Chorleywood House 1 - Anyone for Tennis? Traditional Geocache
high beeches: Sadly I just can't find it! The tree appears to have eaten the box. I will keep going back to look during the winter but I think it's time to put this one to bed...
Chorleywood House 1 - Anyone for Tennis?
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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On the Chorleywood House estate, this could almost be a cache and dash from the motorway.... parking very close by, the cache is a 2Ltr lock and lock brown container.....
You are about to embark on a walk around Chorleywood House estate. Take a look at the map at this link
(visit link)
The walk follows the park walk to the junction with valley walk, where it joins valley walk, to the bottom of the hill where you join the chess valley walk, then across the meadow path to join the wood walk back to park walk. Bit mixed up, but it's the way we go!
Since this is a nice simple cache, I shall add some diverting history about Chorleywood House.
The history of the Chorleywood House Estate dates back to the early 18th Century when it consisted of just two farms (Chorleywood Farm and Meeting House Farm). The land and property changed ownership several times over the years, but it wasn’t until John Barnes bought the estate in 1822 that a Regency mansion, called Chorleywood House, was built, replacing the existing farm house.
In 1892, the house was bought by Lady Ela Russell, a relative of the Duke of Bedford. She modified and enlarged the house, keeping some of the original features including the great fireplace in the hall. She developed the estate to be virtually self-sufficient, with her own farms and market garden, now the site of the tennis club courts. She created formal gardens and parkland near the house, and built cottages for her chauffeur and gardener behind the house. She installed electricity using her own generator housed in a building near the summerhouse. Water was pumped from the Chess by a waterwheel to a well (again, near the summerhouse) which was also supplied by a spring. She built a chapel, and a drill hall which was used by her Rifle Club. These buildings are still in use, and have recently been restored by Three Rivers.
After she died the house went to a cousin, who never lived there but sold it to three local businessmen, George and Jesse Darvell and James Batty. There were plans to make it into a golf club, using the mansion as the clubhouse, but this was during the depression of the 1930s, and nothing came of the proposal. In June 1940, the mansion and land were bought by the Chorleywood Urban District Council together with Hertfordshire County Council and London County Council and designated a public open space.
During the war, the mansion housed evacuees from London, under the care of a matron. Army troops and German prisoners of war were housed in Nissen huts in the grounds. Later, Chorleywood UDC adopted the house for their offices, and the Public Library was housed there. Tenants lived in flats in the upper storeys - one remarked that these were the best council flats in the country.
When Chorleywood UDC devolved to became Three Rivers DC with new buildings in Rickmansworth, the mansion was converted to flats which are now leased to private individuals. The grounds remain as open space for the use of the people of Chorleywood, Hertfordshire and London. Many thanks for Three Rivers District Council for allowing this cache to be published.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va n ynetr yvzr gerr, nobhg 3 1/2 srrg hc, uvqqra va gur yvggyr oenapurf. N oebja ybpx naq ybpx obk.