and rye and wheat. It killed the cattle and uprooted the grape vines; nor did it stop with the fields—it lay in wait by the river bank in the tall reeds, and no one in the whole kingdom was brave enough to kill it. The king sent his nobles to beg the dragon to leave, but, no, it would not; and to this a message the dragon sent to the king: 'Every fourth day,' the king must send one of the fairest young girls in the whole kingdom and fasten her to an old oak tree by the bank of the river, for the dragon to devour at his pleasure. Unless the king did this, the farmers should not be allowed to go back to the fields, and there would be no food in the land. There was great grief in the kingdom. So on that day said the old man, 'he demands the sacrifice of a beautiful maiden and now all the young girls have been killed. The king's daughter alone remains, and unless we can find a knight who can slay the dragon she will be sacrificed . The king will give gold and silver and his daughter in marriage to the champion who overcomes this terrible monster.' When St. George heard this story, he was determined to try and save the princess, so he rested in the hermit's hut, and then set out to the valley where the dragon lived. When he drew near he saw a procession of six women and two nobles, headed by a beautiful girl dressed in pure Arabian silk. The Princess was being led by her attendants to the place of death. The knight spurred his trusty steed into a gallop and overtook the ladies. He stopped to comfort them with brave words and persuaded the Princess to return to the palace. He then he entered into the valley where the dragon lair was to be found. As soon as the dragon saw him it rushed from its cave, roaring with a sound louder than thunder. Its head was immense and its tail forty seven feet long. But St. George was not afraid. He struck the monster with his spear, hoping he would wound it, but he was thrown from his trusty steed He then struck the beast with his sword, but the dragon poured poison on him and his armour split in half, to which he retreated to a nearby river. Here he then refreshed himself and then, with his sword in his hand, he rushed at the dragon and pierced it under the wing where there were no scales, so that it fell dead at his feet. On his return to the kingdom he found his trusty steed tied up and nearby the Princess greeted him with open arms. He then lifted her to his saddle and carried her home to her father, where there was great rejoicing in the kingdom! The people crowded the streets and strewed flowers all the way for the knight to ride over.
cache location is N 54° 58.455 W 001° 36.947
You can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Orybj gur frng.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures