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The Tern Valley Trail - Wrockwardine's Regal Past
The Hall of Cynddylan
In the Canu Heledd, Cynddylan's burial takes place at Baschurch (Eglwysseu Bassa) in north Shropshire, which is often assumed to have been the site of Llys Pengwern, his capital. However, the ancient texts make reference to Cynddylan's home being much nearer to The Wrekin Hill and the former Roman town of Viroconium, while his kingdom is also described as occupying the lands between the Roden and Tern, from which Baschurch is some distance away. The literal translation of Pengwern, meaning 'at the head of a swamp or marsh', would certainly be more appropriate to Wrockwardine's situation above the Weald Moors.
Indeed, the royal manor held special privileges over the area, including unlimited cattle grazing rights, until the late 1500s, although quite how or why it came to have such generous rights remains uncertain. To add to the air of mystery surrounding the area's lineage, The Tribal Hidage, an Anglo-Saxon tax record that may have been compiled within 100 years of the supposed fall of Pengwern, records Wrockwardine as belonging to the Wreosensaete ('the people of The Wrekin'), a sub-kingdom of the larger Anglo-Saxon state of Mercia. Other evidence from the period suggests the word 'saete' may have been used to denote former British kingdoms, providing another tantalising clue to Wrockwardine's regal past.