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Yes, Wintonian, I was trying to do something similar with TEE YOU VEE and UU, but couldn't make it work.

i

Sorry!

I had also been pondering whether 'consecutive' could mean alphabetically rather than otherwise but it didn't get me anywhere.

Also is there any scope for further interpretation of 'having followed the trail'?

Also on the 'consecutive LETTERS', Listeners typically tell us to highlight CELLS, so I'm now convinced there is something significant in that choice of word. So it might be letters spelled out, as mentioned earlier, or there could be an indication of a spread of letters. So for example, reading upwards from the L of Already, you have LTONO, or 'L to N' 'O' - i.e. the consecutive letters LMNO. The 'L' interrupts a spelling of 'Search Area' and in wordplay is 'trail's ultimate'. Trouble is, I can't work out the significance of this particular sequence.

Having spotted a symmetrical jumble of KIT WILLIAMS in the penultimate row I've opted for the unconventional approach of following three trails formed by 3 jumbles of AMPTHILL (there are only 3 in the grid). I think they could represent the 3 acrostics.
jumble 1 ('this goes nowhere') starts with the P on the bottom row and begins PATH...
j2 ('false trail again') and j3 ('close by ampthill') both start with the P of 2dn - j2 goes left after the H of Ha(L)re, and j3 goes right at the H, ending with the L at the centre of the problem item and within the SEARCH(L)AREA (which starts from the S of 4dn).
This still leaves me with the issue of what to highlight.
Does 'continuous' have to mean contiguous? I didn't think so and opted for HA-RE, but I've now changed my mind and gone for LIFT (in the Chambers entry it offers ''something which is to be raised'').
Sadly this is obviously not the clear cut solution that some on the other site claim to have spotted. Hope someone here can find that.

Two good spots, drx. Could the right trail to follow be the AMPTHILL which ends in a straight line? There's something nice about a PATH to a MILL, and MILL has connotations of BOX, either boxing hares or the clay box that contained the treasure. There might also be some significance in its overlapping with Kit Williams.

There are lots of thematic jumbles all over, but it's hard to see which may be intentional and which accidental. KIT WILLIAMS (well spotted) is probably deliberate because it occupies a single row minus the two outside letters. AMPTHILL at the bottom may be also, but I don't know about the other two. Look at what else is jumbled there: CERAMICS, AMULET, CATHERINE'S CROSS. Are they there by design or just accidents of grid construction (often happens)? There's even a ceramic article in the form of CERAMIST. I'm not sure that any of these have any significance in relation to the ultimate goal.
At one point I thought the cross of a double CHA (Catherine of Aragon?) might be relevant, and the HAR E either side of it vertically could be the ultimate goal, buried underground, so not interrupted by CHA. The trouble with that theory is that the hare wasn't buried under the cross, but at a distance from it.

Thank you Throck. I've now checked out the entry for 'mill' and can see what you mean. I was keen to stay within the SEARCH AREA, but who knows?
There have been some interesting suggestions, but nothing seems entirely convincing. For instance, I could just about see the 13 cell 'illustrated' hare, but mine looked better the right way up with its paws outstretched (seeing the head as a tail).
I particularly like the suggestion that the line in the preamble, ''...in a straight line'', means the highlighting must be in the grid, otherwise it's completely redundant and, even worse, misleading.
The advice to dump the whole thing and not get too deeply involved appeals too.
I can't say I've enjoyed this one. If I'd managed to hit on the right solution in a couple of hours (as some appear to have done) I'd feel differently, but with all of the hidden elements here It would require a genius I don't possess.

There is a 4 letter instruction in the middle of the grid - read vertically. Follow the instruction and what do you see? I will be more explicit if anyone wants me to.

Dryden, I'm not keen on jumbles either, but AMPTHILL is a feature of the puzzle, it doesn't rely on research like your other examples. Does the KIT WILLIAMS jumble in itself justify this approach? I'm not sure it does.
I'd certainly like to hear more about this central vertical instruction, but if it involves mutilating the grid in any way I'd have expected some kind of warning, perhaps in the preamble or even another acrostic.