The Wash is a large bay on the east coast of England that lies between the counties of Lincolnshire and Norfolk. It is one of the largest estuaries in the United Kingdom and is fed by the rivers Witham, Welland, Steeping, Nene and the Great Ouse. Collecting 10% of the water that drains from the county's lands it is the second largest inter-tidal, uncovered when the tide is out, mudflats in Great Britain.
People have lived on the surrounding fertile land for centuries and it was this stretch of water that the Vikings used as a major route to invade East Anglia between 865 and the start of the Norman Conquest. The Wash was given the name of Metaris Aestuarium, meaning the reaping/mowing/cutting off estuary during the first century by Claudius Ptolemy, a Roman astrologer and mathematician. The Romans built large embankments that protected the land and prevented flooding, but they had all but disappeared by the end of the fifth century. In later years Dutch engineers began a large-scale land reclamation and drainage project, and this has continued on and off over the years. The mid-1970s saw another drainage project when vast areas of the marsh were enclosed and drained and used for farming. The Wash is a Special Protection Area and is the home to over fifteen species of bird such as the Oyster Catcher which feeds on the shellfish who too make their home here. The Wash not only has a varied natural history it can boast of one interesting historical event.
Apart from school, I learned all about history through the funny mishaps of our kingdom's monarchs by reading the wonderful Ladybird and the Look and Learn books. They illustrated such stories as King Alfred burning the cakes or in the case of King Cnut, the eccentricity of trying to order the tide around as he sat soaking his feet, but anyone who was born in the fenlands of Lincolnshire and Norfolk would have grown up with another famous tale.
It is the Wash that plays host to an interesting and somewhat amusing incident in history, the story of how, in 1216, King John lost England's crown jewels in the murky water of the estuary.
John was not a popular king, previous to his unfortunate accident he had lost much of England's lands in France, been excommunicated and forced to sign the Magna Carta. The following year the king broke his word, this action was the starting point of the First Barons' War. John travelled around the country to oppose the rebel forces, directing a two-month siege of Rochester Castle. Later retreating from the French invasion, John took a safe route around the marshy area of The Wash to avoid the rebel-held area of East Anglia. In the October of 1216, John traveled from Spalding in Lincolnshire to a town where he was well liked, Bishops Lynn, now Kings Lynn in Norfolk a town that he had previously granted a royal charter. It was here that he was taken ill, probably with dysentery, and decided not to continue the journey. According to Kings Lynn's Borough Council, it was on the 12th of October that the king left the town, taking the route via Wisbech sending his baggage, plus the jewels on what he thought was the quicker route across the mouth of The Wash. The Wash was much wider than it is today, the sea reached as far as the aforementioned Wisbeach, and the inland town of Long Sutton was on the coast and was then a port. Up to three thousand of the king's entourage were carrying the royal wardrobe and the whole of the kingdom's treasury. At low tide, the conditions of the causeway were wet and muddy and the wagons moved too slowly and sank into the mud engulfing the king's most valuable possessions. The men of the train struggled with the trunks whilst others pulled at the horses to encourage movement but eventually, everything was covered by the incoming tide. The accident probably took place in between the tiny hamlet of Walpole Cross Keys and what we now call Sutton Bridge which crosses the River Nene.
The king's journey continued to Swineshead Abby, near Boston in Lincolnshire, where his health became worse and where legend has it that he was poisoned by a monk called Brother Simon who stole the jewels and made his way out of England with Europe as his destination. Another interesting take on the loss of the king's treasurers is that they were not lost at all and that the king was using the jewels as security, arranging for their 'loss' before they arrived at their destination and using The Wash as a ruse. There seems to be no written documentation to give credence to these two facts so they must remain what they probably are, just tall tales.
On the run from the barons, the loss of the kingdom's 'treasury' may have been the straw that broke the camel's back, which affected his health and state of mind. It was either on his journey or during his one-night stay at Sleaford Castle that he heard of the loss of the treasure, his health continued to deteriorate and following his arrival at Newark Castle, the king died on the 18th of October 1216. He didn't live to see his English barons switch their allegiance taking the side of the new king, his nine-year-old son Henry.
On the run from the barons, the loss of the kingdom's 'treasury' may have been the straw that broke the camel's back, which affected his health and state of mind. It was either on his journey or during his one-night stay at Sleaford Castle that he heard of the loss of the treasure, his health continued to deteriorate and following his arrival at Newark Castle, the king died on the 18th of October 1216. He didn't live to see his English barons switch their allegiance taking the side of the new king, his nine-year-old son Henry.
The Gatehouse of Newark Castle
John is yet another English king who has suffered from bad press over the years, he was no hero, he was vengeful and untrusting and is it any wonder, as a child he received no support from warring parents, no support from a self-obsessed brother and as king no support from his people, what chance did he have? W L Warren in his book King John sums up fairly accurately in my view the cause of his troubled reign.
"talented in some respects, good at administrative detail, but suspicious, unscrupulous, and mistrusted. His crisis-prone career was sabotaged repeatedly by the half-heartedness with which his vassals supported him—and the energy with which some of them opposed him.’
"talented in some respects, good at administrative detail, but suspicious, unscrupulous, and mistrusted. His crisis-prone career was sabotaged repeatedly by the half-heartedness with which his vassals supported him—and the energy with which some of them opposed him.’
But what of the king's treasure? Is it buried centuries deep under Sutton Bridge?
Since 1216 there have been nearly eight hundred years of silt deposited over all the gold and silver plate, the coins and the jewelry, it's highly unlikely to ever be found. Recently Nottingham University did some work trying to discover the causeway King John's royal train may have passed over, no doubt other interested parties will search in the future and maybe they will find something. But did this event happen at all, did 'evil' King John snigger with glee as he arranged for the 'disappearance' of his treasure or was it just an accident that has been exaggerated over the years? Yes, I think an incident occurred on a cold winter's day in 1216, and yes the story has been embellished.
There are two contemporary accounts, one by Roger of Wendover, an English chronicler who died in 1236 and one by Ralph of Coggeshall, an English monk and chronicler who died in 1227. Both were writing at the time of the loss.
Roger of Wendover writes rather melodramatically and calls it a major disaster, he writes:
'the ground opened up in the midst of the waves, and bottomless whirlpools sucked in everything'
Ralph of Coggeshall refers to it as more of a misadventure, stating that it was not the whole of the royal baggage train that was lost but the vanguard who carried household items, church and holy relics, but not the whole of the treasury.
Some valuable items, belonging to the king of England did get lost in The Wash, but not treasure as we would imagine, there was no large chest overflowing with coins, necklaces and gold goblets, only kitchen equipment and finery collected from churches. As Coggeshall suggested maybe the real treasure was in the second train that never started its journey across The Wash which eventually ended its days thrown in among the new king, Henry III's treasury. I suppose we could call that lost!
Since 1216 there have been nearly eight hundred years of silt deposited over all the gold and silver plate, the coins and the jewelry, it's highly unlikely to ever be found. Recently Nottingham University did some work trying to discover the causeway King John's royal train may have passed over, no doubt other interested parties will search in the future and maybe they will find something. But did this event happen at all, did 'evil' King John snigger with glee as he arranged for the 'disappearance' of his treasure or was it just an accident that has been exaggerated over the years? Yes, I think an incident occurred on a cold winter's day in 1216, and yes the story has been embellished.
There are two contemporary accounts, one by Roger of Wendover, an English chronicler who died in 1236 and one by Ralph of Coggeshall, an English monk and chronicler who died in 1227. Both were writing at the time of the loss.
Roger of Wendover writes rather melodramatically and calls it a major disaster, he writes:
'the ground opened up in the midst of the waves, and bottomless whirlpools sucked in everything'
Ralph of Coggeshall refers to it as more of a misadventure, stating that it was not the whole of the royal baggage train that was lost but the vanguard who carried household items, church and holy relics, but not the whole of the treasury.
Some valuable items, belonging to the king of England did get lost in The Wash, but not treasure as we would imagine, there was no large chest overflowing with coins, necklaces and gold goblets, only kitchen equipment and finery collected from churches. As Coggeshall suggested maybe the real treasure was in the second train that never started its journey across The Wash which eventually ended its days thrown in among the new king, Henry III's treasury. I suppose we could call that lost!
One final note. In the mid-fourteenth century Robert Tiptoft, a local Norfolk gentleman became very wealthy almost overnight and according to folklore this was due to finding all of the King's treasure and not handing it back to the crown, but that's another story.
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