The area around Box Common is quite hilly, with many possible routes for pleasant walks. Box Common is an ideal place for a Summer picnic. Box Tunnel was excavated by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1841 as part of his Great Western Railway. The stone dug from Box Tunnel proved to be a very high quality limestone, ideal for building and relatively easily 'won' by mining. A huge underground quarrying operation started, supplying all of the stone needed for the rebuilding of the City of Bath and surrounding towns. In it's natural state underground, it is damp and very soft, so it could be cut into huge blocks by giant handsaws. After bringing the 'green' stone to the surface, it was allowed to 'cure' in the open air, becoming much harder and lighter in colour. The 'dressed' stone seen in Bath represents less than a third of the stone mined in this way from underneath the spot where the cache is hidden and several kilometers to the East. During both the First and Second World Wars, the abandoned caverns were used as massive munitions dumps, divided into areas known as 'Districts'. If you have ever seen markings on a component part that looks like ANN/13/132/A, then that's probably derived from the 'Corsham Code', invented to locate munitions in the maze of Districts. Mule-drawn trams in the First World War were replaced by conveyor belts and minature diesel trains in the Second, with a secret underground railway station being built so that an empty train could pull into the tunnel ready for loading whilst an identical train already loaded up with shells could leave like it was the first one. There was also a power station, water purification plant, living quarters for hundreds of workers, a hospital and an aero-engine factory all hidden in secret underground. This BBC website has some interesting pictures.
The Military apparently still use some of the Districts today, but typically won't say why. The area is excellent for exploring on foot or pushbike. There's a very friendly pub, 'The Quarryman's', just to the North of the common, which has maps of the underground workings and mining tools on display. More shops and pubs are downhill in Box itself. An Ordnance Survey map for the posted coordinates is available at this web site.
The cache is in a litre tupperware box in a waterproof black fabric bag. When you replace it, please make sure the opening is to the bottom! Original contents were marbles, a personal fan, wineglass name beads and a bottle of rosemary aromatherapy oil.