KING JOHN’S JEWELS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 286, 4 December 1933, Page 11

KING JOHN’S JEWELS

HUNT FOR TREASURE OPTIMISM OF SEARCHERS STRETCH OF MUDDY LAND. King John’s jewels, supposed to have been lost in tho Wash, are believed by searchers to have been located under a stretch of farmland near Long Sutton. In this part of the country the ambition 01 every inhabitant has been to discover the treasure. Nearly a year ago the Fen Research, Limited, a company specially formed for the purpose of locating the treasure, set to • work with electrical metal diviners. On the farm of Mr. Rcedman remarkable results are said to have been obtained. Mr. Reedman said recently: “Yes, experts have been working here and think there might be something. Years ago I did not think much of this idea. I always used to wonder how much treasure there was, because if it was possible to carry it away in your pocket it would be worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack. Old papers showed me that this was not so.

“King John apparently, with his men, had been raiding all the churches and rich places round here, looting and carrying off all the gold and silver. “This land we are standing on used to be under the sea in King John’s time. If the King, as these old papers state, was hurrying from Spalding to King’s Lynn and cut across the shore while the tide was out, it is quite likely he would be caught round here. “What is more likely is that King John, with his men, might stray from the route, not knowing the country. If they did they would be caught in the muddy bed of the creek that ran down here. “Anyone who knows that mud as it is still to be found realises that once in you cannot get out. Naturally, I hope that reports prove true, but it is impossible to say more at present. I have not heard yet when digging operations are to begin.” Headquarters of Fen Research, Limited, are at an old farm at the village, some vi ’ ay. There was great activity th . workmen reconditioning iso and erecting walls to I curious and fitting up a \ i'i the grounds for special reset.i> ...id to house scientific instruments. Mr. Rccdman’s farm lies in the centre of a vast stretch of flat land mostly given over to growing potatoes. It lies about half-way between New Cross and tho hank, the extreme ends of the shore route King John was supposed to have followed. This route has been carefully chocked in every way possible, including aerial surveys. It is understood that the first discovery was supposed to have been made with a metal diviner composed of a cork pierced by a needle and held by thread. After the first report more scientific diviners were brought into action. These instruments are so accurate and delicate that experts believe they can map clearly now the order in which that part of the Royal baggage train which was buried lies under ground. According to the experts’ reading of tho instruments, on Mr. Rcednian’s farm is buried: A mounted officer in charge, 50 yards ahead of th© rest, richly apparelled; numbers of men at arms, 10 abreast; 20 waggons bearing silver and lesser loot; one large waggon with the gold, the crown and the jewels; 200 packhorses with bags of money and mounted men bringing up the rear. This description is built up on over 600 observations.

There arc still sceptics in the neighbourhood, says an Evening Standard correspondent, who will not be convinced until they see tho treasure. If it and tho bodies are unearthed it is believed they will have been perfectly preserved by the mud in which ttiey lie. This mud is of rubber-like fineness and stickiness. Bodies of horses and various articles have been unearthed from time to time in a wonderful state of preservation.