The Secret Battle of Alnwick Traditional Geocache
The Secret Battle of Alnwick
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Size: 
(micro)
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(Well, I never knew there was a battle in Alnwick!) A 35mm film canister hide which takes you to Malcolm's Cross in Alnwick, commemorating the death of Malcolm III of Scotland at the Battle of Alnwick in 1093.
Malcolm's Cross is a commemorative cross standing in a woodland clearing a few yards to the E of the B6341 as it approaches the hilltop N of Alnwick. Carved in grey sandstone in Gothic style, it comprises an open-centred bracelet cross head with curved foliate ends, standing on a tapering square shaft with festoons and grotesque heads at the top and hollow chamfered corners ornamented with dog-tooth. The cross shaft stands on a carved square pedestal, bedded onto on a stepped stone base and has a considerable amount of historic graffiti, some dated 1799. The pedestal is panelled, with a crowned thistle on the N side and the arms of Scotland bordered by thistles on the S. The E and W sides have inscriptions commemorating the death of Malcolm III of Scotland in the Battle of Alnwick on 13 November 1093 and recording the restoration of the cross by Elizabeth Seymour, First Duchess of Northumberland in 1774, as a symbol of the continuing family line which counted Malcolm as an ancestor.
To the W is a square base or socket stone with a fragment of a previous medieval cross fixed into it.
It has been suggested that Malcolm III actually died at the nearby site of St Leonard's Hospital - ruins are to your right as you drive into Alnwick from here.
Due to the proximity to the co-ords for "P is for...", this cache is past the monument, down the track at the start of a beautiful avenue of trees. High tree density, so GPS's may bounce. A "pic clue" has been included, so if you don't want help, don't look!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Svefg ynetr gerr ba gur yrsg ng gur fgneg bs gur Nirahr. Fvyire Ovepu. Onfr bs gerr.