GCPQ4W The Battle Of Bovey Heath (Traditional Cache) in South West England, United Kingdom created by WillDeBeast

This cache has been archived.

Lindinis: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.
If you wish to email me please send your email via my profile (click on my name) and quote the cache name and number.

Lindinis
Volunteer UK Reviewer - Groundspeak

GCPQ4W ▼

A cache by WillDeBeast Message this owner

Hidden : 7/15/2005

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

After my last size-ist series heres a nice Tradition Cache with a bit of history.

The Battle of Bovey Heath 9th January 1646

In January of 1646 the 1st Civil War was entering its last few months.

At this time Bovey Heathfield was over 380 Ha (1000 acres) in size, with heather reaching the walls of Bovey Tracey church. Royalist troops, led by Lord Wentworth, were encamped on the heath (their headquarters, or ‘drums’, gave the name to Drumbridges). The Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell and General Fairfax advanced westwards through Devon, engaging Wentworth’s company in a surprise night attack on the heath on 9 January 1646. The Parliamentarians scored a significant victory.
Among the captured were 4 Colonels, 3 Lieut. Colonels, 5 Majors, 11 Captains, 300 arms of various kinds, 140 prisoners and 150 heads of cattle.

It is thought that some of the soldiers killed in the battle were buried on the heath.

A rare earthwork, one of only two in the south west dating from this period, is located on the western side of the reserve. This feature is now protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
In 1977 the Local History Society erected a Commonwealth cross in the north western corner of the reserve.

In the 19th and 20th Centuries much of the Bovey Basin was mined for ball clay, often to make sanitary wear, tiles and pipes. The Bovey Basin is rich in ball clay deposits, having been part of a vast shallow lake in the Pleistocene period 2 million years ago. Gorse used to be cut from nearby Chudleigh Knighton Heath to wrap pipes for transport.

During and just after WWII Bovey Heath was requisitioned by allied forces in order to practise military manoeuvres. It is said that when US troops were called home at short notice they buried some of their equipment under the heath. However when building work on the Heathfield estate started in the 1980s all that was found was a rusty bicycle.

Please note: Unauthorized Metal Detecting is forbidden!

Now for the Cache:

Park on the Industrial Estate at N50°34.528 W 3°39.757
From here follow your arrow. At the Information rock (N50°34.678 W 3°39.903) you can either take the direct route or follow the waymarked route passing the Scheduled Ancient Monument. Both routes lead to the cache location.

The Cache is a 3 litre tupperware container.
At conception the cache contained:
Nemo inflatable swimming ring, Screwdriver set, UV pen & reader, Rainbow pen, and a Scientific calculator.
And of course the Log Book!!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Oruvaq ynetr fgbar va ubyr va rnegu jnyy.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)

This cache has been archived.

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The Battle Of Bovey Heath Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

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Geocache Description:

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