The Village of Wroughton

The parish Church of John the Baptist and St Helen

Modern Wroughton is a large village with a population of around 8,500 south of the Marlborough Downs and close to the ancient Ridgeway path in north Wiltshire. Historic landmarks litter the local landscape from Barbary’s Iron Age Hill Fort to Avebury’s Neolithic Stone Circle and the mysterious Silbury Hill. That this was once the thoroughfare of ancient people is not in dispute and so it is perhaps inevitable that Wroughton positioned as it is, would have its fair share of ghost stories and magical myths.

In my experience, history, mystery and mythology are woven together and the stories of the ancients filter through to this modern, digital age in a variety of ways. The eureka moment when someone relates an unsettling other-worldly experience that I recognise as having resonance with an event that happened years ago or a person that existed in another time always sends a shiver down my spine. But first of all I’d like to introduce you to Wroughton, or as it was known in olden times, the village of Ellendune.

The name Ellendune was first recorded when describing the battle of Ellendun in September 825, which is believed to have been fought in the vicinity of Markham Banks, close to the church of St John the Baptist and St Helen. Egbert, King of Wessex defeated the Mercian King Beornwulf in a battle described as the most decisive in Anglo-Saxon history.

Over a century later, in the Anglo-Saxon Charter of 956, a church wall is mentioned in the boundary of Ellendune. Although no church building exists from that time it suggests this has been a place of worship for much longer than the present church which is Norman. (From 1066)

So where does the name Ellendune originate? The place name society likes the interpretation - Alder Tree Down, but it could just have easily have meant Ella’s down, - if Ella had been the name of a clan chief. The story I like best and which links in with other tales about Wroughton is that it’s named after the pagan Goddess Ellen, who has antlers like the pagan God Herne the Hunter. Ellen is known as the Goddess of the ways and has strong links to the fairy folk. So at the very birth of our village there is already an element of mystery and magic.

There is another clue suggesting that the pagan Goddess Ellen might have lent her name to the village of Ellendune. It’s a well-known fact that the Christian church integrated pagan ideas to encourage followers of the old ways into the new church. The celebration of Christmas for example was held at the same time as the Roman holiday Saturnalia and pagan images of the Green Man were often incorporated into the walls of the earliest Christian churches. So I’d like to draw your attention to the name of Wroughton’s parish church, St John the Baptist and St Helen. Dedications to St Helen are rare in the south of England and it doesn’t take much imagination to see how Ellen was subtly changed to Helen, effectively the same name, to encourage pagans who worshipped the Goddess Ellen into the Christian church.

I just want to mention something else that suggests a link between the pagan Goddess Ellen and the village. Given that she has antlers there are several stories associated with stags and deer that may be myths created from faded folk memory harking back to pagan times. Firstly we have an old pub called the White Hart dating back to the late 1600’s. Hart, is the archaic name for a stag. A white hart in olden times was associated with good fortune. Another story informs us that if you come across a white fawn sleeping in the valley that lays to the south of Wroughton High Street you will have good luck. 

Let me share a personal experience with you. About five years ago, I was walking with a friend across the back fields behind the High Street and we suddenly stopped in our tracks. There in the long grass before us was a sleeping fawn. It wasn’t white! But it lay there peacefully, probably only a few hours old. We quietly walked away. It was an incredibly uplifting experience and I can see how the story of the sleeping white fawn could have given hope in times of famine and disease.

Image of Ellen of the Ways

Painted by Julia Jeffrey – artwork available from

 https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StonemaidenArt/items

As it’s my first ‘Ghosts of Wroughton’ blog, I’d better tell you a ghost story. This is about the ghosts of the ancient yew tree.

The yew tree is the first thing you see when entering the churchyard. For many years the branches hung like heavy curtains hiding the lichen clad graves and box tombs. These days the tree looks healthier after some sensible management. It’s believed to be between four to five hundred years old, possibly planted or seeded around the time of Henry 8^th. Yew trees were needed for the making of bows, but their berries were poisonous to cattle so churchyards were the perfect place for them to grow.

The story surrounding the ancient yew was first told to me by my mum who went to school at Legge House in the 1920’s. Legge House is a building within the church grounds. The story goes that you have to stick a pin in the tree and walk around it 10 times with your eyes closed. When you eventually open your eyes you will see a ghost! I have tried it and been disappointed (or perhaps relieved), but it may be something you might like to try one day.

So, who is this ghost? Some say you’ll be confronted by a tall, dark, male figure wearing the wig and tailed waist coat of the 18^th century. Others have said to listen for the creak of rope because when you open your eyes a dark figure hangs from the branches. I have often heard the old tree creaking but I think you’ll find this is a natural phenomenon. There is also a story that the ghost is the sad figure of a woman dressed in white who was buried alive.

It’s just a thought, but if you walk around the tree 10 times with your eyes shut, given the knuckled roots awkwardly protruding from the ground, you might fall over… and then you’ll certainly be seeing stars.

Whilst researching the yew I came across an interesting fact. It might explain why the yew tree was revered in pagan times for its magical powers and also why more recently people have believed that they’ve seen a ghost after walking round the tree ten times. On hot days yew trees release a gas called taxine. This gas has the ability to cause hallucinations. Was it this natural gas released in the heat of summer that changed perceptions and ensured this ghostly myth endured?

Next time I’ll tell you about the children who haunt the graveyard and the ghosts of Wroughton House. Don’t be scared…