GC4ED4W Thomas's Legacy Restored (Unknown Cache) in East Midlands, United Kingdom created by Alice Band

GC4ED4W ▼

A cache by Alice Band Message this owner

Hidden : 11/19/2006

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

This cache was originally set by Alice Band . When it was archived as she could not maintain it I resuscitated it exactly as it was as a tribute to a favourite puzzle remembered with affection . The rest of this page is the work of Alice Band ...

The above co-ordinates are not the cache location but point you towards a free village carpark which is guarded by 24 hour infrared CCTV. The cache is 3/4 of a mile away from this point. There is nearer free parking .

Due to a previous cache name issue the cache lid is labeled as Caesar's Kalibri - see that and you will have found it!

Azariah Ollerenshaw was a Stonemason of repute that always took pride in his work and was pleased to see that many of his examples were gracing the churches in Derbyshire and Cheshire. However, nothing prepared him for his most unusual commission from a man named Thomas Brierley.

The Grave

Thomas was a self made man. Coming from working class roots, he slowly built up his empire and invested wisely till he became the owner of his own cotton mill. But one thing always came in his way - the middle and upper classes refused to accept him into their inner circle because of his background, and he did many things to try and succeed, but failed. Thomas was noted as someone who did not give up easily and tried many different things to get accepted, from joining clubs to arranging pheasant shoots in the country for his fellow gentlemen. His crowning pinnacle was to receive a personal invitation to visit the Duke of Devonshire's house, but Thomas's jealous tormentors claimed that the Duke had a habit of 'inviting commoners to look about the place'.

As he grew older Thomas fell ill, but decided to have the last laugh on his elitist critics by commissioning the best Stonemason in the region, Azariah Ollerenshaw, to construct an unusual and puzzling gravestone and sarcophagus to prove once and for all that even those of humble backgrounds can become successful and ultimately, a Gentleman. So Thomas handed Azariah a piece of paper with a curious code which was to be carved onto his sarcophagus lid. After Thomas's death many people came to look at his grave and attempted to crack the code without success. Baffled for far too long, the villagers sent for a university academic who promptly declared that the code was Greek, but in a form he was never taught at School. And so the mystery remained.

Today all that remains is the headstone; the sarcophagus was buried on the orders of a 19th century churchwarden but still lies just beneath the surface awaiting rediscovery.
The Clue