War Memorial #2513 ~ Harwell Village Multi-Cache

Harwell GeoCache Series 

After our recently placed GeoCache Series at Great Western Park (GWP) (cache #1-11, 14, 17-19, 30-32, 35, 38, 60-61), Didcot (cache #12-13, 15-16, 20-25, 29, 33-34, 41-42, 44-45, 47-48, 53, 59, 62-63, 66-67), Harwell (cache #26, 36-37, 43, 46, 54-55, 58), Chilton (cache #27-28), Sutton Courtenay (cache #39, 64-65) and Milton (cache #40, 49-52, 56-57), we decide to place a few more caches in other parts of Didcot and surrounding villages, in order to honour local heros, and to reflect our rich local history, stories and heritage. We hope you will enjoy these new caches and may also learn something new when you are caching, thank you!

Harwell #68 - Harwell Village War Memorial (officially known as War Memorial #2513 ~ Harwell Village)

The Harwell War Memorial is located in front of the old almshouses and adjacent to roadside, on High Street, Harwell, Oxfordshire, OX11 0ET.

The whole memorial stands on an elevated platform, enclosed by side walls and accessed via two steps from the pavement. Originally two WW2 portrait orientated tablets bearing names are attached to the rear enclosure wall with a third for K Seacole added subsequently. The memorial is apparently modelled on a "Blomfield" cross.

The Harwell War Memorial was unveiled on 27 September 1920 and attended by Sir Mortimer Singer, KBE. It was also rededicated in November 1951. 

As a Section Leader in the local Boy Scouts, I have been participating in the Harwell Remembrance Sunday Parades for a few years, which starts from the Townsend and ends at this War Memorial every November.

About this multi-cache:

The war memorial is close to a busy road, so please be careful, especially when coming with GeoKids and/or GeoPets.

The path towards GZ may be muddy and/or icy in the winter or after the rain, so long sleeves, trousers and welly boots are recommended!

At the published coordinates, you will be standing in front of the Harwell Village War Memorial. The front plinth you are facing at has some words on it, beginning with "TO THE GLORY OF GOD" on the top. How many letters are there in the first word of the fourth line on this plinth? Let it be A.

At the bottom of the same plinth, what are the years of the GREAT WAR? Let them be 19BC - 19DE.

Please then move to the left of the memorial, where you will find another plinth with the year 1914 on its top. The number of letters in the fallen soldier's surname in this year is F.

Immediately to the right of the above plinth is another plinth with the year 1917 on its bottom. How many letters are there in the surname of the fallen soldier in this year? Let it be G.

Please now move to the right of the memorial, where you will find a plinth with the year 1918 on the top. The number of letters in the surname of the fallen soldiers from S. W. BORDERERS is H.

Finally, behind this war memorial there is a small memorial stone, which has "1939 - 1945" on its top. The number of letters in the surname of the only soldier on this stone is J.

The final coordinates are some distance away at:

N51  ( E / ( C - B ) )   ( A - B - D )   .   ( E - C )   ( A / C * D )   ( F - G - C + E )

W001  ( H - G )   ( J / ( F - H ) )   .   ( H / ( J - G ) )   ( A / ( B + D ) + B )   ( ( F - G ) ^ ( E - H ) - ( H - G ) ^ ( A - B - C - D ) )

The checksum of all the digits in the final coordinates is 53.

Please also note: 

Please respect the local residents when searching for the cache. You do not need to enter any private land or cross any fence. Please expect muggles at many times of the day.

Please bring your own pen, and open & close the cache lid carefully so the cache and log book can survive longer. You might need a tweezer to help retrieve the log paper.

Please also replace exactly as found due to obvious reason, and please be careful with the possible thorns, stinging nettles, and overhead tree branches! Long sleeves, trousers, and gloves are recommended.

Thank you and enjoy GeoCaching!

FTF: Congratulations to Marks64 for their FTF on 16 January 2026!