Wednesbury

Wednesbury is situated five miles southeast of Wolverhampton, three miles southwest of Walsall and seven miles northwest of Birmingham [1]. The substantial remains of a large ditch excavated in St Mary's Road in 2008 has been interpreted as part of a hilltop enclosure and possibly the Iron Age hillfort long suspected on the site [1]. The first authenticated spelling of the name was Wodensbyri, written in an endorsement on the back of the copy of the will of Wulfric Spot, dated 1004 [1]. Wednesbury ("Woden's borough") is one of a number of places in England to be named after the pre-Christian deity Woden, the leader of the Old English pantheon [1]. During the Anglo-Saxon period there are believed to have been two battles fought in Wednesbury, in 592 and 715 [1]. According to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle there was "a great slaughter" in 592 and "Ceawlin was driven out" [1].