If you are like me, you may have oft wondered what the purpose of this mysterious litte hut by the side of the road is...
The truth is, no-one definitively knows!
There is some suggestion that it may be either a Toll House or a Parcel House, here is the evidence:
Toll House: The road from Seven Springs to Cowley was historically a turnpike, as was the road towards Stroud. Perhaps this mysterious little shelter was the toll office for one of these? Whilst this theory looks plausable, there is known to be a Toll House at Cowley (the other end of this road), and the road towards Stroud was no longer being maintained as a turnpike by 1661 (Source: British History Online)
Parcel House: According to various blog and 'Geograph' posts the building was a Parcel House: a small parcel store located at a prominent cross-roads where Stagecoaches could stop to collect/leave parcels that would then go on in a different direction (rather like a modern day Sorting Office). According to British History Online, the Victoria County History confirms that it was there by 1894, which can be confirmed by historic mapping. It seems that it had fallen into a ruin by 1978 when the road layout was changed and was moved and rebuilt in the present location at that time, as it was 'in the way' of the new roundabout.
There is a third theory: That the building was created by a mythycal creature with cleptomanic tendancies to house his collection of 'shiny' objects.
The geocache at this location has been placed to draw attention to this remarkable structure, and is large enough to serve as a trackable hotel in this main road junction. To access the cache to will need a combination arrived at depending on what you think my view of the original purpose of the building was (where A=1 and Z=26): Was it for TOLLs or POST...?
Be careful when accessing the Geocache, the road is busy, and the area surrounging the building is rarely mown, meaning that brambles and nettles present a challenge.