The Great Gainsborough Treasure Hunt – First Winner Announced!

We have been overwhelmed with the response to the summer challenge, which is aimed at engaging people in the history of Gainsborough.

The Great Gainsborough Treasure Hunt has been phenomenally successful with over 2000 free booklets collected during the first month. It is a delight to see so many people taking part in the challenge and we have received some fantastic feedback from those who have taken part.  Many families have taken a new interest in the history of their town after looking more deeply at the hidden details along the route from Marshall’s Yard to the river.

We would like to congratulate seven-year-old Braydon Wickson who is the first winner of our monthly prize draw. He took part in the treasure hunt during the Easter Holidays with his mum Charlotte, their next-door neighbour and her two children.

Braydon who attends Hillcrest Academy enjoys playing on his scooter and on his Xbox. He’s excited to spend the £30 High Street prize in one of the many shops available

His mum, Charlotte said: “All the children absolutely loved looking for the clues and the adults enjoyed it and learned a lot of things they didn’t know about Gainsborough’s past.”

The Great Gainsborough Treasure Hunt was launched in April. It is based on a legend that a casket of gold coins intended for Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite Rebellion was discovered on a ship at the port of Gainsborough in 1745.  It was ‘confiscated’ then never heard of again.

The challenge, which will run throughout the summer asks participants to follow clues along the route from Marshall’s Yard down to the riverside path, writing down the answers which are then decoded to find the whereabouts of the treasure.

At the final location every child can claim an instant reward and enter the prize draw which will be drawn once every month until the hunt ends on 20 September.

The Treasure Hunt has been jointly funded by the Government’s Levelling Up Fund and the National Lottery as part of Gainsborough’s Townscape Heritage Initiative. We would like to thank all players of the National Lottery without whom this funding would not be available.

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