IT might not be immediately obvious now, but at one time Elbury Mount was the most picturesque spot in Worcester. A tangle of gorse and briars, it had wonderful, far reaching views.

Nineteenth-century historian Jabez Allies  believed it to have been a  key spot in the time of the Druids and a bonfire on its summit could be seen all over Worcestershire. In 1850, when Allies was writing, there was still evidence on the top of the site of a camp, 200 yards long on the north side, 100 yards on the east and south and 150 yards on the west side.

However the hill was later acquired by Worcester Corporation for a reservoir and during its construction all traces of the camp were destroyed.

The Ronkswood escarpment of Elbury Mount

The Ronkswood escarpment of Elbury Mount

The location had long been seen as strategic and in his Civil War diary, Henry Townshend, one of the Royalist garrison, wrote that in 1646 the Parliamentarian Colonel Edward Whalley placed a gun battery on the hill and erected huts there.

Read more: Does anyone know the history of store that was once Bobbets?

However, these best-laid plans went up in smoke when the captain in charge got drunk and the huts caught fire. They ended up being completely incinerated. Thereafter it has been difficult for historians to accurately gauge whether the ruins of the camp found on Elbury Mount were indeed Druidical or just collateral damage from a Carry on Cromwell episode.

A couple of other aged gems from the locale you may not know about concern the Virgin Tavern and an area called Port Fields.

The pub stands on the crest of a hill in Tolladine Road and although the current building only dates back to the 20th century, the site has been an inn since long before that.

Indeed in the past The Virgin has been one of Worcester’s finest. In Victorian times it was one of the top three watering holes in the city, competing against the Swan at Whittington and the Ketch at the top of Bath Road. Then in open countryside, it was the boundary marker for Claines and St Martin’s parishes.

Its name denotes an association with the church and although there are many “ecclesiastical” pubs in the UK, no other is believed to have been called the Virgin Tavern.

Since time immemorial the southern slope of Elbury Mount has been known as Port Fields, this probably dating back to the Romans, for whom it would have been the name of a military way. In the 1860s, when the French were at last making noises about avenging Waterloo, self-defence fever gripped England and volunteers clambered for rifles.

To allow them to practise, a 600-yard shooting range was established in Worcester, the firing point being at Tunnel Hill with the targets set on the escarpment of Elbury Mount.

But inexperienced recruits can be dangerous with live ammunition and when a volley of bullets sent people promenading along Tolladine Road running for cover and a cow peacefully grazing on Port Fields was shot dead, the range was closed down.