Hagbournes GeoCache Series 

After our recently placed GeoCache Series at Great Western Park, Didcot, 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!

All our placed caches can be viewed at this public bookmark list: https://coord.info/BMFEC4E

Hagbournes #298 - Coscote Little Bridge (Officially Known as Little Bridges # 3398, Coscote) 

Coscote is a small, historic hamlet located in South Oxfordshire, England, situated roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the town of Didcot.

(1) Key Information About Coscote

• Administration: It lies within the civil parish of East Hagbourne. Historically part of Berkshire, it was transferred to Oxfordshire during the 1974 local government reorganization.

• Local Landmarks: The hamlet is notable for the Coscote Village Cross, a 15th-century medieval structure protected as a Scheduled Monument and Grade II listed building.

• Community: Church services and community ties are primarily linked with St Andrew's Church in nearby East Hagbourne. The immediate area is rural, featuring local agricultural properties like Coscote Farm.

• Surroundings: It sits nestled in the Berkshire Downs landscape, bordered closely by Didcot to the north, West Hagbourne to the west, and East Hagbourne to the east.

(2) History of Coscote

The history of Coscote is deeply intertwined with the agrarian traditions of the Berkshire Downs and the larger ecclesiastical parish of Hagbourne. Though small, the hamlet has several distinct historical highlights:

• Ancient Naming: Historically, the hamlet was frequently recorded as Cokelscote. The suffix "-cote" comes from the Old English word for a cottage or shelter, typically tied to early medieval agricultural outposts.

• The Tale of the Village Crosses: Coscote is historically famous for its 15th-century medieval stone cross. Medieval farmworkers here operated under an open-field farming system tied to local manors. Interestingly, nearby East Hagbourne features a "Lower Cross" that was actually removed from the Coscote hamlet boundary ("Broken Cross Piece") during the 19th century. The remaining Coscote Village Cross consists of a rough-hewn circular base and a broken octagonal shaft, which was slightly relocated in modern times due to road widening.

• 17th-Century Architecture: The architectural anchor of the hamlet is Coscote Farm. It stands as a brilliant example of 17th-century timber-framed construction. A gable on the property is carved with the date 1683, though architectural historians note the core style of the building likely dates back at least 50 years prior to that.

• The 1974 Boundary Shift: For centuries, Coscote was part of the historic county of Berkshire. Following the Local Government Act 1972, the entire area—including Didcot and the Hagbournes—was transferred into Oxfordshire in 1974.

About this Multi-cache

The trailhead is close to very busy roads, so please take extra care when crossing the roads and look both ways before crossing, especially when visiting with GeoKids and/or GeoPets. You will be approaching for this cache at your own risk.

At the published coordinates, you will be standing in front of the little bridge. Please look down and count the total number of wooden planks on this bridge. Let the total number of planks be AB.

Secondly, please count the total number of long horizontal bars on both sides of the bridge. Let it be C.

Finally, please count the total number of vertical posts on both sides of this bridge. Let it be D.

The final coordinates are a short distance away at:

N51  ( ( A + B ) / A )   ( C + ( B / C ) )   .   ( ( A + C ) / ( C - A ) )   ( D - ( C / B ) )   ( D / A + ( B / C ) )

W001  ( D / A / B )   ( B + ( C / B ) )   .  ( D / A )   ( ( A + C ) / A )   ( B - A )

The checksum of all the digits in the final coordinates is 45.

Please also note: 

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.

You do not need to cross any fence or enter any private land.

Thank you and enjoy GeoCaching!

FTF: Congratulations to Sapphirites for their FTF on 26 September 2026.

The Little Bridges series was started by Stanthews in 2009 to highlight small footbridges in remote parts of Wiltshire. Since then, the series has been expanded by others all over the country and starting to spread fast. There is a stats listing, so you can see how many Little Bridges you have found, you can find it here:Little Bridges Geocaching Series. If you would like to add to the series, please go to this site, on the tab Get Involved click number request and fill in the form. To qualify, the bridge must be a foot bridge too small for vehicles, please make sure your title exactly matches “Little Bridges # xxxx then the name” including spaces so it will get picked up and added to stats list.