Potteries Orienteering Club

I have often walked over Tittensor Chase but generally tended to stick to the public footpath, apart from one famous occasion about five years ago when I was accosted and admonished by the forester for exploring the woodland which lies in the western part of our new 'O' map. "You're not one of those orienteers, are you", he asked. I'm ashamed to say I pretended not to understand what he was talking about!

Our event on 23rd January 2000, however, provided the opportunity for further exploration of the area both during and after my run without fear of similar incident, since on this particular day we could quite legitimately be there.

Approaching the third control on my Green Course (AE, Terrace, East part), I was aware that the hill in front of me was shown on Ordnance Survey maps as "Saxons' Lowe" in the gothic style of lettering used to indicate a site of antiquity.

In northern England, 'Low' in the name of a hill often indicates a tumulus or burial mound, but since the 1899 O.S. map shows a quarry on its north side, surely this hill must be a natural formation? Stone from here was used in the building of Hilltop Farm a short distance away (at the bend in the fence on the 'O' map) and it was no doubt the spoil-heap from this quarry which created the terrace on which my control was located. The ground above, however, does seem steeper than might be expected, so it is perfectly possible that an existing prominent feature was enlarged to create a suitably imposing resting place for some important prehistoric personage. Sadly I can find no record of any archaeological investigation having taken place.

A further puzzle lies in the name. Since tumuli are generally considered to date from the Iron Age, why Saxons' Lowe for this particular hill? The answer may well lie in the legends surrounding a more extensive early site a kilometre to the south-east.

Once the start had been cleared away I headed for the southern extremity of the Chase to take a look at Bury Bank, the remnants of a defended hill-top settlement, which had been visited during the event only by runners on the longer Blue and Brown Courses. What must once have been steep earth ramparts have been mellowed by the actions of weather and tree roots over the centuries. The remains, though, are still quite impressive in spite of swathes of dead bracken masking the detail. The double barrier of raised banks and sunken ditches which follow the contours of the ridge crest can still be traced for much of its perimeter. When there were fewer trees on the high ground, the site would have commanded wide views in all directions, most particularly over what would then have been swampy ground in the valley of the River Trent below, the side from which an enemy would most likely approach.

There is an obvious entrance to the north-west, above the present Bury Bank Farm, narrow and steep sided, after the manner of a barbican on a medieval castle. Invaders could be attacked from above once caught in the confines of this gap. An unusual feature which makes this site different from many similar Iron Age hill forts is the raised mound in the southern part of the enclosure. This is reputed to have been the palace of Wulfere, who governed Mercia from AD 658 to 676 - could it be this Saxon King who lies buried half a mile to the north-west?.

The 1899 O.S. map names the whole earthwork as "Wulferecester", or Wulfere's town. If this was the case, he might well have taken over an existing earthwork constructed maybe a thousand years earlier, adapting it for his own use.

An investigation of the mound in 1860 discovered at its base a heap of stones, some bits of charcoal and fragments of bone. Unfortunately these were not preserved, being dismissed at the time as of little consequence.

So, is anything known about King Wulfere? A battle was fought in 654 AD in which Oswy, king of Northumbria overthrew Penda, the Mercian king. Penda was slain and his son, Wulfere, went into hiding at Bury Bank. Four years later, the Mercians, with Wulfere as their leader, not only determined to resist the payment of taxes imposed by the Northumbrians but to embark on a war of conquest. Oswy was killed, dying nailed to a tree(!) and the lands of Mercia returned to their rightful heir.

Just like Penda his father, Wulfere was a pagan. He married Ermendilda, a princess from the royal house of Kent, and they had three children, two boys named Wulfad and Rufin and a daughter, Werburga. The warrior princes, whilst out hunting one day, met a hermit living in a cave at what is now Walton, near Stone. The hermit was Chad, bringer of Christianity to these parts, later canonized as Saint Chad and commemorated in the establishment of the diocese of Lichfield. Wulfad and Rufin often returned secretly to the cave and as a result of Chad's teaching, were converted to Christianity. Their father was so incensed by their betrayal that they were forced to flee his wrath. Wulfere chased and caught them, however, killing both with his own hands.

Their mother, so the story goes, took up their bodies and had them interred "under a great sepulchre of stones" around the year 670 AD. This, it is said, is how the township of Stone received its name. Filled with remorse for his dreadful deed, Wulfere renounced his former beliefs and became the first Christian King of Mercia, embracing the religion which he had previously condemned and persecuted. It was Ermendilda and her husband together who founded a monastery at Stone in honour of their two sons who had been so barbarously done to death by their father.

These incidents would not, of course, have been recorded until many years afterwards. The monks setting down the tale may very well have been tempted to embroider the story of the origins of their monastery in order to enhance the reputation of their religious establishment.

It makes you realise, though, that there may be far more to some of those control sites you visit than you could ever have imagined!

Brian Billington