The Wrekin
Encyclopedia
The Wrekin is a hill
in east Shropshire
, England
. It is located some 7 km (4.3 mi) west of Telford
, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire
and Telford and Wrekin
. Rising to a height of 407 metres (1,335 ft) above the Shropshire Plain, it is a prominent and well-known landmark, marking the entrance to Shropshire for travellers westbound on the M54 motorway
. The Wrekin is contained within the northern panhandle
of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The hill is popular with walkers and tourists and offers good views of Shropshire. It can be seen well into Staffordshire
and the Black Country
, and even as far as the Beetham Tower
in Manchester
, Winter Hill
in Lancashire
and Cleeve Hill
in Gloucestershire
.
chartulary
, spelled Wreocensetun. Its modern form is believed to have come into modern English
by way of Mercia
n, and that is likely to have been taken from the early Celtic word
Wrikon. It is presumed to be etymologically related to the Latin
name for the town of Viroconium Cornoviorum (modern Wroxeter
; the Cornovii were the British tribe inhabiting the area), related to similar sounding names such as Wrexham
(a charter of 1236 refers to this place as Wrectesham) which was also been part of the North Western
edge of the Cornovii Kingdom.
The minor Anglo-Saxon
kingdom of the Wreocensæte existed in the area prior to Mercian reign
. For several centuries the hill was known as Mount Gilbert, a name given to it by the Normans
after a hermit
who lived there.
There is an Iron Age
hill fort
on the summit almost 8 ha (19.8 acre) in size, to which the name Uriconio originally referred. It is thought the fort was built by the Cornovii tribe and was once their capital.
A more recent addition is The Wrekin transmitting station, used for broadcasting and telecommunications. At the top of the main mast is a beacon
which emits a red pulse of light every few seconds at night. A beacon was originally erected on the Wrekin during World War II, however in the years after the war this fell into disrepair. The current beacon was erected in the year 2000 to celebrate the Millennium
, the beacon serves no actual purpose and it is a common misconception that it is used to alert low flying aircraft. It is known locally as the "Wrekin Beacon", and is visible for many miles around.
series, of Precambrian age. The 'Uriconian Volcanics' include rhyolite
s, tuff
s and agglomerate
s. These rocks - layers of ancient lava flows laid down in a volcanic island arc
, similar to modern Japan - are approximately 680 million years old.
Dolerite dykes
intruded the extrusive volcanic rocks around 563 million years ago. A variety of the intrusive igneous rock
granophyre
, known as Ercallite forms the northeastern shoulder of The Ercall. It was put in place around 560 million years ago and is overlain by Cambrian rocks of sedimentary origin. The southeastern side of the ridge is largely formed from sandstone
s and shale
s of Cambrian
age. They include the early Cambrian Lower Comley Sandstone and Lower Comley Limestones together with the Wrekin Quartzite, outcrops of which also occur to the northwest of the ridge.
The lower ground to the northwest comprises sandstones and mudstones of late Carboniferous
and Permian
age whilst to the southeast are a succession of rocks of early Carboniferous age including limestone
, the Little Wenlock Basalt and the Lydebrook Sandstone.
Structurally, the Wrekin together with The Ercall
forms part of the Church Stretton Complex where different geological terrane
s meet. The Cymru Terrane is to the west with the Wrekin Terrane to the east of the fault system. The fault system trends north-northeast:south-southwest and the line carries on through other geologically important exposures such as those in the area of Caer Caradoc.
Contrary to a common misconception, the Wrekin has never been a volcano in its own right, but is composed mainly of volcanic rocks and is a product of volcanism. Its modern shape, which from certain viewpoints appears to resemble a volcano, has been formed by other natural processes.
The name The Wrekin is also used to refer more generally to the part of East Shropshire around the towns of Telford
and Wellington
, within sight of the hill. The surrounding area is one of the birthplaces of industry: Ironbridge Gorge
is just to the south of The Wrekin hill. Woodland covers much of the hill, the area around the hill and into the Ironbridge Gorge area too.
(J7) before it turns into the A5 which continues to Shrewsbury
. The hill is then signposted. There is a well-used footpath up the side of the hill which has an entrance at the end of the road off the M54. There is also a small car park and parking bays up the road. Between the Ercall and the Wrekin is a well positioned car park, at Forest Glen, allowing easy access to both areas. The ascent is steep in parts.
and borough
of Telford and Wrekin
, formerly a district of Shropshire called simply The Wrekin. The Wrekin is the highest point in the borough. The Wrekin
is also a parliamentary constituency, returning a Member of Parliament
to Parliament at Westminster
. It has been held by the Conservative Party
since the general election of May 2005. Towns in this constituency are Wellington, Newport
and Shifnal
. Telford has its own constituency, called simply Telford
.
in Shropshire folklore
. One version of the story runs as follows:
"All around the Wrekin" or "Running round the Wrekin" is a phrase common in Shropshire
, Herefordshire
, Wolverhampton
, Walsall
, Stafford
, Birmingham
and around to mean "the long way round", in the same way that "round the houses" is used more widely. "To all friends around the Wrekin", meanwhile, is a toast
traditionally used in Shropshire, especially at Christmas and New Year.
In 1981 an event was undertaken by local school pupils and adults called "Hands around the Wrekin", whereby a large group of people all held hands, surrounding the hill at the base.
The Wrekin has a cheese named after it called Wrekin White Cheese
which is produced and sold in a dairy in Newport, Shropshire
The Wrekin was immortalised in song through Half Man Half Biscuit
's seminal classic from 1987, "Rod Hull Is Alive, Why?", with the line: "Halfway up The Wrekin with an empty flask of tea, a fog descends and takes away my visibility..."
In 2010, Wicca
ns conducted a wicker man
burning ceremony at the Wrekin to celebrate the equinox
.
Hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills...
in east Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is located some 7 km (4.3 mi) west of Telford
Telford
Telford is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, approximately east of Shrewsbury, and west of Birmingham...
, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire
Shropshire Council
Shropshire Council is a unitary authority in Shropshire, United Kingdom.It replaced the former two-tier local government structure in the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire on 1 April 2009, which involved its immediate predecessor, Shropshire County Council, and five non-metropolitan districts -...
and Telford and Wrekin
Telford and Wrekin
Telford and Wrekin is a unitary district with borough status in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. The district was created in 1974 as The...
. Rising to a height of 407 metres (1,335 ft) above the Shropshire Plain, it is a prominent and well-known landmark, marking the entrance to Shropshire for travellers westbound on the M54 motorway
M54 motorway
The M54 is a 23 mile east-west motorway in the English counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire. It is also referred to as the Telford Motorway, after the road's primary westbound destination, the new town of Telford...
. The Wrekin is contained within the northern panhandle
Panhandle
A panhandle is an informal geographic term for an elongated arm-like protrusion of a geo-political entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state.-Term:...
of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The hill is popular with walkers and tourists and offers good views of Shropshire. It can be seen well into Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
and the Black Country
Black Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
, and even as far as the Beetham Tower
Beetham Tower, Manchester
Beetham Tower is a landmark 47-storey residential skyscraper in Manchester city centre, England. Completed in 2006, it is named after the developers, Beetham Organization, was designed by Ian Simpson, and built by Carillion....
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Winter Hill
Winter Hill (Lancashire)
Winter Hill is a hill on the border of the boroughs of Chorley, Blackburn with Darwen and Bolton, in North West England. It is located on Rivington Moor, Chorley and is high...
in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and Cleeve Hill
Cleeve Hill
Cleeve Hill is the highest point both in the Cotswolds hill range and in the county of Gloucestershire, at . It commands a clear view to the west, over Cheltenham and the racecourse, over the River Severn and into Wales; and to the north over Winchcombe. It is a conspicuous outcrop on the edge of...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
Name
The earliest mention of the Wrekin occurs in a charter of 855, as entered in a late eleventh century WorcesterWorcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
chartulary
Chartulary
A cartulary or chartulary , also called Pancarta and Codex Diplomaticus, is a medieval manuscript volume or roll containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the foundation, privileges, and legal rights of ecclesiastical establishments, municipal corporations, industrial...
, spelled Wreocensetun. Its modern form is believed to have come into modern English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by way of Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
n, and that is likely to have been taken from the early Celtic word
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
Wrikon. It is presumed to be etymologically related to the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
name for the town of Viroconium Cornoviorum (modern Wroxeter
Wroxeter
Wroxeter is a village in Shropshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Wroxeter and Uppington and is located in the Severn Valley about south-east of Shrewsbury.-History:...
; the Cornovii were the British tribe inhabiting the area), related to similar sounding names such as Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
(a charter of 1236 refers to this place as Wrectesham) which was also been part of the North Western
North Western
The Western Avenue District of Oklahoma City is an up-and-coming district along Western Avenue stretching roughly from NW 30th to Wilshire Blvd, near the suburb of Nichols Hills...
edge of the Cornovii Kingdom.
The minor Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
kingdom of the Wreocensæte existed in the area prior to Mercian reign
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
. For several centuries the hill was known as Mount Gilbert, a name given to it by the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
after a hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
who lived there.
Summit
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
on the summit almost 8 ha (19.8 acre) in size, to which the name Uriconio originally referred. It is thought the fort was built by the Cornovii tribe and was once their capital.
A more recent addition is The Wrekin transmitting station, used for broadcasting and telecommunications. At the top of the main mast is a beacon
Beacon
A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location.Beacons can also be combined with semaphoric or other indicators to provide important information, such as the status of an airport, by the colour and rotational pattern of its airport beacon, or of...
which emits a red pulse of light every few seconds at night. A beacon was originally erected on the Wrekin during World War II, however in the years after the war this fell into disrepair. The current beacon was erected in the year 2000 to celebrate the Millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
, the beacon serves no actual purpose and it is a common misconception that it is used to alert low flying aircraft. It is known locally as the "Wrekin Beacon", and is visible for many miles around.
Geology
The geology of The Wrekin and its immediate area is complex, consisting of a variety of rocks of a range of ages affected by numerous faults. The crest of The Wrekin's ridge and its northwestern slopes are formed from various rocks of volcanic origin assigned to the UriconianUriconian
The Uriconian rocks of Shropshire are thought to be potentially related to the Longmyndian Supergroup of the Stretton Hills, Shropshire, United Kingdom. Current geological profiling of the terranes suggests that the Uriconian rocks are of Precambrian age...
series, of Precambrian age. The 'Uriconian Volcanics' include rhyolite
Rhyolite
This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...
s, tuff
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
s and agglomerate
Agglomerate
Agglomerates are coarse accumulations of large blocks of volcanic material that contain at least 75% bombs...
s. These rocks - layers of ancient lava flows laid down in a volcanic island arc
Island arc
An island arc is a type of archipelago composed of a chain of volcanoes which alignment is arc-shaped, and which are situated parallel and close to a boundary between two converging tectonic plates....
, similar to modern Japan - are approximately 680 million years old.
Dolerite dykes
Dike (geology)
A dike or dyke in geology is a type of sheet intrusion referring to any geologic body that cuts discordantly across* planar wall rock structures, such as bedding or foliation...
intruded the extrusive volcanic rocks around 563 million years ago. A variety of the intrusive igneous rock
Intrusion
An intrusion is liquid rock that forms under Earth's surface. Magma from under the surface is slowly pushed up from deep within the earth into any cracks or spaces it can find, sometimes pushing existing country rock out of the way, a process that can take millions of years. As the rock slowly...
granophyre
Granophyre
Granophyre is a subvolcanic rock that contains quartz and alkali feldspar in characteristic angular intergrowths such as those in the accompanying image....
, known as Ercallite forms the northeastern shoulder of The Ercall. It was put in place around 560 million years ago and is overlain by Cambrian rocks of sedimentary origin. The southeastern side of the ridge is largely formed from sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
s and shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
s of Cambrian
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
age. They include the early Cambrian Lower Comley Sandstone and Lower Comley Limestones together with the Wrekin Quartzite, outcrops of which also occur to the northwest of the ridge.
The lower ground to the northwest comprises sandstones and mudstones of late Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
and Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
age whilst to the southeast are a succession of rocks of early Carboniferous age including limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, the Little Wenlock Basalt and the Lydebrook Sandstone.
Structurally, the Wrekin together with The Ercall
The Ercall
The Ercall, sometimes known as Ercall Hill, is a small hill in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is located between The Wrekin and Wellington, in the Telford & Wrekin borough. It is regarded as an internationally important geological site, which is part of The Wrekin and The Ercall...
forms part of the Church Stretton Complex where different geological terrane
Terrane
A terrane in geology is short-hand term for a tectonostratigraphic terrane, which is a fragment of crustal material formed on, or broken off from, one tectonic plate and accreted or "sutured" to crust lying on another plate...
s meet. The Cymru Terrane is to the west with the Wrekin Terrane to the east of the fault system. The fault system trends north-northeast:south-southwest and the line carries on through other geologically important exposures such as those in the area of Caer Caradoc.
Contrary to a common misconception, the Wrekin has never been a volcano in its own right, but is composed mainly of volcanic rocks and is a product of volcanism. Its modern shape, which from certain viewpoints appears to resemble a volcano, has been formed by other natural processes.
Wider area
Telford
Telford is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, approximately east of Shrewsbury, and west of Birmingham...
and Wellington
Wellington, Shropshire
Wellington is a town in the unitary authority of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England and now forms part of the new town of Telford. The population of the parish of Wellington was recorded as 20,430 in the 2001 census, making it the third largest town in Shropshire if...
, within sight of the hill. The surrounding area is one of the birthplaces of industry: Ironbridge Gorge
Ironbridge Gorge
The Ironbridge Gorge is a deep gorge formed by the River Severn in Shropshire, England.Originally called the Severn Gorge, the gorge now takes its name from its famous Iron Bridge, the first iron bridge of its kind in the world, and a monument to the industry that began there...
is just to the south of The Wrekin hill. Woodland covers much of the hill, the area around the hill and into the Ironbridge Gorge area too.
Access
The Wrekin can be accessed from the final junction on the M54 motorwayM54 motorway
The M54 is a 23 mile east-west motorway in the English counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire. It is also referred to as the Telford Motorway, after the road's primary westbound destination, the new town of Telford...
(J7) before it turns into the A5 which continues to Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
. The hill is then signposted. There is a well-used footpath up the side of the hill which has an entrance at the end of the road off the M54. There is also a small car park and parking bays up the road. Between the Ercall and the Wrekin is a well positioned car park, at Forest Glen, allowing easy access to both areas. The ascent is steep in parts.
Politics
The hill gives its name to the unitary authorityUnitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
and borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Telford and Wrekin
Telford and Wrekin
Telford and Wrekin is a unitary district with borough status in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. The district was created in 1974 as The...
, formerly a district of Shropshire called simply The Wrekin. The Wrekin is the highest point in the borough. The Wrekin
The Wrekin (UK Parliament constituency)
The Wrekin is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 1918. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
is also a parliamentary constituency, returning a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
to Parliament at Westminster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. It has been held by the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
since the general election of May 2005. Towns in this constituency are Wellington, Newport
Newport, Shropshire
Newport is a market town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It lies some north of Telford and some west of Stafford sitting on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border...
and Shifnal
Shifnal
Shifnal is a small market town in Shropshire, England. It forms part of The Wrekin constituency, and is about east of Telford. It has a railway station on the Shrewsbury-Wolverhampton Line and is near to the M54 motorway.-Early medieval time:...
. Telford has its own constituency, called simply Telford
Telford (UK Parliament constituency)
Telford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
.
Folklore, customs and culture
The Wrekin is the subject of a well-known legendLegend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
in Shropshire folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. One version of the story runs as follows:
A giantGiant (mythology)The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
called Gwendol Wrekin ap Shenkin ap Mynyddmawr with a grudge against the town of ShrewsburyShrewsburyShrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
decided to flood the town and kill all its inhabitants. So he collected a giant-sized spadeful of earth and set off towards the town. When in the vicinity of WellingtonWellington, ShropshireWellington is a town in the unitary authority of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England and now forms part of the new town of Telford. The population of the parish of Wellington was recorded as 20,430 in the 2001 census, making it the third largest town in Shropshire if...
he met a cobblerShoemakingShoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...
returning from Shrewsbury market with a large sackful of shoes for repair. The giant asked him for directions, adding that he was going to dump his spadeful of earth in the River SevernRiver SevernThe River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
and flood the town. "It's a very long way to Shrewsbury," replied the quick-thinking shoemaker. "Look at all these shoes I've worn out walking back from there!" The giant immediately decided to abandon his enterprise and dumped the earth on the ground beside him, where it became the Wrekin. The giant also scraped the mud off his boots, which became the smaller hill Ercall Hill nearby. Ironically Shrewsbury is subjected to flooding from the River Severn on frequent occasions naturally.
"All around the Wrekin" or "Running round the Wrekin" is a phrase common in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
, Stafford
Stafford
Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and around to mean "the long way round", in the same way that "round the houses" is used more widely. "To all friends around the Wrekin", meanwhile, is a toast
Toast (honor)
A toast is a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. The term may be applied to the person or thing so honored, the drink taken, or the verbal expression accompanying the drink. Thus, a person could be "the toast of the evening," for whom someone "proposes a toast"...
traditionally used in Shropshire, especially at Christmas and New Year.
In 1981 an event was undertaken by local school pupils and adults called "Hands around the Wrekin", whereby a large group of people all held hands, surrounding the hill at the base.
The Wrekin has a cheese named after it called Wrekin White Cheese
Wrekin White Cheese
Wrekin White is a cow's milk cheese made in the United Kingdom. The Wrekin White was first made in the 1990s at the Grove Farm dairy in Newport, Shropshire England by Martin Moyden, and is named after The Wrekin Hill in Shropshire-Description:...
which is produced and sold in a dairy in Newport, Shropshire
Newport, Shropshire
Newport is a market town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It lies some north of Telford and some west of Stafford sitting on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border...
The Wrekin was immortalised in song through Half Man Half Biscuit
Half Man Half Biscuit
Half Man Half Biscuit, often "HMHB", are an English rock band from Birkenhead, Merseyside, active since the mid-1980s, known for satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs. The group comprises Nigel Blackwell , Neil Crossley , Ken Hancock , and Carl Henry...
's seminal classic from 1987, "Rod Hull Is Alive, Why?", with the line: "Halfway up The Wrekin with an empty flask of tea, a fog descends and takes away my visibility..."
In 2010, Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
ns conducted a wicker man
Wicker Man
A wicker man was a large wicker statue of a human used by the ancient Druids for human sacrifice by burning it in effigy, according to Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico...
burning ceremony at the Wrekin to celebrate the equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
.
External links
- Computer generated summit panoramas The Wrekin index. There is an old local claim, supported by a summit toposcope, that there is a line of sight to SnowdonSnowdonSnowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, at an altitude of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside Scotland. It is located in Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, and has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain"...
, but the line is blocked by Cadair BerwynCadair BerwynCadair Berwyn or Cader Berwyn is a mountain summit in north east Wales. It is the highest point in the Berwyn range, and the highest significant summit in Wales outside the National Parks. Cadair Berwyn and Cyrniau Nod to the west are the two Marilyns that form the Berwyn range.The mountain lies on...
. - Group dedicated to The Wrekin
