![]() They looked high and low through cellars and coal stores before deciding to do what all good treasure hunters must - to dig! ![]() Pepys described in his diary on Octosearching thoroughly with a group of fellow thrill seekers. In 1662 the famous London writer Samuel Pepys claimed he was invited on a search to try to discover some £7,000 that Barkstead had left hidden somewhere in the Tower. Rumours quickly spread though that he had stashed away a huge sum of cash before fleeing the country and it began to spark a frantic treasure hunt. They brought him back to England where he was swiftly executed. Unfortunately for him, he was being watched and in 1662, the authorities caught up with him. In June 1957 The Sphere newspaper carried a picture of archaeologists accompanied by a Beefeater digging at the Tower (British Newspaper Archive) ![]() READ MORE: London HS2 archaeologists find 2,200-year-old coins in 'once-in-a-lifetime' discovery JBarkstead had to hastily escape to Germany. But, when Charles II was restored to the throne of course the Puritans quickly fell from favour. The story starts with one John Barkstead - his name doesn't sound very remarkable but in the 1650s he had risen in favour in the government of the Puritan head of state, Oliver Cromwell after the deposition of King Charles I in the civil wars.īarkstead did well enough to be appointed to be a Lieutenant of the Tower of London - a pretty important position as it basically meant he was guarding it for the nation. The tale is recounted in Steve Roud's excellent book, 'London Lore'. One you may not know about is linked to one of London's most historic landmarks, the Tower of London. The prospect of searching through hidden tunnels and finding gleaming gold, silver and jewels is enough to float the boat of any modern day pirate, and London has plenty of rumours of hidden treasures to get us excited. There's nothing like a bit of Lara Croft style treasure hunting to get us all fired up.
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