Nooks and Corners of ShropshireTimmins, H. Thornhill (Henry Thornhill)
History
Nooks and Corners of Shropshire
Timmins, H. Thornhill (Henry Thornhill)
Shropshire (England) -- Description and travel
Authorities differ as to the use which this interesting and unique Cup
was originally intended to serve; but it has been suggested that it was
either a 'ciborium,' to contain the reserved sacrament, or a
'monstrance,' for displaying the sacred wafer. It was presented to Tong
church by Lady Eleanor Harries, about 1625, but is supposed to have
previously belonged to the old College established here by the Vernons
in the fifteenth century.
[Illustration: Sir Arthur Vernon.]
The Vernon Chantry, or 'Golden Chapel,' as it is called, forms a small
but richly ornamented annexe on the south side of the church. It was
'ffounded,' as an inscription attests, by Sir Henry Vernon, in 1515,
and contains, in a niche upon its western wall, a curious half-length
stone effigy of Sir Arthur Vernon, sometime Warden of Tong College, to
whom there is a brass upon the floor. At the opposite end of the chapel
is the ancient altar stone, with the five consecrational crosses incised
upon it.
Having paid a visit to the Great Bell, one of the 'lions' of Tong, and
glanced at the quaint bellringers' 'Laws' set up in the tower, we now
bid farewell to Tong church, and, traversing the tranquil village, pause
at the lodge-gate of Tong castle to examine the fantastic devices carved
upon its stonework.
Then, with the sunshine lying broad on copse and meadow, we set forth
anew into the country lanes; and soon espy an old sandstone quarry
choked up with nettles and bramble bushes, whence, as one may suppose,
the masons drew their stones for the building of Tong church.
By-and-by a secluded lane receives us, a lane so grass-grown and
untrodden, that haymakers are busy making hay upon its long green track.
[Illustration: Hubbal Grange, or Penderel's Cot.]
Thence without meeting a soul en route we come presently to Hubbal
Grange, or Penderel's Cot, as it is sometimes called; a lonely cottage,
with some signs of age about it. Indeed, by all accounts, the place
seems to have been little altered since King Charles II., in the guise
of Will Jones, the woodman, journeyed hither on his wanderings; and was
befriended by Dame Joan Penderel, the mistress of the house, and by
'Trusty Dick,' her son.
From Hubbal Grange we get a direction for Whiteladies. 'It isn't a very
gain road for a stranger to find,' says the mistress of the cottage,
'but there's huntin' wickets all the way. Keep along by th'urdles, and
follow the rack under th'ood, and you'll find a glatt in the hedge as'll
lead you down to the brook, just by a bit of a plank-way.'
So off we set across country, coming after awhile to an ivy-clad ruin,
standing in a secluded spot under the lee of a wood. Giving this the
go-by for the present, we now traverse the wood and hasten on to
Boscobel; leaving upon our left the tree crowned monticle, where
Cromwell's troopers entrenched themselves to overawe the neighbourhood.
[Illustration: Boscobel House.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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