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Holy Hill of Breedon

One of the few remaining landmarks of the vanished kingdom of Mercia is this hilltop site in north west Leicestershire. Though only about 180 feet higher than the surrounding countryside, the limestone outcrop is visible for several miles around. A Saxon monastery once sat atop the hill, founded around 675 after the kingdom's conversion from paganism, and mentioned by Bede as "Brindun". The church there today has an odd dedication - to St. Mary and St. Hardulf.

St. Hardulf is a somewhat mysterious figure. A text of 1541 refers to St. Hardulche in a place named Bredon and tells of his life in a cell carved into a cliff. Earlier, Hugh Candidus, a 12th century chronicler, wrote that buried at Breedon lay "Sanctus Aerdulfus Rex". Was Breedon the resting place of a sanctified minor member of the Mercian royal family?

http://www.penda.org.uk/breedon.htm


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