Swinley Forest 22 Traditional Geocache
LordOfTheCachers: [red]LOTC retiring from caching[/red]
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Difficulty:
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This series is set out for the more experienced Cacher there is no hints or clues.
So you guys will have use your stills and look high and low.
I've tried to get the cords a close as possible but there is a lot of tree cover in places.
Parking is close to number 1, you will not have to wander far from the paths also if there has been heavy rain some of the tracks will be boggy.
Swinley - A Royal Hunting Ground
In the early 15th Century King Henry VII obtained the ‘Grove of Swinley’ from the Abbington Abbey along with its keeper and a hunting lodge later called Beards Lodge...
In John Norden’s survey of 1607 the lodge is referred to as a small structure with gables on the north and south sides there is also reference to a small hut, probably a kennel. Both buildings were enclosed within a railed paddock.Swinley Lodge became the home of the master of the Royal Buckhounds and from here many Royal hunts were based. In 1607 Swinley was a red deer walk, containing 100 head of which 30 were 'antlers', 16 'stags' and the rest probably hinds.
During the reign of Charles I (1660-1685) Forest Laws were tightened and the numbers of deer increased to the extent that crops were ruined, causing mass destitution. Consequently, at the outbreak of the Civil War the Forest inhabitants supported the rebels. The parliamentary forces destroyed the deer herds and much of the land was sold off to pay the army. After the restoration of the monarchy, Charles II replanted the forest, restocking it with deer for hunting.
The prime of Swinley was closely linked to the British Monarchs’ love for hunting. Henry VIII was a keen huntsman as was Elizabeth I, She coursed with greyhounds and killed her own stags with a crossbow.
Queen Anne (1702-1714) and her husband Prince George of Denmark were devoted to the sport and in their younger days spent much of their time riding with hounds. In later life when Anne could no longer ride with hounds she planned grassy glades or ‘rides’ through the woodland and followed the hunt in a one-horse carriage which she drove herself. A focal point of the rides was the highest point in the district, where soldiers pillar and Englemere house stands, from here nine rides radiated.
George III (1760-1820) was an enthusiastic huntsman and revived the Royal Buckhounds with a master resident at Swinley Lodge (demolished 1830, only the ice house remains). When he became too ill to hunt he extended the rides laid out by Queen Anne and followed by carriage.
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