Costerton Entrance Traditional Cache
OccasionalAdventurer: Time to put this one to sleep. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come and log it [:)]
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Size:  (small)
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Small cache container, with a log book and enough room for trading goodies and trackables. This is a bit of a test as it is my first cache and I got the coords using an iPhone 4s, so let me know if they're accurate. Stealth may be needed as there is a house quite nearby, so make your visit quick (hence the easiness of the cache)!
These stone pillars, once much taller, mark the start of the drive up to the old Costerton House. Further up the drive, just before it turns into a muddy path, there is a crossroads. Up the hill to the right is the new Costerton House, which used to be the gardeners accommodation, now extended using the stone from the original Costerton once it had fallen into disrepair. The walled garden there used to grow all the vegetables for Costerton House, then later for a short period, Whitburgh House. The story goes that Lord Whitburgh could tell the difference between a potato grown in the Whitburgh garden and the Costerton Garden, and refused to eat it unless it was from the Costerton Garden. From time to time the staff used to test him out on this and he always knew the difference!
If you turn left at the “crossroads" along the drive, down the hill is Old Costerton, which used to be the Stable block, accommodation for the groom and his family, and also kennels for the dogs. Some of the horses’ names are still there, above the doors in the courtyard.
The old Costerton House is interesting because the Ainsley family lived there. David Astley Ainsley (b.4th April 1813 – d.1900) remained a bachelor all his life, and it was he who left the money to build the Astley-Ainsley Hospital in Edinburgh, which everyone in the area knows today. Lord Whitburgh bought the Costerton Estate from David Ainsley in 1900, the same year Ainsley died. Unfortunately, Lord Whitburgh did not care too much about the houses, and let Costerton House go to ruin, and even removed the roof in order to avoid having to pay rates on it!
The new Costerton House and Old Costerton were sold off to private buyers in the 1970’s.
Well done to mrplenty on FTF.
Let me know, if possible, how accurate the coords are in your log below.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
"Cyrnfr qevir fybjyl..."