Information about the location, Scarva House and the Scarva Chestnut tree.
Scarva House is private.
The link between King William and sweet chestnut is strongest at Scarva House in County Down. In front stands a magnificent sweet chestnut, larger than the Cranmore trees and slightly younger. The story is that when King William stayed here his horse put a foot on the young tree (suggesting that it was newly planted in 1690), this caused it to spread rather than grow vertically. It's trunk is only about a metre high where it divides into vast branches, growing out and up. Some of these giant limbs are dead – one has been lopped, one is propped up on a pole, but another ‘bald’ one is still putting out healthy live shoots.
Other branches thrive with excellent leaf cover, and new young growth sprouts from the base of the venerable trunk. This tree may look half dead, but the greater part is very much alive and appears all set for hundreds of years to come.
A strong tradition exists that WILLIAM III camped under a tree that later became enclosed by Scarva demesne, on his way to the Boyne in 1659; and due, in part, to this association, Scarva demesne has become the scene of the annual Sham Fight, a mock reconstruction of the battle of the Boyne that takes place on the 13th July every year. The mock battle, played out over 30 minutes, ends when the green standard of JAMES II is cornered and lowered by the red-shirted Williamite soldiers.The Sham Fight forms the centrepiece of a Royal Black Preceptory parade, when the villagers of Scarva are joined by tens of thousands of visitors from Ulster and elsewhere.
The Cache :-
You should keep what the doctor gave you here,
If you do as you are told.... you might get an Ice cream.
Think hard about the clue - it will make sense.
The Cache details...
A small TABLOCK containing a pen, log book with room for small swappable's.
This is not a Wheelchair accessible cache due to rough ground and a few steps.
Do not park in or block the driveways, There is some limited area for roadside parking across the street for max of two cars. Please put everything back as you found it.
A no sign - no find policy is active on this site.