Bishop Algernon Peveril

Bishop Algernon Peveril was the chaplain of King Edward III of England and a great friend of Caran De Winn, the illustrious ancestor of Winifred Winn. Bishop Peveril wrote a letter to Caran mentioning that he had made a map showing the boundaries of the land given to the squire. His letter also indicated that a proper name for the area was Chapelvale, and that a church would be built there. The Bishop had sent the map, deeds and title to Caran, along with altar gifts from the church.

Those gifts, a chalice, a pair of candlesticks, and a cross later contained clues to the location of the actual deeds and were hidden or buried in various locations around the village.

The Bishop's letter was written on old vellum in Latin. The ancient document was found by Jonathan Preston inside an old cigarbox which was buried underneath some floorboards in the almshouse of Chapelvale. The same box also contained a piece of paper which helped the sarch for the actual ownership documents.