P - Pirbright - Surrey A-Z Letterbox Hybrid

This cache is one of a series of 26, the Surrey A-Z placed across the county by a team of 'Surrey Cachers'. The caches vary in type, size and difficulty; perhaps unsurprisingly, each location has a different initial letter.

P is for Pirbright

Its name had three medieval variants (each involving the letter 'f' where there is currently a 'b'). It came from Anglo-Saxon (Old English) Pirige-fyrhþ = "sparse woodland where peartrees grow".

Pirbright is in the borough of Guildford and has a civil parish council covering the traditional boundaries of the area. Explorer Henry Morton Stanley has his imposing boulder grave at the end of the grounds of the medieval church and the nearby headwater Hodge Brook accordingly is marked as Congo Stream, between Ruwenzori and Stanley Hills, two other places in the village have names from Africa.

Pirbright has two communities: army training barracks and designated homes are north the railway and the village is south. The village is almost entirely surrounded by heathland. The south and south-east of the parish is mostly woodland and has three relatively small farms. The south-west of the parish has a large military training area, Pirbright Common. Near to the church are several features due to Stanley's association with the village: Hodge Brook is equally marked as Congo Stream, between Ruwenzori and Stanley Hills. Mazamboni Farm is next to Aruwimi Wood.

Medieval and tudor periods

The manor of Pirbright does not seem to occur earlier than the 13th century, when it was reported to be held of the honour of Clare by Peter de Pirbright. John Trenchard died seised of it (holding) under the Earl of Gloucester in 1301–2. In this time it had a medieval deer park, disparked under Richard II. During the reign of Henry VIII the manor changed hands several times: it formed part of the marriage portion of Queen Katharine of Aragon and was successively in the possession of Sir Thomas Boleyn and Sir William Fitz William. Finally it was granted to Sir Anthony Browne, afterwards Viscount Montagu, with whose family it remained until the middle of the next century.

18th century and afterwards

The locality saw development in the form of brick labourers' cottages with a few georgian large homes, some with modest estates of land. Of the last sort, Vice-Admiral the Hon. John "Foulweather Jack" Byron, explorer, grandfather of George Gordon Byron, 6th Lord Byron (usually known as 'the poet, Lord Byron') planted in the late 18th century an avenue of Scotch firs to the foot of a tower hill, Crown Prince Hill in the woods, still called Admiral's Walk or 'road', which extends for 1 mile (1.6 km), half within the Danger Area owned by the Ministry of Defence of Pirbright Common.

Heatherside was the early 20th century home of Mr. F. C. Selous, the African big-game hunter, and contained a "remarkable collection of hunting spoils and native African curiosities."

Pirbright's traditional churchyard contains the large block of granite marking the grave of British Empire soldier and explorer Henry Morton Stanley who died in London aged 63. This is inscribed with the words "Henry Morton Stanley, Bula Matari, 1841–1904, Africa". Bula Matari, was another of his names which translates as "Breaker of Rocks" or "Breakstones" in Kongo

The Cache

The cache is not at the published location. Visit the stages below to get to the final co-ordinates. The cache contains a stamp and ink pad. Please do not remove

Parking is available throughout the village and near to stage one at the parking co-ords. However don’t park there during a cricket match.

The village has a number of monuments and plaques to various kings and queens.

Stage 1 at the posted co-ordinates. Find the dates 1ABC – 1DEF for George V

the first stage is currently unavailable. Dates are 1919 - 1935

Stage 2

Proceed to the next royal (Edward VII) at

N51 17.(F+2)(F-E)F

W000 38.(F+B)(A-2)(D-3)

Here your will find the date GH/J/KL

Stage 3

The third royal (Victoria) can be found at

N51 17.HKG

W000 38.HK(G+J)

Here you will find the dates 1MNP – 1QRS

Stage 4

The final royal (Elizabeth II) is at

N51.17.(R-N)D(L+G)

W000 38.S(P-S)(R-Q)

The middle number is TUVW

Final Stage

The final cache is a short walk away at

N51 17.(V-T)G(W-U)

W000 38.(W+T)(M/G)(P-N)

This cache was hidden by Buzio

Bonus Cache

Bonus numbers will be present in some of the caches in the series, collect these numbers as you will need to use them should you wish to find the series bonus '* - Bonus Cache - Surrey A-Z'