A small cache hidden near the highest point on the Firle escarpemt.
To reach this cache you can park either to the west, at the car park at the top of Firle Bostal (~1.8km away), or to the east at the Bopeep car park (~1.2km away). The cache is hidden near the view point at Firle Beacon, between these locations. On the way there, take in the views over the Low Weald to the north and out to the English Channel in the south.
LOCAL INFORMATION
Long Barrow and Tumuli
The route to the cache along the South Downs Way from either car park passes numerous burial mounds and barrows, which pepper the chalk ridge in this part of the Downs. Firle Beacon itself is situated on a ‘bowl’ barrow, a type of burial mound dating from the Neolithic period to late Bronze Age. When this was explored in 1820, archaeologists found several items alongside an inhumation, including two cinerary urns, a bronze pin, an incense cup and a stem-and-barbed arrow-head.
Older still is the Long Barrow 220m west of the Beacon. This is thought to date from the early to middle Neolithic period and is one of fewer than 50 recorded examples of oval barrows in England. These types of barrows were the resting places of Britain’s early farming communities, and often used for communal burials of groups, for example adults and children, or two adults. Considering how visible these bright white mounds would have been when first constructed, it is easy to see why our ancestors chose these sites to honour their dead.
Triangulation Station
The other, more recent monument visible on Firle Beacon is the Ordnance Survey trig point, or more formally, triangulation station. This is a fixed survey station that would have ben used in geodetic surveying in the area, in conjunction with a theodolite (a devise for accurately measuring angles) fitted to the top of the pillar. Before satellite GPS was available, groups of trig points would have be used together as a network to triangulate the position of land boundaries, roads and buildings etc., and have provided us with the accurate OS maps we enjoy in the UK.
TRAVELLING SUSTAINABLY
Southease station is the closest train station to explore this area.
You can cycle to this geocache, access to the area is via the South Downs Way
PERMISSION
Thank you to the Firle Estate for permission to place this cache.