Hidden away in the heart of Harewwood Forest, at an eerie place called Deadman’s Plack, is a sinister grey monument. Despite standing over 70ft (20m) tall, it’s shrouded by trees and can be difficult to find. The reasons for its construction will send shivers down your spine.
Colonel Iremonger, owner of Wherwell Priory, erected the monument in 1825 to commemorate the spot where Edgar, grandson of Alfred the Great and King of England is supposed to have murdered his friend Athelwold in ad 963. The events leading to this bloody deed make a classic tale of love, jealousy and hate. Eager to marry again following the death of his first wife, Edgar sent one of his trusted courtiers, Earl Athelwold, to visit Elfrida, daughter of Ordgar, Earl of Devon and a renowned beauty, to see if the reports of her beauty were true. But Althelwold fell in love with her and, before wooing and marrying her, sent back a message that she was ugly and would be unsuitable as a queen. Edgar soon found out he had been deceived and Elfrida, having realised that she had lost her chance at becoming queen, turned her charms towards Edgar. The King too was smitten and fell in love.
He could not forgive Athelwold and it is said that Edgar and Elfrida plotted together to murder him. Edgar invited the Earl on a hunting trip in Harewood Forest and at Deadman’s Plack stabbed him to death. He promptly married Elfrida and they had a son, Ethelred. Following the King’s death in ad 975, his son Edward from his first marriage succeeded him to the throne. Jealous of her stepson and anxious for her own son Ethelred to be king, she stabbed Edward to death at Corfe Castle in ad 978. Elfrida, stricken with remorse, founded a nunnery on the banks of the River Test at Wherwell, 3 miles (4.8km) south of Deadman’s Plack. Haunted by her own conscience she lived a life of penitence until her death in 1002.
So enjoy the eerie walk in the woods, keep to the tracks and find the cache if you can face it.
FTF ... Fay, R+R