| Wychbury Hill | |
|---|---|
 Wychbury Hill looking towards Wychbury Obelisk |
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| Elevation | 224 m (734 ft) |
| Location | Worcestershire, England |
| Topo map | OS Explorer 219 |
| OS grid reference | SO920817 |
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 Wychbury Ring - an Iron Age hill fort - and the Wychbury Obelisk, and is much beloved of pagans, with the site containing a 28 tree ancient yew grove, and not because the name sounds like "witch". 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
See also
Coordinates: 52°26′00″N 2°07′09″W / 52.43322°N 2.11909°W
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