Wychbury Hill

Wychbury Hill

Infobox Mountain
Name = Wychbury Hill
Photo = Wychbury Hill.jpg
Caption = Wychbury Hill looking towards Wychbury Obelisk
Elevation = 224 m (734 ft)
Location = Worcestershire, England
Range =
Prominence =
Coordinates =
Topographic
OS "Explorer" 219
Type =
Age =
First ascent =
Easiest route =
Grid_ref_UK = SO920817
Listing =
Translation =
Language =
Pronunciation =

Wychbury Hill is a hill situated off the A456 Birmingham Road, at Hagley, Stourbridge, on the border of West Midlands and Worcestershire.

It is divided between the parish of Hagley and former parish of Pedmore. It is one of the Clent Hills. The hill offers good views across the Severn Valley as far as the Malvern Hills and Clee Hills. It is the site of an Iron Age hill fort and the Wychbury Obelisk, and much beloved of modern pagans, apparently due to the name sounding like 'witch'. However the name is actually unrelated, being derived from that of the Saxon subkingdom of the Hwicce.

On the flank of the hill is a folly (the Temple of Theseus) in the shape of a Greek Doric temple. Built in 1758, it was England's first example of Neo-Classical architecture. The temple is in a seriously dillapidated condition. It is a listed building on private land and permanently fenced off to the public.

A woman's body was discovered inside a wych elm tree in a wood, on Wychbury Hill on the Hagley Hall estate during World War Two, prompting the intriguing graffiti "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?". This message has reappeared in a variety of local places at intervals ever since, and as of 2007 the obelisk bears the slightly different message "Who put Bella in the Witch [sic] Elm" (no question mark). The victim was never identified. It has sparked a lot of media interest over the years, featuring on the BBC's "Inside Out" TV program in the West Midlands.

Cultural references

*Stourbridge band The Vengeful Widows' second single 'Turn Out The Light' (1990) featured the Wychbury Obelisk on the cover.

External links

* [http://www.stourbridge.com/wychill/wychbury.htm 3D Panorama]
* [http://www.mysteriouspeople.com/Bella_in_the_wychelm.htm Bella in the Wych Elm]

ee also

*List of hill forts in England


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