Thursday 20 October 2016

A Visit to Shropshire: The Wrekin

11 October 2016

Participants: Just me
Where: The Wrekin, 407m/1334', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 127, SJ 628081

The Wrekin is probably one of the best known hills in England. It is an isolated, volcanic plug, mostly tree covered but cleared on top and it is visible from many miles away.....
 
 
 
It was foggy when I arrived at the substantial car park so I waited for about an hour before setting off in the hope that it might clear the higher up I got. The ascent was straight forward- I just followed the wide track.....
 
 
About half way up, I passed a sign explaining a bit about the use of the hill as a fort. It said "The Wrekin was possibly first settled in the Neolithic or the Bronze Age but the visible defences are between 2,000 and 2,500 years old and date from the Iron Age. It stands out among over 50 such sites in Shropshire and is likely to have been the tribal capital of the Cornovii. It comprises an inner (3 hectare) enclosure encircling the summit and outer (8 hectare) defences encircling the lower slopes. Its fortifications clearly point to defence but it probably served a range of functions such as a tribal meeting place and/or ritual centre. It seems to have been abandoned around the time of the Roman conquest and there is no archaeological evidence for later re-occupation."
 
Approaching the large radio mast near the summit, the fog began to thin and it looked as though I might be in luck.....
 
 
And I was, it was clear on top and the sun was shining. I expected that it would be a popular hill and it was.....
 
 
 
The mist shrouded the lower ground so I saw nothing of the industrial landscape below.....
 
 
 
 
It would have been interesting to have seen the major cities, maybe another time. They are somewhere down there.....


In fact, the only indication of industry that I was able to see was the stack of the now disused Buildwas power station at Ironbridge (peeping out of the cloud to the left of the trig).....
 
 
I returned the same way and went to have a look at the village of Much Wenlock. 
 

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