The co-ords above are for the centre of the mapped keep, and not of the cache. There is suitable parking at N 51° 45.150 W 0° 47.390 (except possibly during church services). A round walk of just over a mile and a climb (and descent) of just under 500 feet is involved, including a very steep hill; there are also two kissing gates, so not really buggy friendly!
On a clear day it’s well worth the climb, though. You have uninterrupted views to the south west along the Chiltern escarpment and beyond the River Thames to the Sinodun Hills (aka Whittenham Clumps or Mother Dunch’s Buttocks). To the east is Coombe Hill (aka Monument Hill) just across the valley, with further to the north east Ivinghoe Beacon, the Dunstable Downs and the chalk lion carved in the hillside at Whipsnade. Just below you to the south east nestling in the trees is Chequers, country retreat of serving British Prime Ministers since 1917. And to the north right at your feet is Ellesborough Chuch on its distinctive knoll, and further across the Vale of Aylesbury the delightful view of the Bucks CC office tower block and beyond in the far distance the Milton Keynes Snowdome.
Cymbeline (or as he was know in his own time Cunobelin, or Cunobelinus) was a late Celtic king who lived and reigned in the first century, dying in 42AD shortly before the coming of the Romans to Britain . He controlled the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes tribes over a large part of south east Britain . The local name Kimble possibly stems from his name, which means “hound of (the god) Belenus”. Some sources suggest that Cymbeline’s Castle is in fact Cunobelin’s burial mound.
Today the site of the castle is fenced off, but from outside the fence you can still see the unmistakable earthworks forming the defensive ramparts, now covered in mature beech trees and box bushes. Nothing whatsoever remains of the castle building.
Cunobelin, or Cymbeline, was immortalised by William Shakespeare in one of his lesser-known plays. Unless you are already very familiar with the work, you will need to carry out some research in order to establish answers to the following:
3:1 - When Julius Caesar . . . was in this Britain and conquer'd it . . . his succession granted Rome a tribute, yearly A thousand pounds
How many sons of Cymbeline were kidnapped as infants? Answer is B
How many letters in the doctor’s name? Answer is C
1:6 - Some D Romans . . .
What is the name of the port on the west coast of Britain to which Imogen makes her way after faking her own death? Numbers of letters in the name give values for E and F
How many named characters have dialogue in the final scene of the final act? G. And how many unnamed? H
Substitute the values into the following equation to take you to location 1, where you are NOT looking for a container but you need to discover the values for X and Y
Location 1 is at
North 51° 44.(G-B)(E-F)(G-H)
West 0° 47.(D/A)(D-C)(A+H)
The final cache is at N 51° 45.X W 0° 47.Y
You do not need to climb any barbed wire fences to reach any element of this cache! Be aware that you may be under surveillance at location 1. This is Open Access land, and you have every right to be here, but you will be watched!
