The Wrekin

The Wrekin
The Wrekin viewed from near Atcham, Shropshire with the A5 dual-carriageway visible in the middle distance.
Highest point
Elevation	1,335 ft (407 m)
Prominence	978 ft (298 m)
Parent peak	Kinder Scout
Listing	Marilyn
Geography
Location	Shropshire, England
Parent range	Shropshire Hills
OS grid	SJ628080
Topo map	OS Landranger 127

The Wrekin /ˈriːkᵻn/ is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some five miles (8 km) west of Telford, on the border between the districts of Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising to a height of 1,335 feet (407 metres) above the Shropshire Plain, it is a prominent and well-known landmark, signalling the entrance to Shropshire for travellers westbound on the M54 motorway. The Wrekin is contained within the northern panhandle of the Shropshire Hills AONB. The hill is popular for walkers and tourists and offers good views of Shropshire. It can be seen well into Staffordshire and the Black Country, and even as far as the Beetham Tower in Manchester, Winter Hill in Lancashire and Cleeve Hill in Gloucestershire.

The earliest mention of the Wrekin (pronounced locally as REE-KIN) occurs in a charter of 855, as entered in a late 11th century Worcester cartulary, spelled Wreocensetun. Its modern form is believed to have come into modern English by way of Mercian, and that is likely to have been taken from the early Celtic word Wrikon. It is presumed to be etymologically related to the Latin name for the town of Viroconium Cornoviorum - Viroconium="place of werewolves" - (modern Wroxeter; the Cornovii were the Brittonic tribe inhabiting the area), related to similar-sounding names such as Wrexham (a charter of 1236 refers to this place as Wrectesham) which was also part of the northwestern edge of the Cornovii Kingdom.