It was recorded by contemporary chroniclers that King John's crown jewels and other valuable crown possessions were lost in marshland when the horse-drawn baggage train of his army attempted to cross without a guide the causeway and ford across the mouth of the Wellstream on 12 October 1216 in passing from Bishop's Lynn (now King's Lynn) via Wisbech en route to Sleaford.
On departing from Bishop's Lynn, King John had apparently chosen the safer route through Wisbech in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire.
This baggage train route was usable only at low tide.
The horse-drawn wagons moved too slowly for the incoming tide or flood tide, and most were lost with only few men surviving.
The King died a week later of dysentery and he was succeeded to the throne by his 9-year-old son, Henry III.

The location of the accident is usually supposed to be somewhere near Sutton Bridge, on the River Nene.
The name of the river changed as a result of redirection of the Great Ouse during the 17th century, and Bishop's Lynn became King's Lynn as a result of Henry VIII's rearrangement of the English Church.

During the early part of the 20th-century, several privately sponsored archeological attempts had been made to discover the exact location of King John's long-lost treasure, on 10 miles (16 km) of reclaimed land between Sutton Bridge and Wisbech.
Modern scientific equipment, such as the magnetic variometer method were implemented, from the headquarters of Fen Research Ltd., located at Dovecote Farm in Walpole St. Peter, which had been purposely formed to search for King John's treasure.
The research company was financially sponsored by the wealthy American James R.H. Boone of Baltimore, and included on the board Sir Francis Hill and Sir R.E. Mortimer Wheeler, keeper of the London Museum.
It was recorded by contemporary chroniclers that King John's crown jewels and other valuable crown possessions were lost in marshland when the horse-drawn baggage train of his army attempted to cross without a guide the causeway and ford across the mouth of the Wellstream on 12 October 1216 in passing from Bishop's Lynn (now King's Lynn) via Wisbech en route to Sleaford. On departing from Bishop's Lynn, King John had apparently chosen the safer route through Wisbech in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire. This baggage train route was usable only at low tide. The horse-drawn wagons moved too slowly for the incoming tide or flood tide, and most were lost with only few men surviving. The King died a week later of dysentery and he was succeeded to the throne by his 9-year-old son, Henry III.
The location of the accident is usually supposed to be somewhere near Sutton Bridge, on the River Nene. The name of the river changed as a result of redirection of the Great Ouse during the 17th century, and Bishop's Lynn became King's Lynn as a result of Henry VIII's rearrangement of the English Church.
During the early part of the 20th-century, several privately sponsored archeological attempts had been made to discover the exact location of King John's long-lost treasure, on 10 miles (16 km) of reclaimed land between Sutton Bridge and Wisbech. Modern scientific equipment, such as the magnetic variometer method were implemented, from the headquarters of Fen Research Ltd., located at Dovecote Farm in Walpole St. Peter, which had been purposely formed to search for King John's treasure. The research company was financially sponsored by the wealthy American James R.H. Boone of Baltimore, and included on the board Sir Francis Hill and Sir R.E. Mortimer Wheeler, keeper of the London Museum.
Sutton Bridge