Cuckold's Point

Image: © Dave Thompson Taken: 29 Nov 2015

GC4W3RA ▼ Traditional Geocache Cuckold's Revenge A cache by -KROP- Hidden : 23/03/2015 Difficulty: 4 out of 5 Terrain: 4 out of 5 Size: micro This is a Premium Member Only cache. N 51° 30.340 W 000° 01.955 British Grid: TQ 36639 80366 In London, United Kingdom Geocache Description: This cache is hidden in the River Thames near the Hilton Docklands Nelson Dock Pier. The cache replaces Cuckold's Point and is only accessible at VERY low tide or by boat. Tide times can be found on the Port of London Authority website. Cuckold's Point is the name given to part of a sharp bend on the River Thames on the Rotherhithe peninsula. The name came from a post surmounted by a pair of horns – indicating a cuckold: a man whose wife had cheated on him – that used to stand at the location. Peter Cunningham, in his Handbook of London, gives his version of the story: “King John, wearied with hunting on Shooter’s Hill and Blackheath, entered the house of a miller at Charlton to refresh and rest himself. He found no one at home but the miller’s wife, young, it is said, and beautiful. The miller, it so happened, was earlier in coming home than was usual when he went to Greenwich with his meal; and red and raging at what he saw on his return, he drew his knife. The king being unarmed, thought it prudent to make himself known, and the miller, only too happy to think it was no baser individual, asked a boon of the king. The king consented, and the miller was told to clear his eyes, and claim the long strip of land he could see before him on the Charlton side of the river Thames. The miller cleared his eyes, and saw as far as the point near Rotherhithe. The king then admitted the distance, and the miller was put into possession of the property on one condition – that he should walk annually on that day, the 18th of October, to the farthest bounds of the estate with a pair of buck’s horns upon his head.” This version of events is highly disputed as if the miller was given this huge amount of land it would have made him incredibly rich and records of him would surely have existed. Cuckold's Point was also the location of a riverside gibbet, where the bodies of executed criminals (usually river pirates) were brought from Execution Dock in Wapping and displayed as a deterrent to others. Cuckold's Point is mentioned in the diaries of Samuel Pepys on Friday 20 February 1662/63 where Pepys described a river journey from Woolwich back to The Temple.

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