Ethelfleda's Hill Fort (Wednesdbury) [Iron Age Hillfort (Wednesbury)] Hillfort : The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map:

<< Text Pages >> Ethelfleda's Hill Fort (Wednesdbury) - Hillfort in England in West Midlands

Submitted by Anne T on Sunday, 07 July 2024 Page Views: 1555

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Ethelfleda's Hill Fort (Wednesdbury) Alternative Name: Iron Age Hillfort (Wednesbury)
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 3.254 km away from the location you searched for.
County: West Midlands Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Wednesbury
Map Ref: SO9880095300
Latitude: 52.555539N Longitude: 2.019131W
Condition:

5	Perfect
4	Almost Perfect
3	Reasonable but with some damage
2	Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1	Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0	No data.
-1	Completely destroyed

Destroyed Ambience:

5	Superb
4	Good
3	Ordinary
2	Not Good
1	Awful
0	No data.

no data Access:

5	Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4	Short walk on a footpath
3	Requiring a bit more of a walk
2	A long walk
1	In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0	No data.

no data Accuracy:

5	co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4	co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3	co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2	co-ordinates of the nearest village
1	co-ordinates of the nearest town
0	no data

5

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Hillfort in West Midlands

Now destroyed, this Iron Age Hillfort is recorded as Historic England Research Record 19191, although there does not appear to be a corresponding listing on the Historic England website.

Heritage Gateway tells us: "The possible site of an Iron Age Hillfort is suggested by place-name evidence, although no surface trace remains. The site is traditionally associated with Ethelfleda, a member of the Anglo Saxon royal house, and sister of Edward the Elder. Ethelfleda is said to have established a castle on the site. There are several antiquarian accounts of earthworks on the site around Church Hill ... The place-name Wednesbury is suggestive of a prehistoric earthwork: [one source has] speculated that the Saxons may have built a (pagan) temple and later a Christian church inside an earlier stronghold."

They continue: "Church Hill is a flattish-topped hill lying close to the River Tame. It rises gently up from the surrounding flood plain before steepening around the around the summit itself and plateauing out at about 163m above OD. The hill's form and topographical location are certainly suited to it being the site of a stronghold, although if so no surface trace survives today. The west end of the summit of Church Hill is occupied by St Bartholomew's Church. Immediately to the west and north, Ethelfleda Memorial Gardens and St Mary's RC Church have been terraced into the slope. The intervening stretch of churchyard seems to have preserved the former hill profile, but no sign of an encircling rampart or ditch can be seen."

St Bartholemew's Church can be found just north west of the grid reference given in the Heritage Gateway Research Record, at SO 98712 95346. The church website, church history, adds: "It is a Grade 2 listed building first mentioned in 1088 ... Sitting on the top of Church Hill, seen for miles around, St Bart's has been at the heart of Wednesbury for centuries."

I have not (so far) been able to track down any antiquarian papers mentioned in the HGRR entry which give information about this site, so if you have come across them, please would you kindly post any information, or a link to the paper, on this site page by adding a comment - thank you.

With thanks to Tim@Timmo101 who let us know about this site through X/Twitter.

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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:

SO9895 : Lover's Walk by John M — by John M
©2011(licence)

SO9895 : OS benchmark - Wednesbury, Church Hill (wall) by Richard Law — by Richard Law
©2021(licence)

SO9895 : Mock windmill by John M — by John M
©2011(licence)

SO9895 : OS benchmark - Wednesbury, St Batholemew's Church by Richard Law — by Richard Law
©2021(licence)

SO9895 : St Bartholomew's Church in Wednesbury by Richard Law — by Richard Law
©2021(licence)

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