GC3PY0K Stathern Woods 1 (Dalliwell) (Traditional Cache) in East Midlands, United Kingdom created by northking

This cache has been archived.

northking: Collected in. Having met landowner (farmer) today who has recently experienced problems on the land I have decided to archive the series so that geocachers cannot be blamed for any further problems.

GC3PY0K ▼

A cache by northking Message this owner

Hidden : 7/5/2012

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

A good place to start - you will need a pen/cil.

Stathern Woods is an area situated above the village of Stathern and is adjacent to the Jubilee Way and Belvoir Castle.

This is a circular series of about 2 miles, there are 13 caches including one off-set multi, there is no bonus or puzzle to solve, but some hides are a little more challenging than others. There are an assortment of sizes and difficulties.
There is also an additional linear walk with 3 more devious caches, this will add a mile to the overall distance.

Taking into account searching for the hides and enjoying the views, the walk should take you about 2 hours (less in good weather). The walk will take you along footpaths, bridle paths and a short section of unclassified road. There are some stiles, some inclines and the paths can be muddy (boggy) in places, the terrain therefore is set slightly higher than you would maybe expect for a short walk. Children and dogs are allowed, but will have to be kept under control in places.

If you find more than 10 out of the 13 caches then you have done well and may congratulate yourself.

WARNING - mobile phone reception is patchy in this area. Although there are no horrendously hazardous hides please take care and do not attempt to find the cache if you feel that it is too dangerous for you. Dress appropriately, there may be some nettles/thorns around some cache sites.

You may start the series in a number of different places, the numbering of the caches is a suggested route, it will make sense of the two off-set multis placed on the walk.

The introduction, history and geology of the area can be found on the Dalliwell cache page, please take the time to read about the area, it may help you appreciate the walk. The remainder of the cache pages will contain a photograph of the area or cache details.

There is one large (regular) cache on this series - please use this to deposit trackables, it would help to post your comments about the series on this page too. I begrudgingly accept cut and paste logs and ‘TFTC’ or ‘Found’ but please note that this series (like others) has taken some time and effort to prepare and it would be nice if you could share your experiences on at least one cache log in the series.

I have enjoyed placing this series and I hope that you enjoy the surprising views and the history of the area. At this stage the series is open to all, I would like it to stay that way, you can help by ensuring that you replace the caches as they were meant to be and minimising disruption to the area.

STATHERN AND STATHERN WOODS

The village of Stathern lies approximately eight miles north-east of the Leicestershire market town of Melton Mowbray. The topography consists of a steep escarpment with intermittent terraces forming part of the Belvoir Ridge which, ends with the castle approximately three miles to the north east, (Belvoir Castle).

There is a site close to caches 1 and 2 where Stathern Hall is believed to have stood. This was the home of Colonel Francis HACKER.

Colonel Francis Hacker is believed to have been born around 1618 at East Bridgford and being the eldest of numerous children, he inherited property and land in Colston Bassett and Stathern and upon his marriage to Isabell Brunts of East Bridgford, the couple chose to live at Stathern Hall.

During the English Civil War (1639-60), Francis Hacker was a prominent Leicestershire Parliamentarian who upon the arrest of Charles I was given the task of guarding the King during the trial. Although Hacker never signed the death warrant kept at his home Stathern Hall, he did sign the execution order and supervised the proceedings on 30th January 1649.

When the Commonwealth drew to a close and Charles II was crowned, Hacker was thrown into The White Tower and accused of regicide. The death warrant was retrieved from Stathern Hall in the hope of diverting the charge. Unfortunately, the signed execution order was sufficient evidence to send the Colonel to the gallows on 19th October 1660.

Local folklore insists that Hacker's remains were returned to Stathern. However, there is no substantial evidence for this and it seems highly unlikely in the knowledge that the process of hanging, drawing and quartering usually ended with impalement in a public place.

Upon Hacker's death, Stathern Hall was systematically demolished in an attempt to rid the village of all association with the man.

Local geology is limestone overlaid by clays but the area of the Manor House comprises of a lens of sand and gravel oriented north-west /south-east; bounded to the north by Lias clay and boulder clay to the south. There is a narrow hollow way running up to the site from Church Lane which according to the Enclosure Act map (1792) was once a track but, now serves as a drainage dyke.

Eighteenth-century maps clearly show an access road leading from Mill Hill which is still visible as a hollow way within a modern plantation.

Along Church Lane is a footpath known as Dalliwell and a drain for the brook known as The Gote (Anglo-Saxon = drinking hole).

Careful examination of a village layout reveals a nucleus of development around the church and an area to the east of Church Lane may have formed the second manor.

Stathern village is bounded on the eastern side by Mill Hill, the top of which is planted with dense mixed forestry known as Stathern Woods. The woods contain pronounced lynchets or terraces suggestive of either medieval cultivation or multivallate Iron Age defences at SK 7775 3092. Two Iron Age occupation sites are recorded nearby at SK 784 309 and SK 795 320 the former being confirmed by the recovery of a loom weight during quarrying in the early twentieth-century, and the latter by field walking.

There have been numerous discoveries of prehistoric material in the Stathern area, the most interesting being a group of skeletons with associated Neolithic axes (Nottingham Castle Museum; acc.no. 92.38). Also a Bronze Age cremation contained by a Deverel-Rimbury style urn.

Romano-British

There is fragmentary evidence of Romano-British occupation in Stathern, the most notable being a coin hoard. Aerial photography may tentatively indicate a villa site.

Early Medieval

A local metal detectorist unearthed an Anglo-Saxon brooch at SK 775 307 in 1982. This find was classified as a trefoil-headed small-long variety dating to the late fifth or early sixth-century. The brooch was later attributed to forms frequently found along the valleys of the Lark, Ouse, Nene, Welland and Avon.