| The Wrekin | |
|---|---|
The Wrekin near Atcham, Shropshire with the M54 motorway visible in the distance. |
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| Elevation | 407 m (1,335 ft) |
| Prominence | 298 m (978 ft) |
| Parent peak | Kinder Scout |
| Listing | Marilyn, County Top |
| Location | |
| Location | Shropshire, England |
| Range | Shropshire Hills |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 127 |
| OS grid | SJ628080 |
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.[1] 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.
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The earliest mention of the Wrekin occurs in a charter of 855, as entered in a late eleventh century Worcester chartulary, spelled Wreocensetun. Its modern form is believed to have come into modern English by way of Mercian, and that is likely to have been taken from the early Celtic word Wrikon.[2] 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.[3]
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 (20 acres) 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.
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 Uriconian series, of Precambrian age. The 'Uriconian Volcanics' include rhyolites, tuffs and agglomerates. These rocks - layers of ancient lava flows laid down in a volcanic island arc, similar to modern Japan - are approximately 680 million years old.[4]
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. [5] The southeastern side of the ridge is largely formed from sandstones and shales 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.[6]
Structurally, the Wrekin together with The Ercall forms part of the Church Stretton Complex where different geological terranes 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.[7] 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.
The Wrekin can be accessed from the final junction on the M54 motorway (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.
The hill gives its name to the unitary authority 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.
The Wrekin is the subject of a well-known legend in Shropshire folklore. One version of the story runs as follows:[8]
A giant called Gwendol Wrekin ap Shenkin ap Mynyddmawr with a grudge against the town of Shrewsbury 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 Wellington he met a cobbler 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 Severn 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, 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, Wiccans conducted a wicker man burning ceremony at the Wrekin to celebrate the equinox.[9]
