Village signs is a series of caches based on the ornate signs that depict the heritage, history and culture of the villages that put them up (normally on the village green!).The signs can be made of different materials from fibreglass to wood, from forged steel to stone. They can depict anything from local industry to historical events. The tradition probably stated in Norfolk or Suffolk and has now spread across most of the country so we thought we would base a series on them!
Dickleburgh is a village in South Norfolk situated six miles north of the Suffolk border.[1] It lies on the Pye Road, a Roman road that ran between Colchester and Caistor St. Edmund although a bypass was built in the early 1990s. Dickleburgh has a 15th-century church,[2] primary school,[3] a pub and hotel, a village shop and Post Office, a children's play area and a village green.
The village name derives from an Irish monk by the name of Dicul who had a brief settlement ("burgh") in the area in the late 6th century, nothing of which survives today. Although unconfirmed, this may be the same Dicul monk quoted by the Venerable Bede (673-735) in his "Ecclesiastical History of the Anglian Nation". He tells the story of the conversion of the South Saxons and mentions the Irish monk, Dicul, who had a small monastery in 'Boshanhamm', which today is Bosham in Chichester, West Sussex.
Dickleburgh was the birthplace of English painter George Cattermole.
Dickleburgh was dominated by a mill[5] with homes for the workers and their families from 1780 producing herbage seeds and grain. This became one of the country's first steam mills in 1834. In the 1920s and 30s the business included the provision of coal, coke, hay and straw and although materials come from all over the world, the mill always ground locally grown wheat, barley and oats.
After the Second World War the company carried on a programme of steady expansion despite needing to generate its own electricity until 1958.
The Mill was extended over a site originally occupied by old farm buildings and the new buildings designed to provide and facilitate bulk delivery, a weighbridge was installed, and storage arranged at Burston Station for direct transfer to rail trucks.
The Mill finally closed in 1988. After disposal of the plant, its machinery and storage buildings the land remained unused until purchased by Wimpey Homes in 1997 for a housing development which was completed within two years and remains today. The history of the land is remembered in the naming of the key cul-de-sac 'Millers Drive'.
The Cache is a simple 2 part multi due to the close proximity of the nearby Church Micro. The posted co-ordinates will take you to a relatively new feature on The village green close to the Village Sign. You are looking for an 11 digit telephone number. Convert this number into the first 11 letters of the alphabet and work out the co-ordinates you require to find the cache, which is located a short walk away. Car parking is available close to the Village Shop.
The cache can be found at
N52 (B+K)E G(D+E)F
E001 KB (G-F) (J+E)(C+E+K)
If anybody would like to expand this series please do. I would just ask that you let Smokeypugs know first so they can keep track of the Village Sign numbers and names to avoid duplication.
Happy Caching.