Bishop Algernon Peveril

Bishop Algernon Peveril was the chaplain of English King Edward III 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 created a map indicating 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 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 cigar box which was buried underneath some floorboards in the almshouse of Chapelvale. The same box also contained a piece of paper which helped further the search for the actual ownership documents.