Discovering Tong: Its History, Myths and Curiosities
by Robert Jeffery

Book Reviews

“The book tells us much about English life… and reaches beyond Shropshire. The author concludes that to research the history of a place is not only a historical exercise but a theological one.” Church Times

“This book is in a distinct literary tradition – the delightful and authoritative account of his parish by a long serving clergyman. Think Gilbert White of Selbourne but add architecture.” Journal of the Ancient Monuments Society

“Forget the Archers and the disgraceful little Ruarie. Compared to Tong, Ambridge is semi- monastic. Robert Jeffery has written a history of his old Shropshire parish and it’s sensational. George Durant II, squire in the early 19th century, was ‘reputed to have a child in every cottage on the Tong estate.’ When the details – housemaid seductions, simple homely family hatreds follow, they put the water-colourist’s England into pallid perspective. This is a quite brilliant book, 200 pages of minute research showing a county family auditioning for left wing propaganda.” Edward Pearce in Tribune Magazine

“The castle was blown up by the army, Shakespeare wrote an inscription in the church and Little Nell is buried there. It’s the weird and wonderful and sometimes mythical world of the Village of Tong as uncovered in a new history by a former vicar.” Shropshire Star

“The book is in the grand tradition of quality local histories – objectively related with love – and contains not a few excellent illustrations by the author’s daughter.” Journal of the Methodist Historical Society

To find out more about Tong please buy a copy of the Discovering Tong book; the profits from the sale of the book go towards maintaining Tong Church.

Discovering Tong is a book which tells the stories about a village in rural England. It brings together all the known historical information about Tong, Salop some of which has only recently become available. The book has 54 illustrations, several are reproduced for the first time (including 6 in colour and 3 maps). The book is the most comprehensive book on the subject in the last hundred years. It comprises the following chapters, click on the heading link for more information about each section.

Foreword by the late Very Revd Dr Alan Webster, KCVO, Dean Emeritus of St Paul’s.

Prologue introduces the author, the Very Revd Dr Robert Jeffery, Dean Emeritus of Worcester and former vicar of Tong.

Chapter 1. The Story of Tong

Visitors to Tong, Shropshire over the centuries have been delighted when they discover this small rural village and in particular its fine fifteenth century church. Tong has many stories to tell, both the true and the fabricated, the book examines many of them.

The first chapter of the book acquaints us with the location of Tong and recounts some of the impressions of visitors including Elihu Burritt ➚; Revd R. W. Eyton ➚; John Betjeman ➚ and Simon Jenkins ➚.

Chapter 2. Tong Castle

Chapter 2 documents the lives of the early owners of Tong up to the middle of the eighteenth century. It includes a number of family trees that show how the ownership of Tong passed amongst the leading land-owning families of the time. These include the Montgomery – Earls of Shrewsbury ➚ ; de Belmeis family ➚; la Zouche family ➚; de Harcourt ➚ families. It was the Pembrugge family who made Tong Castle more of a home than a fortified castle. They had a major impact on the village by building the present Church and founding Tong College.

Ownership passed by marriage into the rich and prominent Vernon family ➚ followed by the Stanleys ➚ (Earls of Derby). During the time of Sir Henry Vernon ➚, Tong was at its height of national importance as the Vernon family prospered under Henry VII ➚ (the Vernons had fought for Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth ➚). See also: Sir Richard Vernon; Henry Vernon; Sir William Vernon; .

Excavations of Tong Castle in the last 30 years have shown a very complex sequence of building and re-building confirming the Buck engraving as a fair representation of the Castle at the time.

“Prince Arthur spent time with Henry Vernon at Haddon Hall; where there is a room known as ‘The Prince’s Room’. His tutor would have been there with him. One tutor was Arthur Vernon, son of Henry, who later became Rector of Whitchurch. The Prince had several tutors. The principal tutor, appointed in 1496, was Bernard Andreas. (He was also Poet Laureate). Andreas was an Oxford graduate who was introduced to Henry VII by Bishop Fox of Winchester (1401-29).
Prince Arthur ➚ moved to Ludlow Castle in 1501 and Henry Vernon witnessed the marriage contract of Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon ➚. The marriage took place in St Paul’s Cathedral on 14th November 1501.”

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Chapter 3. George Durant comes to Tong

Chapter 3 includes newly available material to shows how George Durant came to his fortune and how it was spent at Tong.

George Durant led a remarkable life, as a young man he became infatuated with Elizabeth Lyttleton the second wife of George Lyttleton ➚, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The scandal was noted by his brother in a letter:

“This affair has now got wind and all town talk of it; report you may suppose has exaggerated the circumstances and ’tis generally said her ladyship was caught abed with the young man…her infernal temper has left her so few friends that I don’t hear of a single person who speaks in her favour, or that abuses Sir George or his family for the part he has taken. On the contrary, his enemies ascribe great merit to him for his behaviour in this delicate business.”

To escape the scandal George Durant was dispatched as Paymaster to the British troops in the expedition to Guadeloupe. From his diaries we read vivid accounts of the Battle of Guadeloupe ➚ (1758) :

“He reported that in the engagement, 150 troops were killed, and 200 wounded. He was appalled at the destruction, and when he landed, two days later, the whole town was deserted. The pavements were hot from burning sugar and liquor.
He went into a church, not as badly destroyed as the other buildings. The description is vivid: ‘It was covered with Rubbish & left in the utmost Disorder. The isles were full of Trophies & relicks, the pews were every where scattered with beads and Books; the vestries on each side of the Chancel were a foot deep in papers, prayer Books, Musick, was lights, massive Candlsticks & ten thousand nameless trinkets & all within the communion rails was crowded with those gaudy trifles which are held most sacred; so it was impossible to stir a Step without trampling on the Blessed Virgin Mary or kicking before you a wooden apostle or a maimed crucified Jesus.’”

On his return trip to the Indies in 1762 he took part in the Battle of Havana ➚, George Durant amassed a large personal fortune.

“The city capitulated on 14^th August, and a large amount of booty was taken. It was from this venture that George Durant returned a very rich man with over £300,000. (The equivalent today would be around £15 million)”

The purchase of Tong was subject to considerable negotiation and haggling. George Durant despite his fortune drove down the purchase price, commenting on the poor state of Tong Castle he writes:

“‘The Castle and the grounds are in a miserable state of repair. The rain is coming in through the leads and in need of re-roofing.’
Similarly the walled garden was collapsing, and many of the farms were in a poor state with broken fences. Some had not been occupied for a long time. Other correspondence revealed the truth of this and the fact that the wall of the mill had fallen down.”

After purchasing the lease on the estate he set about building a mansion in the latest ‘Moroccan’ fashion with extensive landscaping based on plans drawn up by ‘Capability Brown’ ➚.

Chapter 4. Beati Qui Durant

“The affair, with Elizabeth Cliffe, took place while Mary Bradbury was pregnant. Once, while Mrs Durant was away, he was found in bed with Cliffe in the room opposite the Nursery. The servants were shocked, and pulled him away from her saying that he was ‘always after her’.

This conduct, said the lawyer was “more immoral, more degrading and more disgraceful – making a brothel of his own house…. Scarcely disguising his guilt from his servants.” In the end, Mrs Durant was granted a divorce and alimony of £600 p.a. The solicitor contested the amount of the alimony, and after two years’ negotiations, it was reduced to £400. To celebrate this achievement, George Durant built a monument on Knowl Hill. It was a square building, two stories high, surmounted by pillars 80ft high. A stone over the door was inscribed with the words Optimo Adico TW (TW was the solicitor, who ended up in jail on other offences).”

“George Durant was reputed to have a child in every cottage on the Tong estate. He liked to be godfather to them, and gave them strange names like ‘Napoleon Wedge’, ‘Columbine Cherrington’, ‘Gustavus Adolphus Martin’, ‘Luther Martin’ and ‘Cinderella Greatback’. It is almost as if he saw these children as playthings.”

After a long divorce case and the death of his first wife, he married Marie Celeste Lefèvre who was 25 years younger than himself. He had heated disputes with some of his many children. But he had his more compassionate and paternal side too; he took his responsibility as Lord of Tong seriously:

“They attended Church every Sunday. When in London, he went to Brompton or Kensington Parish Church ➚. Celeste attended a Roman Catholic Church, and had several of her children baptised as Catholics. At Tong, Durant turned the Chantry Chapel into his family pew. The walls were panelled, and it had settees and a fireplace. Halfway through the morning service, a servant came up from the Castle with a donkey carrying Mr Durant’s lunch. The servant carried the tray down through the Church into the Chapel. Every Sunday, after the vicar left, he catechised the children. Each year theywere taken to Shifnal for a Confirmation service. A diary entry for 22nd January 1832 reads: “Mr Robinson (the curate) preached a very good sermon. Fine. Maria rode round the wood and the kitchen garden, I walked by her. We saw Frank on the road by the Convent and heard he was sent back by the Bishop without getting priest’s orders.” ”

“‘On the 9th June Ernest and Anguish came into my yard with six dogs and beat my yard dog (a scotch terrier) to death while their mastiffs held him down. They presented to claim access by a road through the yard which has been legally stopped for 26 years. Ernest Durant has married a solicitor’s widow and he is in a cottage adjoining my land where he increasingly has chimney fires and is firing guns by my poolside and insulting members of my family whenever they are in sight. Please to say immediately how to proceed.’

Durant enclosed a set of signed witness statements. One is from George St George; two are from the village constable and a police officer; and the others are by servants. It is clear this was the culmination of a series of events instigated by Ernest and Anguish, asserting their rights to walk through the stable yard. Twice on previous days the village constable had been called to prevent it. But the real causes were deeper. On the 9th June they broke down the fence and came in with six dogs, three servants and a brace of pistols each. The disturbance bought the family out onto the balcony. The party included, George, the second Mrs Durant, their neighbour Mrs Bishton, George St George and Leonard Henry who had just become incumbent…”

The fraught family relations are exemplified by the behaviour of some of his sons on the news of their father’s death:

“That night, the villagers of Tong did not sleep well. As soon as he heard the news, Ernest Durant mounted his horse, and galloped through the village shouting, ‘The old man’s dead at last’. At the suggestion of their late brother George, Ernest and Frank gathered together a number of workmen from the estate. They went up to the offensive monument on the Knoll that their father had erected to his corrupt solicitor. They placed 70 lbs of gunpowder underneath, and blew it up. The explosion shook the Village. Some thought the end of the world had come. The stone, with the offensive inscription, was ground into powder and mixed into a heap of manure. Justice was done at last! ”

Chapter 5. Tong Castle’s Decline and Fall

“Mrs Christabel Werstley (Mrs Hartley’s great grand-daughter) recalled splendid Christmas celebrations. However, all the events took place on the ground floor, because the upper rooms were not safe. At the slightest shower of rain, hip-baths had to be placed all over the building to catch the water, which was pouring through the roof.
When Mrs Hartley died in 1909, it was decided to sell the remaining contents of the Castle. The sale catalogue listed the contents. There were nearly 1,000 items, plus the contents of 25 Bedrooms, and 18 reception rooms. There were still 130 oil paintings, and six carriages. There were 759 books; 161 bottles of wine; musical instruments; crockery; cutlery, and vast amounts of furniture. The sale took place over 3 days at the end of September. Mr Ingram Brown told me that he attended with his father, taking their purchases away in a horse and cart. During the sale, the main staircase fell in.”

One hundred years on and the Castle had become a dangerous ruin. Chapter 5 describes its eventual demise in 1954:

“On the night before the demolition, two girls from the village reported that they had encountered the ghost of a monk leaving the Castle. Then, on 18th July 1954, a large crowd gathered to watch this historic event (illustration page 71 of the book). The operation was conducted by the 213 Field Squadron Royal Engineers (T.A.). 208 boreholes were placed around the building, using 136 lbs of plastic explosive, and 75lbs of amatol. The Church windows were opened to cope with the blast. At 2.30 p.m. Lord Newport fired the charges. There are some fine photographs of this event, with the whole base of the Castle covered in smoke. A great cloud of dust and debris covered most of the buildings in the village. Tong Castle was no more. Among the people attending was Anthony Durant (later the M.P. for Reading). It was an event that the first and second George Durants could not have imagined.”

The Castle’s secrets did not have to wait long before they were uncovered. Alan Wharton carried out a rescue archaeological dig in 1976-1980 to better understand its nine centuries of history. The M54 now cuts a path directly through the middle of the site of the castle, small portions of the remains can be seen on either side of the motorway.

For more about the nine distinct buildings on the Tong Castle site unearthed by Alan Wharton please visit our Castle Excavation pages.

Ecclesiastical Tong

Chapter 6. Tong College

The college was supported financially by endowments of land, which were located locally in Lapley and Wheaton Aston, but also further afield in Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. The college clearly prospered:

“The accounts for 1437 and 1440 reveal that the College was employing five farm servants. By this time, it was providing enough corn, meat, and dairy products to meet all the requirements of the community. In 1438, the College was able to sell surplus rye and wool. In 1432, they had 92 sheep and 30 stones of wool were sold. By 1441, the amount of wool went up to 39 stones. There was a vineyard situated to the south east of the College.

A group of five or six clergy at Tong would not have been unusual at this time. In 1500, the population of England was 2 million, and there were 23,500 clergy. Every resident in Tong would have been, in some way, connected to the Castle and the College. So here was a compact, and self sufficient community. ”

On the dissolution ➚ of Tong College in 1546 the building and its lands passed to Richard Vernon and James Woolriche before passing on to William Pierrepont with the rest of the Tong Estate.

Th College served as almshouses for a while before it was demolished by George Durant as part of his landscaping in 1765. Alan Wharton excavated the college in 1981. It lies in the field to the south of the Church just clippedby the A41 bypass of Tong village.

For information about the excavation carried out on the Tong College site, please visit our Excavation pages. See also : Tong College plan

Chapter 7. Tong Church

“There are many descriptions of Tong Church. The earlier ones help us to see what happened at the Victorian restoration. Archdeacon Cranage wrote his description, just after its restoration. He describes it as ‘a most interesting building’ of ‘perpendicular character’, and admires the restoration work. There is an octagonal central Tower, and within it rises the central spire altered by Sir Henry Vernon, so that it could contain the Great Bell of Tong. Above it, are six bells, and a Sanctus Bell. The bells are rung from the middle of the church. Ringing is not easy, because the floor slopes from the east to the west end. The slope may be due to the bedrock, but some have thought it was constructed to enable the Church to be cleaned easily. Water poured out at the East end would automatically run to the West.”

“The fifth stall on the south side is of special interest. This is the only stall, with carving rather than decoration, at the top. On the right hand side is an angel, holding a shield on which are signs of the passion. This represents a typical form of devotion of the time. On the left is a face, (possibly a ‘Veronica’) which is very like the one on the Turin Shroud. Beneath both is an heraldic bird. The bird is that of the de Weston crest, which can be seen in the neighbouring Church at Weston-under-Lizard. In that Church are two tombs of de Westons. They were crusaders, and members of the Knights Templar ➚. At one time, the Knights Templar claimed to posses the Turin Shroud ➚, and they had a devotion to the face of Christ. On the seat below is the carving of a Green Man ➚. So the whole stall becomes a meditation on faces.”

The tomb of the foundress Isabel Pembrugge is associated with a local custom. On Midsummer’s Day roses are placed on her tomb. The custom ➚ dates as far back as 1200 when the flowers were placed by an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“So a custom over 200 years old, continued into the new church. But at the Reformation, the statue of Our Lady would have been removed, and so the roses came to the other lady, who was lying near the Lady Chapel. The custom still continues today. Such customs were common practice. In 1316, John de Tong was granted land by Robert de Prees; the rent was a rose on Midsummer’s Day. In 1353 there was a grant by John Byschop of 3 pieces of land at Tong Norton, with a similar arrangement. Another grant was conditional on the exchange of three arrows with goose feathers.”

Tong Church has splendid monuments to six generations of the Vernon family, including the remarkable Chantry (or ‘Golden’) Chapel.

“The whole Chantry is remarkable with its fan vaulting ceiling, which was originally painted in green, red and gold. The vaulting is very like that in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey. The size of the Tong Chapel is much smaller, what could be achieved is restricted. It is the only surviving piece of medieval fan vaulting in Shropshire. On the east wall are the remains of a rood painting. Some of the colour is still quite bright. Underneath is an inscription requesting prayers for Henry Vernon and his family. On the west wall, there is a hollow bust of Arthur Vernon, depicted in a pulpit, preaching. On the floor is a fine brass of Arthur Vernon dressed as an Oxford M.A. Arthur was Henry’s third son, tutor to Prince Arthur and subsequently Rector of Whitchurch.”

Chapter 8. The Treasures of Tong

Chapter 9. Of Clerics and Clerks

“Robert Hilton was Vicar of Lapley in 1638, but he was ejected from there in 1647. William Pierrepont appointed him to Tong in 1650. This was an act of kindness in those troubled times. Hilton ran a school at Tong. His successor at Lapley (who was removed in 1660) complained that “he did not get his arrears from 1647-9”. (This relates to glebe income, or fees). He also complained that he had an order to pay Mrs Hilton, (even though her husband was Vicar of Tong) and that it was unfair that Hilton also held the Sutton (Stretton) Chapelry, in Staffordshire. In 1660 Hilton was re-instated at Lapley. These events demonstrate the way some clergy tried to survive, during the Commonwealth period. Many depended on kind patrons to help them out.”

George Rivett-Carnac was one of the more colourful incumbents as he was a famous sportsman:

“George Rivett-Carnac was educated at Harrow School, Cambridge, and Chichester Theological College. He was a considerable sportsman. He played ice hockey, and cricket. On one occasion in 1875, playing for Priory Park against the South of England, he bowled out W. G. Grace for 0, and his brother G. F. Grace for 2 in the same over. He served curacies in Norfolk and Kew, and was at Tong for eight years (1882-90). He had two subsequent livings. He inherited a Baronetcy in 1898, and died in 1932. He was married to the granddaughter of the rural poet, George Crabbe.”

Of the parish clerks Robert Jeffery reports one incident concerning William Woolley a member of the local family of clockmakers:

“A little later, William Woolley was Parish Clerk. He was also a clockmaker, and lived at Tong Hill. Woolley was dismissed from his post, after a visiting preacher complained that there was no mirror in the vestry. Woolley called him ‘a confounded cockscomb’. George Durant (II) subsequently provided a mirror.”

Chapter 10. Living in Tong

“The Tong Clock-makers were established alongside the Forge. The most notable of these was John Baddeley. He was baptised in Tong Church in 1720. His father was a blacksmith. When he was 18, he decided to become a clock and watchmaker. He studied mechanics, and, in 1762, began working on optics, and he constructed a reflective telescope. Later, he moved to Albrighton, and is buried there. Shaw’s Staffordshire comments on him: ‘His superiority as a clock maker will be told for some years to come by the numerous domestic and turret clocks substantially constructed by him in every part of the country within many miles of Albrighton where he long resided.’ He made the clock for Tong Church. It was in use until 1984; the mechanism is on display in the Church.” See Tong Clock

White Oak was the scene for a boxing match :

“In 1828 a prize-fight took place there, between F. Samson of Birmingham and ‘Big Brown’ of Bridgnorth. The prize was £500, and the fight lasted for 42 rounds. The two men had fought each other before, but this time Brown fixed the fight. He ruined his backers, many of who had pawned their beds to support him. The Shropshire Quarter Sessions dealt with serious offences during this fight, and commented that such events were: ‘destructive of the public peace and injurious to the property and endangering the lives of individuals in the parishes of Tong and Albrighton’.”

Hubbal Grange was the setting when Charles II ➚ came close to capture by the Parliamentarians in 1651. The famous Royal Oak ➚ is only yard’s from the parish boundary at Boscobel.

“After the battle of Worcester Charles fled to Whiteladies, where, with Richard Penderell, they planned a failed escape, via Madeley into Wales. After the Restoration, the Penderells received a Royal annuity. In order to disguise the King, William Penderell cut off his hair. He kept the hair, and sold bits, to supplement his income. George Durant (II) demolished the main part of Hubbal Grange and built a smaller house, which is now within Tong Park Farm. Even in 1933 there were stories around that Hubbal was where Charles had hidden himself. Robinson quotes a Mr Kingston: ‘It is a much restored cottage standing in the midst of fields, lonely and difficult to approach… A comparatively modern oven was pointed out as being the place where Charles hid himself. We objected that a good sized man ‘more than two yards high’ could scarcely get into so small a space but the good wife overruled our objection declaring that ‘there’s no knowing what you would do if they were after you.’”

Chapter 11. Scenes from Village Life

A villager took note of some of the schoolboy pranks that were played. In 1950 a historical drama ‘The Spirit of Tong’ was devised by Revd E. J. Gargery setting out the story of the village. By this time myth had become intertwined with historical fact.

“The characters, which are encountered, include Dame Isabella, the Vernons, through to King Charles and Little Nell. Some of the old legends are perpetuated. The character of Dame Elinor Harries speaks of the Tong Cup as a Ciborium. ‘which had come from Holbein’s day to mine’ and she says ‘I did bestow a vestment worked with skill And loving care; And by Cistercian Sisters, long ago, Embroidered well.’ So the false stories, about the Tong Cup and the pulpit fall as a vestment, are perpetuated.”

Tong was awarded a Royal Charter in 1421 to hold an annual fair – the ‘Tong Wake’ by Henry III to mark St. Bartholomew’s Day.

“Probably some of these games related to different times of year. But the main social event was the Tong Wake. King Henry III, had granted this feast to Tong in 1421, along with a weekly Thursday market. Both events were to be held in the grounds of Tong Manor. The wake was meant to be held on St Bartholomew’s Day (24th August), but was transferred to St Matthew’s Day (21st September), to ensure the completion of the Harvest. The Wake lasted several days, and involved lots of sports, races and games. These included chasing a pig or a sheep with a greased tail, climbing a greasy pole, and eating treacle buns. The women’s races had gowns as prizes. A week before the Wake, everybody would be cooking, and baking pies, puddings, and joints of meat. There were barrels of beer, and much jollity.”

Literary Tong

Chapter 12. The Shakespeare Connection

“In 1929, a Mrs Esdaile wrote a pamphlet entitled Shakespeare’s verses in Tong Church. She asserted the authenticity of Shakespeare’s verses. She pointed out that doggerel rhymes, like those on Shakespeare’s own memorial in Stratford-on-Avon Church, were written because they were easy for the stone carvers. She mentioned the Shakespeare connection with the Stanleys. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written for the wedding of Ferdinando (fifth Earl of Derby ➚) in 1588. Ferdinando had taken over the patronage of Shakespeare’s company of players in that year.”

The connection between of William Shakespeare and Sir Edward Stanley is not open to debate. It is also well known that Shakespeare’s patron the Earl of Southampton ➚‘s wife was a Vernon to whom the Stanleys are closely related.

In his summing up using all the latest sources and scholarship Robert Jeffery unravels the common myths that have sprung up on this topic.

“The Stanley tomb has also attracted the attention of those who wish to undermine Shakespeare as the author of the plays. One theory ascribes them to William, Earl of Derby ➚, arguing that he wrote the words on this tomb in 1632. The evidence above undermines this and other theories.

The lines attributed to Shakespeare on the Stanley tomb at Tong Church.

Shakespeare’s Stanley Epitaphs in Tong, Shropshire

To order a copy please visit : http://moorwood.de ➚

Chapter 12 also covers some other intriguing literary associations including John Milton ➚; Lady Venetia Stanley ➚; John Evelyn ➚ (the diarist) and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu ➚.

Chapter 13. Some Victorian Curiosities

In the last chapter of the book, the author shows how Tong influenced the literary works of Harrison Ainsworth ➚; Charles Dickens; Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler and P.G. Wodehouse.

The flight of the future King Charles II after the rout at the Battle of Worcester ➚ in 1651 was turned into an adventure story by ‘popular historian’ Harrison Ainsworth. The King passed through Tong (Hubbal Grange) and hid in the Royal Oak ➚ in neighbouring Boscobel.

“Ainsworth is no longer a significant literary figure, but the effect of his book was to bring the events taking place around Tong and Boscobel into public consciousness, and to attract visitors to the area.”

Indeed a trip to Tong on the new railway became a popular weekend outing for people working in Wolverhampton and beyond.

“Dickens readers were drowned in a wave of grief no less overwhelming than his own. When Mcready returning home from the theatre, saw the print of the child lying dead by the window with strips of holly on her breast, a dead chill ran through his blood. ‘I have never read printed words that gave me so much pain’, he noted in his diary, ‘I could not weep for some time. Sensations, sufferings have returned to me, that are terrible to awaken…’ Daniel O’Connell, the Irish MP, reading the book in a railway carriage, burst into tears, groaned ‘He should not have killed her’, and despairingly threw the volume out of the train window. Thomas Carlyle, previously inclined to be a bit patronising about Dickens, was utterly overcome. Waiting crowds at a New York Pier shouted to an incoming vessel, ‘Is Little Nell dead?’…”

Dickens undoubtedly did know about Tong:

“There is another connection. Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, in 1812. His grandmother was Elizabeth Ball. She was the daughter of James and Amy Ball, of Claverley in Shropshire. She was baptised there, on January 10, 1746. Before she married, she was housekeeper at Tong Castle. She married William Dickens in 1781 when she was 36, so she may have been at Tong for some time.”

The description of the Church in the ‘Old Curiosity Shop’ is unflattering: ‘A very Aged, Ghostly Place’ but matches the state of the affairs prior to the Restoration of 1892 with only a little exaggeration for dramatic effect. Despite some scholars attempts to undermine the theory, there is little doubt that the closing scenes of the death of Little Nell and her grief-stricken grandfather were set with Tong in mind.

However the influx of visitors to see Dickens’ Tong proved a valuable line of income for George Boden (the parish clerk) much to the annoyance of John Auden (the vicar). The tale had by then become embroidered with all sorts of errors, and there is still a place in the graveyard that has a plaque claiming it as ‘The reputed grave of Little Nell’. Chapter 13 sets out the vicar’s view on the matter.

“He denied that he encouraged this tradition. Boden persisted, in spite of the objections. Postcards were sold of Little Nell’s House: and also china plates, cups, and teapots were produced. They depicted Little Nell and her grandfather. There was indeed money in it. George Boden could tell a good yarn. One person remembers coming to Tong when she was aged 8, and being so moved by his heart-rending story, she cried all night. In 1933 George Boden told his yarn to the Wolverhampton Express and Star and the reporter believed it. It is an amazing fabrication.”

Epilogue

In the Epilogue Robert Jeffery brings together his astute observations on how the local history of the village of Tong in Shropshire typifies the concept of a unique ‘place’ and how stories have grown and evolved over the centuries.

“Less easy to define is the way a community is given identity by the way people experience it and talk about it. Tong Village is a distinctive entity, the outlying areas less so. A good view, a fine building, trees and vegetation can lift our hearts or as Tony Hiss puts it:

‘Particular places around us, if we’re wide open to perceive them, they can sometimes give us a mental life.’

But there must be that willingness to see it. Through it comes the understating that our environment is actually life sustaining. We need a place where we can be. Where we live also conditions what we do and what sort of people we become. This would have been particularly the case in an enclosed feudal environment, but in so far as people can choose where they live, they both mould and are moulded their surroundings. Winifred Gallagher calls this “psychological ecology” she quotes the work of Roger Barker looking at people’s behaviour:

‘The more he watched all sorts of people go about their business in shops, playing fields, offices, churches, and bars, the more certain he became that individuals and their inanimate surroundings together create systems of a higher order that take on a life of their own.’

This can lead people to be very keen to maintain things the way they are, and only take to change slowly. This goes some way to explain why people stick to myths and legends. The story has, in some way, become part of their identity.

It is this matter of story, which seems to dominate over all other aspects of what makes up a community. The storytellers sustain it. Every person, every building, has its own story and together they make up the story of the community. The stories are passed on. They are altered and enriched in the telling. Some stories are forgotten. Some are rediscovered. Those who have examined the nature of story, point out that there are only a certain number of basic stories and many of them (like The Old Curiosity Shop) involve a journey. Many are essentially the biography of a person or a place. Tong tells its own ongoing autobiography. ”