LIttle known local history 1 (Run the gaunt(let)) Traditional Geocache
LIttle known local history 1 (Run the gaunt(let))
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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Run the gaunt(let)
close to the location of john o`gaunts 12th century castle.You are looking for a small black cylinder enough room for small swaps BYOP
The monument includes John o'Gaunt's House, a motte castle which has been altered by its subsequent use as a later medieval moated site.
The motte castle is visible as a low mound, about 1.5m high, to the west of centre of the ploughed field in which it lies. The motte is squarish in plan, measuring about 60m across. Aerial photographs show that the motte is surrounded by a ditch; this is now infilled but survives as a buried feature between 10m and 20m wide. Also identifiable are the below-ground remains of a large rectangular moated site, about 300m long by 200m wide, which contains the motte. The infilled arms of the moat average 10m wide. The western arm runs close to and parallel with the existing field boundary and the eastern arm runs close to the eastern edge of the motte. The moat is approached from the south by a causeway, some 200m long, leading from the Bassingbourn to Shinghay road. The southern arm of the moat has a pair of semi-circular projections, either side of the causeway entrance, which would have carried bastion towers.
The motte is considered to date to the 12th century when it was one of a group of minor strongholds in the locality. The site was later occupied by a manor house belonging to Warin de Bassingbourn who, in 1266, obtained a licence to crenellate the house with a dyke and stone wall. The association with John o'Gaunt is doubtful, although Bassingbourn market was confirmed to him by Edward III. Part of the moat and some structural features were still visible in the 19th century when the motte stood 4m high. In 1887 some of the stonework was robbed out and material from the motte was used to fill the moat.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
oruvaq gerr