Tong, Shropshire

Tong
Tong
	St Bartholomew's church, 10 February 2007
	Tong Location within Shropshire
Population	243 (2011)
OS grid reference	SJ795073
Civil parish	Tong;
Unitary authority	Shropshire ;
Ceremonial county	Shropshire ;
Region	West Midlands ;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SHIFNAL
Postcode district	TF11
Dialling code	01952
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Shropshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	The Wrekin ;
	List of places UK England Shropshire 52°39′47″N2°18′11″W / 52.663°N 2.303°W

Last updated September 23, 2024

Tong is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, also bordering Staffordshire in England. It is located between the towns of Shifnal, Newport and Brewood. It is near junction 3 of the M54 motorway and A41 road. The population of the village which was included in the civil parish at the 2011 census was 243. The village is also near to Weston Park and the village of Weston-under-Lizard.^[1]

Etymology

The name of the village derives from the Old English Tweonga, which means a pinched piece or spit of land; cf. tongs. This stems from the fact that Tong sits between two tributaries of the infant River Worfe.^[2]

History

In the 1840s, Tong was surveyed by two different railway companies. The Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton Railway was eventually driven further south to run through Ruckley and Neachley (just south of the M54), whilst the Shrewsbury and Leicester Direct Railway, which would have gone in a north-east to south-west direction between Tong and Tong Norton, was never built.^[3]

The village lies just to the north of the M54 in Shropshire. The A41 road used to run through the village, but after heavy traffic and the death of a child under a lorry, the village was bypassed in 1963.^[4]^[5]

Escape of Charles II

In "White-ladies," one of the "Boscobel Tracts" that describe the events of the escape of Charles II from England after the Battle of Worcester (3 September 1651), there is a statement that Charles, while sheltering at Boscobel House about two miles away, "had the pleasure of a prospect from Tong to Breewood (sic), which satisfied the eyes, and of the famous bells at Tong, which entertained the ear." The bells he heard were the bells of St. Bartholomew's.^[6] During the escape Charles also spent the night of 4/5 September 1651 at Hobbal Grange in the parish of Tong as a guest of Richard Penderel.^[7]

Church

The village is remarkable mainly for its church, St Bartholomews, inside of which is the supposed grave of Little Nell, a fictional character in Charles Dickens's book, The Old Curiosity Shop . It is thought that Dickens visited Tong church. His grandmother is supposed to have worked at Tong Castle many years before as a girl. The Castle (demolished in 1954) stood to the south; its site is now occupied by the M54 motorway.

The 'grave' is thought to have come about because Charles Dickens's novel was serialised and shipped over to America, and as a result, Americans began coming over to England to visit scenes featured in the book. The tourists recognised the references to Tong church from the book and came to view the supposed 'grave', which of course was not there.

However, a verger and village postmaster, George H. Boden (16 August 1856 - May 1943) apparently asked local people to pay for a headstone, forged an entry in the church register of burials (apparently the giveaway was that he used post office ink to do this), and charged people to see the 'grave'.^[8] The marker has been moved from time to time to make way for genuine graves.

A particularly notable feature of St. Bartholomew's is the collection of memorials to the Vernon family and other proprietors of the Tong estate inside the church. St. Bartholomew's was chosen by Simon Jenkins of The Times in 1999 as one of the best 1,000 churches (out of 15,000) in England. He awarded the church, which was mostly rebuilt in 1409, three stars out of a possible five. He refers to the collection of village tombs, the masterpiece of which being that of Richard Vernon, who died in 1451. Most of the earlier ones are carved from alabaster, and are the products of the top end of the nearby late medieval Nottingham alabaster industry.

Gallery

Funerary art in St Batholomew's church, Tong
Isabel de Lingen (died 1446) and her third husband, Fulke de Pembrugge (died 1409). Isabel founded the chantry and college at Tong for her own and her husbands' souls. It became the shrine church of the Vernon family of Haddon Hall.
Richard Vernon (died 1451, foreground) and Benedicta de Ludlow. Through their marriage the Vernons of Haddon Hall obtained Tong. Tomb in St Bartholomew's Church, Tong, Shropshire. Richard was Speaker of the House of Commons in 1432 and 1433.
Benedicta de Ludlow (foreground) and Richard Vernon (died 1451). This tomb has the most impressive sculpture at Tong.
Tomb of Anne Talbot (died 1494) and Henry Vernon (died 1515). Henry was put in charge of Catherine of Aragon and Arthur, Prince of Wales by Henry VII and was with them when Arthur died at Ludlow in 1502.
Arthur Vernon, priest and son of Anne Talbot and Henry Vernon, in the robes of a University of Cambridge MA, on his tomb in the floor of the Golden Chapel at Tong.
Arthur Vernon portrayed preaching in the Golden Chapel at Tong.
Margaret Dymmok and Richard Vernon (died 1517). After his death, Margaret married Sir Richard Manners.
Margaret Vernon and Thomas Stanley (died 1576). George Vernon, son of Richard and Margaret, died without male heir. He left his estates to his daughters: Haddon to Dorothy and Tong to Margaret, who married Stanley, the second son of Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby. Part of a double family tomb.
Edward Stanley (died 1632), last of the Vernon heirs to own Tong, which he sold to Thomas Harries about 1630. He was the father of Venetia Stanley, a famous courtesan of the early 17th century. Lower tier of a double family tomb.
Memorial to Ann Wylde, daughter of Thomas Harries of Tong, who died in childbirth, aged 16, in 1624.
Memorial to George Durant (1731–1780), who bought the Tong estate in 1764.

Tong Castle

Tong Castle was a large mostly Gothic country house, set within a park landscaped by Capability Brown,^[9] on the site of a medieval castle of the same name. Tong Castle's remains are now a Historic England Grade II listed site.^[10]

Potential New Town Development

Since 2018, Bradford Estates, who own land around Tong and surrounding villages in the area, have been promoting a new settlement proposal to Shropshire Council to build an employment park creating 9,000 jobs, up to 3,000 homes with a village centre, medical facility, school and four public parks on land on west side of the A41 bounded by the M54, A5 and Lizard Hill. Some local residents formed an action group to stop the plans, including a local MP, Mark Pritchard. The proposal was eventually rejected in 2020 by Shropshire Council, but Bradford Estates are still continuing with the proposal in light of the need regionally for jobs and homes; later that year, a fresh consultation on the plans was renewed and is still ongoing.^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]

Related Research Articles

Shropshire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England, on the border with Wales. It is bordered by Cheshire to the north, the Welsh county of Wrexham to the north and northwest, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the southeast, Herefordshire to the south, and the Welsh county of Powys to the west. The largest settlement is Telford, while Shrewsbury is the county town.

Ludlow is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is located 28 miles (45 km) south of Shrewsbury and 23 miles (37 km) north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the confluence of the rivers Corve and Teme.

Boscobel House is a Grade II* listed building in the parish of Boscobel in Shropshire. It has been, at various times, a farmhouse, a hunting lodge, and a holiday home; but it is most famous for its role in the escape of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Today it is managed by English Heritage.

Shropshire was established during the division of Saxon Mercia into shires in the 10th century. It is first mentioned in 1006. After the Norman Conquest it experienced significant development, following the granting of the principal estates of the county to eminent Normans, such as Roger De Montgomery and his son Robert de Bellême.

Albrighton is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England, 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Wolverhampton and 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Bridgnorth.

The Wrekin is a constituency in the House of Commons of the British Parliament, located in the county of Shropshire in the West Midlands of England. It has existed continuously since its creation by the Representation of the People Act 1918, and is named after a prominent landmark hill in the area, The Wrekin. It has been represented by the Labour and Conservative parties since the 1920s, a post held since 2005 by Conservative MP Mark Pritchard.

Moreton Corbet is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Moreton Corbet and Lee Brockhurst, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. The village's toponym refers to the Corbet family, the local landowners.

St Laurence's Church, Ludlow, is a Church of England parish church in Ludlow, Shropshire, England. It is a grade I listed building.

The Vernon family was a wealthy, prolific and widespread English family with 11th-century origins in Vernon, Normandy, France. Their extant titles include Baron Vernon and Vernon baronets of Shotwick Park.

Richard's Castle is a village, castle and two civil parishes on the border of the counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire in England. The Herefordshire part of the parish had a population of 250 at the 2011 Census, the Shropshire part, 424.

Sir Richard Vernon was an English landowner, MP and speaker of the House of Commons.

Richard Corbet was an English landowner and politician who represented Shropshire in the parliaments of 1558 and 1563.

George Vernon was and a prosperous and hospitable landowner and MP in Derbyshire, who came from a long line of wealthy landowners. He was the son of Richard Vernon and Margaret Dymoke. His family seat was at Haddon Hall, England's best preserved medieval manor house and today a major tourist attraction. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Derbyshire in 1542.

Roger Corbet (c.1501–1538) was an English politician and landowner of the Tudor Period. A member of the Shropshire landed gentry, he represented the Borough of Truro in the English Reformation Parliament.

The Collegiate Church of St Bartholomew, Tong is a 15th-century church in the village of Tong, Shropshire, England, notable for its architecture and fittings, including its fan vaulting in a side chapel, rare in Shropshire, and its numerous tombs. It was built on the site of a former parish church and was constructed as a collegiate church and chantry on the initiative of Isabel Lingen, who acquired the advowson from Shrewsbury Abbey and additional endowments through royal support. Patronage remained with the lords of the manor of Tong, who resided at nearby Tong Castle, a short distance to the south-west, and the tombs and memorials mostly represent these families, particularly the Vernons of Haddon Hall, who held the lordship for more than a century. Later patrons, mostly of landed gentry origin, added further memorials, including the Stanley Monument which is inscribed with epitaphs said to be specially written by William Shakespeare.

Sir Henry Vernon, KB, was a Tudor-era English landowner, politician, and courtier. He was the Controller of the household of Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII of England and heir to the throne until his untimely death.

Sir William Vernon of Haddon was an English landowner, politician, and soldier who held the posts of Treasurer of Calais and Knight-Constable of England.

Nell Trent, also referred to as Little Nell, is a fictional character in the 1841 novel The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. The novel's main character, she is portrayed as infallibly good and virginal. An orphan, she leads her grandfather on their journey to save them from misery but gradually becomes weaker throughout the journey, and although she finds a home with the help of a schoolmaster, she sickens and dies before her friends in London find her. Her death has been described as "the apotheosis of Victorian sentimentality."

References

↑ "Civil Parish population 2011" . Retrieved 1 December 2015.
↑ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4 ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 477. ISBN 0-19-869103-3.
↑ Auden, J E (2007). Frost, Joyce (ed.). Notes on the history of Tong from the parish books. Bury St Edmonds: Arima. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-84549-010-2.
↑ "Tong Castle Excavation". www.discoveringtong.org. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
↑ Jeffery, Robert (2007). Discovering Tong : its history, myths and curiosities. Tong, Shifnal, Shropshire: Robert Jeffery. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-9555089-0-5.
↑ Broadley, Alexander Meyrick (1912). "White-Ladies". The royal miracle; a collection of rare tracts... London: S. Paul & Company. pp. 65.
↑ Penderel-Brodhurst, James George Joseph (1895). "Penderel, Richard" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 44. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 289–290.
↑ "Verger faked grave of Little Nell". BBC News. 20 January 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
↑ "Tong Castle - Garden | Capability Brown". www.capabilitybrown.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ England, Historic. "REMAINS OF TONG CASTLE AT NGR SJ 7916 0693, Tong - 1176612 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
↑ "Plans for thousands of homes near Tong will be scrapped, says Shropshire Council chief".
↑ "Revealed: Series of 'interlinked garden villages' could be built in Shropshire".
↑ "Shropshire Council agrees fresh consultation on controversial developments".
↑ "Estates will 'explore all avenues' over 3,000 homes plan near M54".

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[1] "Civil Parish population 2011" . Retrieved 1 December 2015.

[2] Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4 ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 477. ISBN 0-19-869103-3.

[3] Auden, J E (2007). Frost, Joyce (ed.). Notes on the history of Tong from the parish books. Bury St Edmonds: Arima. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-84549-010-2.

[4] "Tong Castle Excavation". www.discoveringtong.org. Retrieved 9 November 2017.

[5] Jeffery, Robert (2007). Discovering Tong : its history, myths and curiosities. Tong, Shifnal, Shropshire: Robert Jeffery. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-9555089-0-5.

[6] Broadley, Alexander Meyrick (1912). "White-Ladies". The royal miracle; a collection of rare tracts... London: S. Paul & Company. pp. 65.

[7] Penderel-Brodhurst, James George Joseph (1895). "Penderel, Richard" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 44. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 289–290.

[8] "Verger faked grave of Little Nell". BBC News. 20 January 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2017.

[9] "Tong Castle - Garden | Capability Brown". www.capabilitybrown.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[10] England, Historic. "REMAINS OF TONG CASTLE AT NGR SJ 7916 0693, Tong - 1176612 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

[11] "Plans for thousands of homes near Tong will be scrapped, says Shropshire Council chief".

[12] "Revealed: Series of 'interlinked garden villages' could be built in Shropshire".

[13] "Shropshire Council agrees fresh consultation on controversial developments".

[14] "Estates will 'explore all avenues' over 3,000 homes plan near M54".

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