Anniversary of the death of last woman to rule Mercia
NEXT month sees the 1,100th anniversary of the death of Ethelflaeda, the last woman to rule Mercia, a kingdom which included our town.
Many cities founded by her, including Gloucester where she is buried, will be celebrating her life on June 12 and Stockport should commemorate her too.
It is probable that the Roman fort on Castle Yard was refortified by her in 918, the year of her death, when she was busily leading Anglo-Saxon forces against the Danes of Northumbria (just across the Mersey) and countering raids by Norse Vikings up the Mersey Valley.
Bredbury means ‘the burh made from planks’ - (a burh was an Anglo Saxon fort) and Castle Hill near Brinnington was the likely spot, facing over the Tame Valley to Denton, once interpreted as ‘Dane Town.’
There are legends of fights against the Danes at Reddish ‘Red ditch’ and Gorton, where Gore Brook also ran red with blood.
Dane Bank and Daneshut wood in Denton are other place names and Nico ditch in Reddish was said to have been dug in one night as a defensive trench.
Bones uncovered during the building of Sainsbury’s in Stockport are remains of a sanguinary encounter on the banks of the Mersey.
Ethelflaeda was the eldest child of King Alfred the Great and married Ethelraed of Mercia, but after his death she ruled Mercia from 911-918 as Queen and ‘Lady of the Mercians.’
Taking an active part in driving back the Vikings with her brother, King Edward the Elder of Wessex, she re-conquered many Danish-held towns and defeated the Norse Viking Ragnald, who had invaded Cheshire with Irish and Welsh allies in 918.
The Danes of York offered to recognise her as their Queen just before she died.
At Chester and Runcorn she founded burhs and all along the Mersey Valley she and her brother built forts on the sites of Roman stations, probably including Stockport, situated on a rock guarding a strategic ford over the Mersey even though Cheadle was a more important Anglo-Saxon settlement, with preaching crosses, but less defensible militarily.
She was, according to Irish annals, a ‘great and mighty Queen of the Mercians.’ »»More information about her is at www. Aethelflaed.arises! And stories about early Stockport are in Stockport History and Guide book and Stockport Heritage Magazine copies, both available at www. Stockportheritage magazine.co.uk