The idea behind this cache was seized upon following an afternoon spent doing One Eye in Bierton with Dave's Piglings.
While walking back to the car after finding the cache I was telling the Piglings the story of St Osyth. Osyth was an Anglo Saxon princess who was born in the nearby village of Quarrendon. She was the daughter of Frithwald and Wilburga, and granddaughter of King Penda of Mercia. As was the norm of the day she was married at a young age to King Sighere of Essex, and moved there to start a family with him.
Her ambition in life was to become an abbess, however as a princess she was considered too important to join the church. So she used her husband's influence to found an abbey at Chich in Essex.
When she was in her 50s her husband had passed away and she became abbess at the abbey her husband founded. Chich was invaded by Viking Marauders, who tried to force her to renounce her faith. When she refused to do so they took a sword and lopped her head off.
According to legend Osyth then stood up, picked up her own head, and carried it into the abbey where she promptly died.
As I explained this to Dave's Piglings St Osyth became known for the rest of the day as the Zombie Saint!
The Cache
Go to the information board explaining the story of St Osyth, and of the well. All the information you need to find the cache is on that board.
About what year was Osyth born? A5B
In what year did the Roundheads and Cavaliers fight nearby? 16EC
How old was Osyth when she got married? DF
When was the well restored? 200G
The cache can be found at N51 49.ABC W000 47.D[E+F]G
There is deep water near the well so please take care of small children. The trip to the final location involves crossing farmland so please take care with dogs and take your litter home with you. Please take care to re-hide the cache as well as you found it, if not better.
About the well
After her death Osyth's devotees thought it was important that her remains be transported back to the place of her birth, Quarrendon, for interment there. The procession was long and took many days to reach its destination. According to legend each time the procession rested for the night a spring welled up from the ground the moment her remains were lifted to be transported on. The well at Bierton would have been the last place she would have rested before reaching home. Although the construction is relatively recent there has been a well on this site for many centuries.
I, LizMar2010, am hoping to get this new series up and running nationally. So if you decide to lay one or more with this series, please let me know via ancientwellsl@yahoo.com and I will add them in a bookmark