Don or Den? Traditional Cache
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A cache near a path which takes you close to a ruin at the edge of the Cowden Hall park. Or is it Cowdon? So says the OS map.
Please bring a pen. Coords averaged over ten minutes but varying foliage through the year might mean that your unit struggles.
Developments in the estate know as Cowden Hall can be dated back to the 12th century. The 'auld castle' of Cowden Hall sat on a hill to the west of what was the 'Boating Pond' in the 19th and 20th century.
By the 16th century the Castle was no longer standing, having been replaced in the 18th century by a laird's house.
In 1830, James Orr, founder of the Crofthead Mill, built Crofthead House on the Estate as his home. In 1859 , Orr's nephew built himself a grand new house to be called Cowden Hall. This development was accompanied by a massive investment in the Estate. Under Orr's ownership the whole estate was remodelled and trees imported from all over the world. It was a palatial mansion with croquet lawns, tennis courts, a bowling green and a boating pond with boathouse. There were substantial greenhouses and outhouses and a large conservatory connected to the main house by a bridge from an upper floor to the top of the cliff against which the house was sited. With Robert Orr's death, the house was taken over by the Mill.
Like most large country homes during the First World War, Cowden Hall served as a convalescence home, in this case to British and Belgian soldiers.
After the War the Cowden Hall Estate and Manor served primarily as a workers' welfare and recreation facility for the adjacent mill. The mill workers enjoyed access to the tennis courts, two bowling greens, gardens, boulevards and orchards of the estate in addition to indoor facilities including a billiard hall and a venue for dances and events.
The house was demolished 1962 and Crofthead Mill closed in 1992. The Estate of Cowden Hall now acts as an informal park for the residents of the village of Neilston.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Pbavpny?