The Battle of Cheriton Multi-Cache
Amy and Adam's Dad: Thanks to all our visitors.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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An offset multi-cache taking you through the middle of a Civil War
battlefield and starting from the picturesque Hampshire village of
Cheriton.
The route is well defined and marked but not suitable for bikes or
prams. As the battlefield is large the walk is quite long -
approximately 4 miles in total – allow about 1½ hrs.
In places, the long grass/crops will obscure the views for younger
children.
Park by the village green somewhere near the cache page
co-ordinates,
N51 03.154, W001 10.166.
You will need to collect the answers to the following questions:
Location 1: Near the parking co-ordinates
What date is on the stone plaque on the Cheriton Parish Hall?
191A
Now walk past the post office to
Location 2: N51 03.193, W001 10.138 (near Old Freeman's
Yard)
What date is on the old Congregational Church?
(AD)1BC2
Head towards N51 03.191, W001 10.118 to find the public footpath
going east.
Walk up the narrow path with high fences on either side. As the
path opens out into fields you will get a splendid view of the
battlefield with high ground to both the north (Royalists) and
south (Parliamentarian Roundheads). This was the favoured sort of
topography for Civil War engagements.
Follow the path around the field perimeter, to the right, and onto
Location 3: N51 03.325, W001 08.563,
Here at Cheriton Wood, where the early skirmishes took place, you
need to find out what voltage exists
XDXv
You now have all the clues you need
Add the answers to get the final co-ordinates below:
N51 03.C77
W001 08.BAD
It should now just be a case of following the track towards the
Royalist positions to the cache, which is located in the middle of
the battlefield (I couldn’t take sides after all!).
If you want to walk up to the monument go along Badshear Lane to
N51 04.059, W001 08.708, it will involve a 10 minute additional
walk along a road (albeit a fairly quiet one) and for this reason
has not been included in the clue hunt. Aternatively you could
pause in the car on the way to or from the cache; there is roadside
parking in the lane behind the monument.
You can retrace your steps back or take a circular route returning
west via Badshear Lane and North End (no footpath) and south to
your car.
On your return you may see the old village inn marked HH, with a
plume of feathers, this stands for “Hampshire Hunt” and dates back
to the days when the Prince Regent hunted with the pack of
foxhounds kennelled in the village.
BRIEF DETAILS OF THE BATTLE
One of the images below shows the positions of the troops -
you could take it with you on the walk.
It is also worth taking this leaflet with
you to add to the experience.
On 28th March 1644 Royalist and Parliamentary forces skirmished in
Cheriton. The Royalist force (led by Waller) comprised 5,000 foot
soldiers and 3,000 cavalry and the Parliamentarians (led by Hopton)
had the same number of foot soldiers but more cavalry. By the
following day, 29th March, a battle was fully engaged. You will
cross the deep lanes where the King’s horses could not manoeuvre
and became useless.
At Cheriton Wood Appleyard’s musketeers held back the
Parliamentarians until the battle became confused and they panicked
throwing down their weapons and ran out of the woods. By early
afternoon the Royalists position became untenable.
In the evening the Royalists retreated passing through Alresford on
their way to Winchester, setting fire to the town at both ends in
an attempt to destroy it, however the Parliamentarians were close
behind and managed to stop the fire.
Estimates of casualties vary enormously some speak of 10,000
Royalists killed and captured, a more reliable figure is probably
300 dead. It is said that the network of ancient tracks covering
the battlefield are haunted by the ghosts of fallen Royalists and
participants of the Sealed Knot Society re-enacting the battle have
remarked on being assisted by unseen figure from the past.
In the last two years awareness of The Battle of Cheriton has been
raised and more people know about it, further information about the
battle and re-enacments by The Sealed Knot Society can be found by
clicking here
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ab arrq gb gnxr nsrapr, vg’f gur ynfg cbfg!
Gur pnpur vf haqre n puhax bs pbapergr.