Deadman's Plack Find!

No it's not the dentistry dilemmas of the deceased (sorry, pitiful humour) it is a monument erected in the early nineteenth century by the then owner of land in Harewood Forest, west Hampshire. 

 

It commemorates the murder in 963 of Earl Athelwold, husband of Queen Elfthryth, who was murdered by King Edgar whilst out hunting.  It was a crime of jealousy, lust and power - Edgar wished to marry the Queen.  The monument stands as an obelisk surmounted by a stone cross in a quite hidden spot within the forest, offering rest and seclusion. 

 

The great WH Hudson has already been mentioned by my fellow bloggers but in this instance he retells the romantic story in his 'Dead Man's Plack and The Old Thorn'.

http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/9/6/9/19691/19691.htm

 

30 September 2009 from Angela Hicken

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