Day Four 17th

The weather was looking more than a little dodgy as Grannie and I walked into the village for supplies.  Once again accepting the inevitable rain we set off just after lunch to visit Boscobel House.

Boscobel House was built in about 1632, when John Giffard of Whiteladies converted a timber-framed farmhouse into a hunting lodge.  The Giffard family was Roman Catholic, at a time when the religion suffered persecution.  Tradition holds that the true purpose of Boscobel was to serve as a secret place for the shelter of Catholics in times of need. 
 
The house was, however, destined for greater fame.  Following the execution of King Charles I in 1649, his eldest son made a brave though misguided attempt to regain the throne.  In 1651 his hopes were crushed at Worcester in the final conflict of the Civil War.  Young Charles was forced to flee for his life. 
 
Initially the future King Charles II set out to cross the River Severn into Wales, but found his way blocked by Cromwell's patrols.  He sought refuge instead at Boscobel, hiding first in a tree, which is now known as The Royal Oak and then spending the night in a priest-hole in the house's attic.  He then travelled on in disguise via other safe houses before escaping to France.

With such history lying in wait we were looking forward to our visit only to have our hopes dashed when we arrived to find the property in closed on Tuesdays!  Next time, better read the fine print!! 

Our trip to this section of Shropshire was not for naught as we caught sign of another English Heritage property of White Ladies Priory, the ruins of a late 12^th century churn of a small nunnery of ‘white ladies’ or Augustinian canonesses.  As their name suggests they wore habits of undyed cloth.  Charles II hid nearby in 1651 following his defeat at the Battle of Worcester, disguised as a woodsman with his face darkened with soot, before moving to Boscobel House so at least we still had that link with our initial aim for the day!

The first reference to the Priory of St Leonard, now known as White Ladies Priory, is a grant of land dated 1186. 

Unusually for a monastic site, the buildings seem to have been little altered throughout their 350-year history.  White Ladies was never a large or rich house, and in 1535 there were just six nuns left, with an annual income of £17. The following year, it was one of the first religious houses to be suppressed, though four nuns apparently remained until 1538.  After the suppression of the monasteries most of the convent buildings were taken down, though parts of the church remained.  The site passed through various owners, notably the Skevington family. They built a large timber-framed house here, though this was demolished in the 18^th century

Being rather a fan of ruined religious buildings, I was not disappointed with our visit.  The kids enjoyed running around the nearby field and Grandad had the distinction of being called an ‘Old Geezer’ by a passing young lad.

 Wild and Free

 After our romp at the Priory, we stopped briefly outside the gates at Boscobel House for a quick photo stop before heading on our way.

 Whilst driving towards the ruins of another Abbey, after checking this one was open, we caught sight of signs for Iron Bridge and, given it is UNESCO World Heritage Listed decided to stop by to check it out.

The area around Ironbridge is described, by those promoting it as a tourist destination, as the "Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution".  This description is based on the idea that Abraham Darby perfected the technique of smelting iron with coke, in Coalbrookdale, allowing much cheaper production of iron.  However, the industrial revolution did not of course "begin" in one place, but in many. The growth of railways, spinning machines, weaving and other industrial inventions and activities were going on all over the country.  

The Ironbridge, which was first begun in 1779 and opened on New year’s Day in 1781, was the first of its kind fabricated from cast iron, and one of the few which have survived to the present day and so remains an important symbol representative of the dawn of the industrial age. On the hillside above the river are situated the stone-built 16th century hunting Lodge at Lincoln Hill, many 17th and 18th century workers cottages, some imposing Georgian houses built by ironmasters and mine and canal barge owners, and many early Victorian villas built from the various coloured bricks and tiles of the locality.

Iron Bridge was finally barred to vehicular traffic in 1934 when it was designated as an ancient monument, but tolls for pedestrians still were collected until 1950, when ownership of the bridge was transferred to Shropshire County Council. In 1986, Ironbridge became part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (which covers the wider Ironbridge Gorge area). 

 We decided to make a stop in Ironbridge for some afternoon tea which, for the kids at least, consisted as ice cream for starters followed up by freshly made sausage rolls!  Grandad was quite pleased to be able to take home a ‘hand raised’ pork pie for his supper.

 Those hand-raised pork pies are tricky little blighters!

 On leaving Ironbridge we spotted a National Trust sign for Benthall Hall, which turned out to be a 16^th century English country house and still the home of the latest in the line of the Benthall family (though it has been owned by the National Trust since 1958 and there were no Benthalls in residence between 1720 and 1934).  The Hall was built around 1580, probably on the site of an earlier 12^th century medieval manor and manor house.  During the Civil War it was garrisoned, and was a site of several skirmishes.

Under the watchful eye of the informative staff – you just couldn’t get away from them and they were everywhere all at once – we took in the fine oak interior, and an elaborate 17^th century staircase amongst other treasures then took the kids outside for a romp in the gardens.

 The guide insisted I sit for a photo, not sure why!

 Our drive back to the cottage took us along the fringes of Much Wenlock and past the ruins of Wenlock Priory, our original destination before we were distracted by Ironbridge.  Despite it being rather late in the day, we decided to pop in and have a look around and it was well worth the visit.

Wenlock Priory, or St Milburga's Priory, is a ruined 12^th century monastery.  The foundation was a part of the Cluniac order, which was refounded in 1079 and 1082, on the site of an earlier 7^th century monastery. It is thought to be the final resting place of Saint Milburga, whose bones were reputedly discovered during restoration work in 1101.

St. Milburga was the daughter of King Merewald of Magonset and his wife, St. Ermenburga.  She became a nun at the monastery of Wenlock, founded by her father and Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury and later became Abbess.  Shortly afterward, a neighbouring prince attempted to compel her to become his wife and, with that intent, pursued her with an armed force.  She fled across a river, which at once rose into an impassable flood and discouraged her pursuers.

A poor widow came to her in her oratory, bringing the body of her little dead son. Throwing herself at the feet of the abbess, she besought her to raise the child to life. "You must be mad!" exclaimed Milburga, "How can I raise your child? Go and bury him and submit to the bereavement sent to you by God!"
"No," said the sorrowing mother, "I will not leave you till you give me back my son!" The abbess prayed over the little corpse and, while doing so, she suddenly appeared to the poor supplicant to be raised from the earth and surrounded by lovely flames - the living emblem of the fervour of her prayer. Within a few minutes, the child had recovered.

Milburga died at Wenlock on 23rd February AD 727.  Her monastery was later destroyed by the Danes; but, in the twelfth century, it was rebuilt and inhabited by Cluniac monks. Following the reformation of the monastery, in the early fourteenth century, the priory church was lavishly and completely rebuilt. Of course this all ended following the dissolution in 1540, though several buildings, including the late 15^th century Prior's House, were converted into a private residence later known as "Wenlock Abbey". Today, considerable remains are left of the 350-foot-long church (110 m), including the north and south transept and the nave.

While I wandered around the kids decided that the long expanses of lawn were too good to pass up so held their own mini Olympics – quite fitting given Much Wenlock is the home of the Wenlock Olympian Games, the precursor to the modern Olympics and is also the name given to one of the two 2012 Olympic mascots.

 The Monks' washing fountain or ‘lavabo’, embellished with 12th century carvings. Once enclosed in an octagonal building, 16 monks could wash here at once before eating in the nearby refectory.

By now we were all ready to make our way back to the cottage for dinner and the evening game of scrabble!