Legend
The Drowning of Prince Oswy
No water on the hill, they said.
See it clearly
- What's there
- A half-collapsed conical summit and a damp spring patch
- Legend from
- Cleveland tradition
- Best time
- Clear days
- Tone
- Tragic
His mother climbed the hill to escape a prophecy of drowning. A spring took him anyway.
Roseberry Topping is a distinctive hill near Great Ayton, its name coming from the Old Norse for Odin's hill, according to the Great Ayton History Society. Legend says Prince Oswy, son of King Oswald of Northumbria, was foretold to drown. His mother took him to the summit, thinking there could be no water there. She fell asleep, and the little prince wandered off and fell into the Roseberry Well, a spring near the top, where he drowned. His mother died soon after. Tradition says both were buried at Osmotherley, the name explained as 'Oswy by his mother lay'. Geograph notes the place-name actually comes from a Scandinavian personal name.