Description:The landmark has been spelt variously as 'High Shut', 'Highshut' and 'High Shutt'. The latter spelling is also used for a farm in Hilderstone.
The old tree which stands on this unusual raised piece of common land is part of Staffordshire legend. It can be seen from miles around, as far afield as Cheadle, Ipstones and Alton Towers. The fir tree is said to have a strange power, and generations of local people believed that walking around the tree nine times would occasion the sound of bells ringing, summoning them to death. The tree was also the meeting point for three young men c1810, who later became MPs. One of these men was Lord Winmarleigh, formerly Colonel Wilson Patten of Lightoaks. In 1885 a mound was built around the tree as a memorial to these meetings.