The coordinates given are NOT for the cache. You will have to answer a few questions at the three waypoints to find the true coordinates. The cache is on private ground. Permission by the owners (us) is granted. The cache is very accessible. Wheel Chair owners might need help to reach the cache. Take care when you cross the road from Deal castle – especially with children.
Cache coordinates are N.051.13.ABC, E 001.24.DEF.
You will have to answer 5 questions along the way will give you the answers for A-F and the correct coordinates.
Q1: Waypoint 1 informs about a tragic event in September 1989 in Deal. On which day in September 1989 did the tragic event happen? Second digit = A
Q2: Waypoint 1 as well: How many soldiers died in this tragic event? First and second digit = BC
Q3: Waypoint 2: A lot of different features can be used in geocaching to derive coordinates. You have passed multiple of these on your short walk and they are all numbered. First or 2 digits = D
Q4: No waypoint should be needed for this question. Deal Castle is shaped like a Tudor Rose – how many semi-circular bastions are in the design? Number of semi-circles (outer ring only) = E
Q5: Waypoint 3: Letters often can substitute for numbers. The easiest letter to number scheme is A=1, B=2, etc. This place is in memory of Louisa who lived to a healthy old age. Add the value of the third (X) and the seventh (Y) letter in her surname to get the last coordinate. x + y = F.
Background
Deal Castle is one of three artillery fortresses on the Deal/Walmer seafront build by Henry the VIII to counter the thread of invasion from France. The two neighbouring castles approx. 1 mile up or down the coast are Walmer Castle and Sanddown Castle.
Deal Castle and Walmer Castle belong now to English Heritage and you can visit them (entrance fee applies). Sanddown Castle was sold in 1863 and demolished in 1882 to be used as building material. I would guess some of it was reused in the Victoria Town Estate (see neighbours). Try out Deal Geotrail #11 to locate where it once was.
All three castles are built very late for castles and show an unusual design compared to architecture that you would commonly associate with castles like Dover Castle just 7 miles down the channel. These (2 remaining) castles are very flat and buried into the ground instead to classical castles overlooking the area they are guarding.
The design is due to their function. A flat castle is more difficult to hit with a cannon from a ship. They protected towards the sea and not towards the land. France can often be seen clearly from the Castle – depending on weather of course. The Goodwin Sands which the three castles protected is a sheltered stretch of sea which acted as the most important and busy stop for sailing ships waiting for good weather before sailing up or down the channel. It is also likely the largest ship cemetery on earth and the number of shipwrecks there put the Bermuda triangle into shame.
Ironically the only military action they were involved in was from land as they got besieged during the Civil War in 1648.
Neighbours
There is also a very personal connection to Deal Castle. We were lucky to have our wedding reception inside Deal Castle on a lovely September day overlooking the channel with a clear view to France. And yes – the background is our slightly unusual wedding cake – A Sacher Torte in the shape of Deal Castle.
We regard ourselves as ‘Neighbours of Deal Castle’ and that explains the second part of the title of the cache. The area north of Deal Castle was known in 1880 as the Victoria Town Estate. This area is now a conservation area. The land where the cache is placed belonged until the end of 1812 to the Archbishop of Canterbury. An act of parliament on the 10th July of 1813 signed by George the III allowed the transfer of the lands and the use as Navy Dock Yard. The shipyard was closed in 1863. The Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom received planning permission in November 1866 to sell the shipyard and to build houses in this area. You would call this brown field development today.
It took 8 more years until 7th July 1874 when the lands were sold to the developer of the Victoria Estate. The seller was the Right Honourable Thomas Heron, Viscount Ranelagh. Ever wondered about the street name parallel to Castle Road. Now you know where the name is coming from. The buyer/developer was George Cottew junior, builder. Building must have started soon after this date and this must have been a very major building project in the UK at the time with >140 new houses planned – most of them spacious town houses. George Cottew seems to have done well out of the project. Not only did he become mayor of Deal from 1893-1894, he also left 12 houses (3 each) in the Victoria Town Estate to his 4 children when he died in 1907.
The cache is placed on the grounds of one of these 12 houses that belonged to Cottew’s decedents until 1964. To be precise – it is placed on lot No. 138 facing Walmer Road. Don’t try to find Walmer Road on Google Maps – Google wasn't invented when the road name changed.
The cache is at a very busy location. Expect a lot of muggles passing by. Wait for a quiet moment and act as if you belong before retrieving the cache. The cache is a plastic box 7*8*13 cm and has enough space for some Geocoins, Travelbugs and Swaps. The resident fairy will take your logs. So please don’t kidnap her. We will add a few Swaps to start and Pikachu TB will start his adventure here.
Please take extra care that nosy muggles aren’t watching you when placing the cache back into the proper location. I’ve tested the location with a decoy for at least 4 weeks now – and nothing got missing. But you never know.
There is no prize for FTF - but feel free to ring if you are among the first and we are happy to serve a free cup of tea or coffee to celebrate - provided we are in.