SEWINGSHIELDS CRAGS Letterbox Hybrid
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
A decent hike to the east from parking at Houseteads NT car park. You can take the high level roller coaster route with spectacular views or the low level route north of the wall through Knaggs Burn gateway.
North of Housesteads are the Kings and Queens Crags, which are supposedly named after Arthur and Guenevere. Nearby, a mile to the south east are the Sewingshields Crags, once the site of an old castle near Hadrian’s Wall, where King Arthur is said to have held court. Arthur, a legendary Celtic king is said to have fought in battle against the invading Anglo-Saxons in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall.
Legend has it that in the nineteenth century, a shepherd was sat knitting on the ruins of Sewingshields castle when he accidentally dropped a ball of wool. Chasing it through the mass of weeds and nettles that covered the overgrown ruin, the shepherd stumbled upon a secret passage infested with bats lizards and toads.
Looking towards the end of the passage the shepherd noticed a bright and distant light. He entered the passage to investigate further, until he eventually discovered a blazing but fuelless fire emitting from the centre of a great subterranean hall. Close to the fire, stood a table upon which lay a bugle, a garter and a sword. Around the table were seated King Arthur, his queen, his knights and his hounds All of them lay in a deep, deep sleep.
Instinctively the shepherd removed the Excalibur sword from its scabbard and proceeded to cut the garter. This astonishingly caused Arthur and his knights to awaken. The startled shepherd quickly returned the sword to its sheath, causing all but the king to instantly return to their sleeping state. In terror the shepherd returned to the passage and ran from the hall as quickly as he could, his heart beating faster and faster. As he ran he heard the growling snores of King Arthur echo along the passageway as he fell back into his slumbering sleep. In the distance the king was heard to mutter these last angry words;
“O,woe betide that evil day
On which this witless wight was born,
Who drew the sword the garter cut
But never blew the bugle horn.”
The shepherd returned to Sewingshields on a number of occasions, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not find the entrance to the secret passage. Some say that King Arthur will be found at Sewingshields once again and that next time the bugle will be blown, freeing Arthur and his knights, from their sleepy spell to fight for Britain in the hour of its greatest need.
Admitedly King Arthur is usually associated with south western England and throughout the country there are many Arthurian legends of a similar nature to the Sewingshields story. Many historians do however agree, that if such a figure as King Arthur ever existed, he seems most likely to have lived in the vicinity of Hadrian’s Wall probably in the region of Carlisle, in Cumbria.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va n ebpx snpr fbhgu bs gur Jnyy pbirerq jvgu n fgbar.