Wellingtonia Issue 9 : Fourth Quarter 2010 FREE ISSUE! Newsletter of the Wellington History Group, rediscovering the past of Wellington in

EDITORIAL IN THIS ISSUE

hen Allan Frost took the ****************** chairmanship of Page WWellington History 2. The Future of History; Group in November 2007, he New Speakers promised to spend a year setting 3. The New Chair; up the Group and obtaining a grant to print this magazine. A Fire! Fire! year later, he promised to spend 4. Fulk Eyton another year establishing the 6. The Bells, The Bells! Group and the magazine. Finally, 8. The Quakers he spent yet another year 10. Quality Advertiser consolidating the Group’s Allan Frost activities. 12. Hidden Heritage Fortunately, well known local 14 The Coalport Branch All this, of course, couldn’t historian and speaker Neil Clarke have been achieved without has very kindly agreed to be our and the ‘Dodger’ invaluable support from our small chairman for the next twelve 15. The Mount band of enthusiastic Committee months. He has been a member of 16. Memories of WUDC members ... and you, the people our Committee since 2008 and 18. 100 Years Ago: 1910 who have encouraged us by introduces himself on page 3. giving information, seeking our One thing is certain: no one can 20. Announcements help with your own research, ever know everything about the Contact Details attended our public lectures, history of our area ... but we can supplied articles for our have a lot of fun finding things DON’T FORGET TO VISIT OUR magazines and, crucially, made out. It’s a never-ending quest and WEB SITE. THE ADDRESS IS AT donations to our funds. this latest issue of Wellingtonia is THE FOOT OF THIS PAGE The time has now come for just another step along the way. Allan to step down as chairman. His involvement over the last three years has taken an enormous amount of time and effort and he needs to concentrate on writing more of his popular books. Why are He will, it goes without saying, these happy continue to support us and our aims in a variety of ways but it is folk hanging now time for someone else to take around? the reins and steer the Group into See page 6. the future. We are sure you will join us in thanking Allan for helping Wellington History Group to achieve so much in such a short Photo: Andrew Gordon. amount of time.

Visit us at www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com THE FUTURE OF HISTORY George Evans NEW SPEAKERS

etails of our monthly free- History will always be to-attend public talks from part of human life ... but the DJanuary to June 2011 are way it is taught has changed given on the back page of this over the years. magazine. In addition to Neil Clarke, George Evans makes a few Geoff Harrison and Allan Frost, pertinent observations. we are pleased to introduce two new speakers. hen I was a boy history was very boring. It was Wsimply a list of battles and kings and queens. Forgetting any battle, king or date was an They don’t learn lists by rote offence often resulting in a caning. and the way Romans really lived We learned, ‘William, William, here is more important than who Henry, Stephen, Henry, Richard, the emperor was. They are John’; enough to keep us out of fascinated by different ways of life trouble for a while. The Battle of and changing priorities and find Bannockburn was fought on 24th history is interesting, not boring or June, 1314 but I only remember confusing. Hurrah for their because I learned it on my teachers! They may never become birthday, 24th June, while historians but at least they are Wellington Town Councillor changing age from 13 to 14 and I learning to understand their Pat Fairclough (who has been still don’t know who won. Nor did environment in terms of time and heavily involved in the town’s I ever care. evolution as well as in space highly successful Annual Literary The next fashion came. through geography. Festival) will be talking about Children were expected to have Local history is so much more Wellingtons Around The World, interesting opinions about many real than the old textbooks from New Zealand and America to aspects of history without any because we live with the results of ... well, you’ll have to come and idea what had happened. Their previous happenings. It’s not just find out. Will she have a casual thoughts were considered Blists Hill, Sunnycroft and Wellington for each leg of her far more important than any hard Wroxeter; it’s Watling journey? facts – at least by a few trendy Street/Holyhead Road, The Wendy Palin (our treasurer) teachers. That was a silly time and Wrekin and Market Square, not to will shed light on tracing her only happened in a few schools, mention recent changes to places Turner ancestors in Wellington. though the media fulminated all around us, even brash new This dashing young fellow was mightily about it. That’s what sells . one; do you recognise him? newspapers. Those of us who Local history is the real thing; thought we knew better carried on it’s what we all understand and doing what we thought right. are interested in. Come to think of Then there were the ‘topics’ it, all history of any kind is local and ‘projects’, which sensible somewhere. Our old Wellington is teachers juggled around until the packed tight with history. That’s syllabus had some relevance to why Wellington History Group real life, and in particular to the works so hard to discover and lives of those in the class. All publicise it. attempts to make history sensible It used to be true that the only were attacked by ‘experts’ with thing we learn from history is that entrenched ideas and often little mankind learns nothing from it. experience of teaching. Some of us That’s true of the old-fashioned taught for forty years without ever stuff but there’s now hope. History being trendy. ‘Educational Experts’ has an exciting future if it sticks to are often suspected of being failed real subjects we understand, like teachers. our own environment. Then we Now, according to my great may not keep repeating the old grandchildren, history at their mistakes over again. History may schools is interesting to them. have a bright future.

2 Wellingtonia: Issue 9: Fourth Quarter 2010 THE NEW CHAIR FIRE! FIRE! Allan Frost

Founder Chairman Allan Frost stood down in November and has been replaced by Neil Clarke.

ellington has had a fire brigade of one sort or Wanother for the best part of 200 years. Although we can’t be sure of its type or effectiveness, we do know an ‘engine’ was kept in the same builkding as the town lockup in 1840 when the Tithe map was created (above). According to a brown plaque the Fire Station was relocated in 1883 and the fire engine kept in a building in Walker Street until it became the town’s Urban District eil grew up in Madeley, Council office. In fact, the belfry was educated at where the bell to sound the alarm High N is seen in the 1930s photo, top School and graduated in Modern right. The sides of the belfrey have History at the University of since been filled in. For a while in London (King’s College). the 1890s, the engine was stored in Following teaching posts in the the yard behind Edgbaston House Midlands and the South East, he on the opposite side of the street. became headteacher at Lakelands The Fire Station subsequently School, Ellesmere in 1987. When moved to Foundry Lane (seen he retired from the education right in the early 1950s to the left service, he worked part-time in the of a young Alwin Edwards whose county museum service at Acton grandfather was once fire chief). Scott and Ludlow. The fire station moved to its With a life-long interest in the present location in Haybridge history of this area, Neil has over Road in 1955. the years served on the committee of a number of local history Talking of bells, the story of these bells is told on page 6. groups. His particular interest is the industrial and transport history of the East Shropshire Coalfield, on which he has lectured and written articles over a number of years. When he returned to Shropshire, Neil and his family lived in Wellington for seven years before moving to Little Wenlock. Neil sees his year as chairman of the Wellington History Group as one of working with other members of the committee to build on the sterling work of his Photo: predecessor in creating a confident Andrew Gordon. future for the group. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 3 FULK EYTON Geoff Harrison

leaders, including Talbot and Who was Fulk Eyton? Arundel, with whom he had And was he a patriot or family ties and allegiances in the soldier of fortune? Geoff first half of the fifteenth century. Harrison investigates. Arundel died of wounds in 1435, and it is likely that Fulk Eyton was in his service at that time, a year id you know that there is a later he was serving under Talbot reference to an Eyton in a and gained ‘fame’, or ‘notoriety’. Dchurch in France? One Fulk had some measure of Fulk or Fulco Eyton. This was the independent command at the subject of a conversation with attack on Lillebonne. He devised somebody who had just returned an underhand, sneaky and risky, from a holiday in Normandy, and strategy to capture the castle. He had ‘found’ a connection. Fulk, persuaded a French prisoner who However it seems paradoxical Fulco or Foulkes Eyton was a was unable to pay his ransom to that this violent leader could be member of a local family and his go back into the castle, acting as generous. He caused a window to actions during the 1400s are nothing had happened. This be installed in the local church; documented in English and French ‘traitor’ continued to take part in described as one of the most history. nightly raids against the English, precious windows in the building. taking back with him ‘prisoners’. The guide book to the church tells In this way Fulk built up a body of (in translation) ‘that Foulques English men inside the garrison Eyton, the English captain in and then finally the ‘traitor’ took command of the town of Caudebec back a large party of English from 1435 to 1447 was able to make a ‘prisoners’ who threw off their gift of a stained glass window above pretence, seized the gatehouse and the porch on the north side’. This with those inside took control of window is difficult to see, in that the castle. The castle at Lillebonne the porch extends inside the controlled the passage along the church and obscures the window River Seine. For this success Fulk over it. was rewarded with a monetary gift (equivalent to £204,759). This needless to say was raised from the unfortunate inhabitants. The window is made of four Long, long ago the Kings of It could have been the panels; St George, St Catherine, St claimed land in France, collection of these ‘taxes’ or some Michael and the Holy Virgin. claims which inevitably led to war other acts of violence which These are rich colourful glass and – remember Agincourt ‘This story prompted the chronicler Thomas in two places he has his ‘arms’ shall the good man teach his son; Basin to describe the ‘horrifying represented, under the images of From this day to the ending of the tyranny’ of Fulk Eyton, whom he St George and the Holy Virgin. In world, But we few, we happy few, we described as ‘an abominable both cases the family motto is also band of brothers.’ – so Shakespeare’s Englishman and ferocious brigand evident ‘je m’y oblige’. This same Henry V speaks before the battle. whose men were not his inferior in family motto is represented in the The Battle of Agincourt (1415) wickedness’. very old glass at St Catherine’s was in the middle of the Hundred Talbot sent Fulk Eyton to Church. Years War. It was not a continuous defend and garrison the town of war, there were long periods of Caudebec en Caux. Here he seems truce and some memorable to have settled for a time, the same incidents; the battles Crecy, source Thomas Basin writes ‘a Agincourt, siege of Harfleur and number of the inhabitants of Caudebec Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans but had to take refuge at Rouen to escape in the end the English armies, the hardship and cruelty inflicted including Fulk Eyton, returned daily on the inhabitants of this little home with ’their tails between stronghold at Caudebec and on the their legs’. whole countryside … by Fulco Eyton, In St Catherine’s church at Fulk Eyton was too young to whom the King of England had Eyton upon the Weald Moors we have been at Agincourt. But he appointed …’. are rather overpowered by the served under prominent English 1851 colourful east window

4 Wellingtonia: Issue 9: Fourth Quarter 2010 all of the King’s land in the area of College, in return the almsmen are Maine and deliver them to the to say De profundis at his grave. French King. Never an easy task to Tong College hadn’t long been be the go-between when established by Lady Isabel de conquered land has to be given Pembrugge, wife of Sir Fowke up, when the conquerors have Pembregge and consisted of five established themselves and their priests and two clerks, caring for families on the land, what possible thirteen paupers. compensations can be negotiated? Later in the Will Fulk identifies Fulk and Gough, neither his brother Sir Richard Eyton, diplomats, seem to have priest, as the Warden of the succeeded. College of Tong, also another It was their experience in brother Nicholas Lord of Eyton dealing with potentially upon the WealdMoor, and Sherriff dangerous bands of armed, of Shrewsbury. disillusioned and disaffected Fulk makes provision for ‘John soldiers which fitted them for their de Labowley 40s and to my page role. It would seem that they Hermon 20s (£525) for thei both came procrastinated, used delaying with me out of Normandye’ – it is tactics; the French king Charles understood that these were French VII, father-in-law to the English exiles and came to England when Henry VI, accusing them of the English were driven out of ‘subterfuges, pretences and Caen. dissimulations’. The Will creates a final puzzle Finally Gough and Eyton about Fulk Eyton. The Earl of reluctantly completed their Arundel was captured in 1435, showing St Catherine. Although commission and Le Mans was wounded and carried to Beauvais we cannot see the Caudebec handed over to the French. where his leg was amputated to photograph very clearly, in colour In the following years the save his life, it was unsuccessful; and imagery it is very similar; ‘she French began to recover their lost he died 12 June. (St Catherine) carries the martyr’s possessions and we hear of Fulk Contemporary accounts palm, and her left hand rests on the Eyton being in Caen when it suggest he was buried at Beauvais, instruments of her suffering; the surrendered in 1450; he was but in this Will it transpires that wheel and the sword’. allowed to leave with all his the bones of Arundel had come In 1446 Fulk Eyton was movable goods, including into the possession of Fulk Eyton. charged by the Henry VI, ’to put personal weapons, but had to take Executors of the Will were and keep in order and good ship to England, not to return. ordered to ensure that these bones government a great number of men- This appears to be the end of were buried in the family chapel at at-arms and archers who, on the Fulk Eyton as a soldier; one would Arundel, as the earl had wished. pretext that they do not have wages or expect him to disappear from the A condition was placed on this pay, are living off our good and loyal records. Not so. that the current Earl of Arundel subject in our duchy of Normandy, He has another ‘claim to fame’ settle the debt owed to Eyton ‘for without regulation, committing great – his is the first Shropshire Will the bones of my lord John … that I and detestable evils …’; clearly written in English to survive; and brought out of France; for the which bands of marauding soldiers the terms of that Will are indeed carriage of bones, and out of the plundering, pillaging and raping. illuminating. Frenchmen’s hands deliverance, he This would perhaps be a case Fulk Eyton died 1454, and his oweth me 1400 marks’ – about of the ‘poacher turned Will doesn’t just distribute his £500,000. gamekeeper’ considering the goods, there is a great deal of Even after death, he wanted his description of Fulk provided by instruction as to the ‘dirges and money, the Earl was laid to rest at Thomas Basin. He succeeded, as a masses’ which were to be said for Arundel. His tomb was opened bonus on top of his pay and his soul. ‘I will that my bodie be laide more recently and the skeleton expenses he was awarded the in Tonge, by my godfadre, Sir Fowke found intact, except for the equivalent of £5833. de Pembrege (he had died 1409) … amputated leg! The war had been suspended That there be taken my best goods for When, and by what means, by a truce and as a result the to say five thousand placeboes and Fulk Eyton acquired the bones of English King was to give back to dirigies, and five thousand Masses the Earl is an intriguing mystery – the French the possession of and for every dirigie and Masses never satisfactorily explained by Maine. In 1447, Fulk, by now in fourpence’. historical research. the King’s eyes clearly man of Perhaps some penitence for his action was charged together with time in France; he also makes a Matthew Gough to take charge of bequest to the almshouses at Tong * * * www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 5 The Six Bells THE BELLS, THE BELLS! Allan Frost The parish church currently has eight bells hanging in its chamber, but this wasn’t always the case. Bells feature in two Bell Making The former medieval church on former pub names, a street The last bellhanger working here the site was demolished in 1789. and, of course, All Saints appears to be William Smith who At that time, it had six bells, a fact also traded as a locksmith in New which is borne out by the parish church. Street in 1861. Quite where he existence of the Six Bells public Are they connected? obtained bells to hang isn’t known house which appears to have been as the manufacture of bells ceased well established long before an he short answer is ‘yes’. in Wellington around 1699. 1828 directory was printed, and is And ‘No.’ The ‘No’ ones are A bell foundry was opened in last mentioned in 1844 when Tconnected, but not in the the late sixteenth century, traded William Thompson was publican. same way as the ‘Yes’ ones. I’ll get for more than 100 years and The property stood adjacent to the ‘No’ ones out of the way first supplied bells to over 70 churches the railway bridge (now marking because they’re easier to explain. in Shropshire and beyond. We the boundary between Market The Bell know this because bells usually Square and Church Street) on the Bell Street, formerly Pump Street bear an inscription detailing at right hand side of today’s W.H. and partly the location of the least the manufacturer’s name or Smith’s store front. The early 1960s town’s pig or ‘swine’ market until initials, and the year of casting. scene below may be one of the last the late nineteenth century, takes However, the foundry doesn’t photographs of this ramshackle its name from a pub called The seem to have supplied bells to All building, then attached to Bell which stood in New Street Saints, nor do we know where the Richards’ tobacconists and selling opposite the entrance to Bell Street foundry lay. Foundry Road is an Ardath (famous for its series of and seems to have occupied the obvious choice, but whether that cigarette cards) and Senior Service plot now trading as Cafe Mariya. road was named after a later brass cigarettes, according to the Bell Street itself doesn’t seem to and/or iron foundry or the bell advertising signs. have been given its named until foundry isn’t known. There is no However, the six All Saints around 1868. proof to support speculation that bells of 1789 were not there when the site of the Charlton Arms hotel the original Medieval church was may have been a bell foundry. consecrated in the twelfth or What we do know is that John thirteenth century, a period of Clyberie was our first bell founder. widespread church building Judging from his surname, it’s throughout England. probable he came from or near Cleobury Mortimer in South Shropshire. The first bell he cast is dated 1590. John was succeeded by William Clibury (the spelling of surnames then, as now, can be inconsistent) whose bells are dated from 1605 to 1642. He was followed by Thomas Clibury (first bell dated 1621) who died in 1637, to be followed by another Thomas Clibury whose bells are dated The Bell Inn existed before from 1650 until his death in 1673. 1828 when it was mentioned in an Henry Clibury was born in 1645 early town directory, and last and his bells are dated from 1673 appeared in 1871 when Charles to 1683. Milner was publican. Even as late The final owner of the foundry as the 1840s it also acted as a is known as ‘I.B.’, presumably his currier’s shop. Carrying on a initials, which are found on the separate trade in addition to final bells produced at our operating a public house was a foundry between 1685 and 1699. common practice. Sadly, we don’t Interestingly, no bells were cast know why it was called The Bell. here between 1642 and 1650; it Before I mention the bells of looks as though the English Civil All Saints, let’s take a look at the War may have interrupted manufacture of bells here. production.

6 Wellingtonia: Issue 9: Fourth Quarter 2010 The Bells of All Saints bell had to be recast in 1798 after recently completed and, since 26th That All Saints had bells calling they had all been rehung in the September 2010, the uplifting folk to worship long before our present church, erected in 1790. sounds of bells again echo around bell foundry came into being can’t Two additional bells were added the town. be disputed. Not because we in 1890, paid for by public Ringing the Changes know how many there were or subscription. Details of the eight Having a wonderful set of bells is who cast them and when, but bells are given in the chart below. one thing. Being able to play them because commissioners were sent An interesting fact is that the successfully is another. And to every parish in 1553 to firm employed to produce the bellringing, using ropes which confiscate all bells, ‘treasure’ recast 1798 bell (Thomas Mears of dangle from the ceiling of the (church plate) and vestments London) later became Mears and ringing room need to be pulled deemed unnecessary for public Stainbank and is now the and released quickly before worship. Why? Partly because, Whitechapel Bell Foundry Ltd, grabbing and pulling them again following on from the dissolution whose origins began in 1570; it is ()without burning hands), is of the monasteries, some items of reckoned to be the oldest company another. Bellringing isn’t the same value had escaped King Henry in the world. as learning to ring handbells, VIII’s coffers. The bells were retuned and where an errant sound can be The inventory for Wellington, rehung in an iron frame in 1929. hastily quashed. Bellringing is a dated 4th May 1553, shows that For some years, the bells could completely different discipline. three bells and two chalices were also be rung by a carillon Alan Fisher is the ‘Tower allowed to remain. It is signed by, (whereby hammers hit the outside Captain’ whose job is to train the among others, Humphrey of each bell rather than by internal group of All Saints bellringers. Bell Lightfoot (vicar), and clangers) which, as it could ringing isn’t just a case of taking it churchwardens William Steventon operate quickly, enabled tunes to in turns to pull on a rope. Like any of Dothill and William Dodd. be rung. The carillon fell into musical instrument, notes have Justices of the Peace followed disrepair and hasn’t been used top be played in different orders the commissioners around, since the 1970s. according to the melody or tune. confirming and certifying the For the last eight years or so, As with hymns and other musical number of bells, chalices, etc., that the bells have remained silent, compositions, bellringing has its had been allowed to remain. except to celebrate weddings, as own numbering and naming Wellington’s certificate of 2nd June considerable maintenance work system. 1553 confirms ‘iii bellys of oone needed to be carried out. Owing to On 31st January 1981, for accorde, ii chalesys of silver with the fact that the bells hang in example, All Saints rang ‘5040 pattens’. chambers on two levels about 50 Grandsire Triple’s in memory of This does not mean that All feet above the ringing room and Arthur Pritchard, a bellringer Saints had more than three bells can only be accessed via a narrow there for 60 years and Shropshire prior to 1553, only that it had that vertical ladder passing through Association Past Master; the peal number from that year onwards. three floors, it is not a job to be lasted 2 hours 50 minutes. (A Until they were replaced in 1713 rushed or tackled lightly. Thanks ‘triple’ is a type of tune using by the ubiquitous six bells from to a generous grant from seven or eight bells rung in an which the pub over the road took Shropshire Historic Churches agreed sequence of changes.) its name. Of those six, the tenor Trust, this essential work was Furthermore, there are numerous terms to be understood and even the types of tunes rung are given different names: peals, changes, courses, methods, triples, doubles ... When you hear the bells ringing, listen carefully for note sequences and scales. The only exception is the doom-laden tenor bell tolling at funerals. It’s remarkable that we’re again able to hear the bells just as our ancestors did some 300 years ago. Oh! I almost forgot. No one involved with bellringing uses the term ‘campanology’, which has been referred to as ‘A pretentious term for bellringing, universally loathed by ringers.’ So now you know. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 7 THE QUAKERS Phil Fairclough

t is very hard to imagine what Quakers at a meeting at it was like in the middle years Dale House, Coalbrookdale. Iof the seventeenth century when the Quakers first emerged. Right: Seated in silence. A military coup against Below, from left to right: parliament, civil war, the public Sallieann (new member), execution of the king and the Angie (member) and Barry destruction of the church of (clerk). England had shaken the foundations of English society. In those days, religion and politics were inexorably interlinked and any group that preached equality and religious freedom would be seen as attacking the hierarchical and authoritarian structures of the established order in church and state. The Quakers, along with other radical groups, led this challenge speak but in the spirit of equality office and their refusal to swear for change in both religion and even children were allowed a oaths and take the sacraments of society. voice. the Church of England stopped Early Years The equality of all was a them from entry to the Their radicalism often led to court fundamental belief, but just as universities. appearances and it was one of radical was their insistence on their trial judges who first called complete honesty in their personal Despite this persecution, Quaker them ‘Quakers’ as he thought they and public life, social witness and beliefs spread rapidly. ‘quaked before God’. They action to redress injustice, It was in 1672, only twenty generally called themselves ‘the simplicity in dress and behaviour years after George Fox started his Children of Light’ or just ‘Friends’, and a commitment to pacifism. ministry, that the Quakers the modern title of ‘Religious This did not only mean a refusal established themselves in our area. Society of Friends’ came later. to fight in wars but the active Elizabeth and Roger Andrew took They dispensed with all formal promotion of all peaceful a mercer's shop in Broseley and creeds and articles of faith. There relationships. held meetings there. A meeting were no priests or formal church From this remote northern house was built in the town in service. They thought such manor house in Cumbria, George 1692 and the burial ground ordained men were just ‘hirelings’ Fox and Margaret Fell began the established in 1706. and no better (or worse) than any task of organising the various Money was raised for an other member of the community. groups of sympathetic seekers into enclosing wall, the deed being Churches were dismissed as a national movement that in ten witnessed by Abraham Darby of ‘steeple houses’ and meetings took years had swept over the whole Bristol, the first time the family is place where ever convenient often country and spread its message mentioned in this area. outside or in private houses such over the Atlantic to colonial Subsequently, ten members of the as at Swarthmoor Hall (the home America. Darby family were buried in the of Judge Fell and his wife Persecution Broseley cemetery, including Margaret) in Cumbria. They suffered considerable Abraham (1) who had been given Worship was in total silence, persecution, Fox was frequently a license for Quaker meetings at entering ‘the depth of the living imprisoned and James Nayler, a Dale House in Coalbrookdale in silence’, as the group waited in prominent Quaker was flogged, 1716. Meetings still take place in stillness for the inward light to branded and pilloried. Whole this house, once a month in the reveal an understanding of the congregations were put in prison summer. divine spirit. Occasionally a where some died due to the Times had changed from the member might break the silence unhealthy conditions, but none early hectic radical years of the and ‘minister’ if they felt they had were executed for their beliefs. English Republic of the 1650s. an important insight to share. The Test Act and the Persecution and exclusion from Almost uniquely at this time, not Corporation Act effectively professional life forced the only were women allowed to excluded them from any public Quakers into commerce,

8 Wellingtonia: Issue 9: Fourth Quarter 2010 manufacturing, banking and other Wellington (now the Belfry the Quaker belief that an ‘inner business activities. A more Theatre). light’ or ‘that of God’ resides in cautious and introspective Meeting Point House each person and support the approach was adopted rather than Society's testimonies to peace, the radical evangelisation of the equality, justice, honesty, 1652 converts. Many like the simplicity and social action can Reynolds family became very rich, feel at home. But at its heart lies and married into other rich the silent Meeting for Worship. Quaker families like the Darbys. External administrative structures To marry out would in effect mean do not result in religious leaving the Society. Nationally, conformity. No wonder the important bankers were members authorities in the seventeenth including the founders of Barclay's Quakers were then offered century were terrified of this Bank and Lloyd's Bank. accommodation in a portable egalitarian freedom loving society! Coalbrookdale building on a site now occupied During the eighteenth century, by Marks and Spencer in Telford like many groups that had Shopping Centre. This was suffered exclusion, discrimination demolished and they finally and persecution, the Quakers moved to Meeting Point House withdrew in on themselves. They (above) in Southwater Square managed to keep hold of the core where the Sunday Meeting now beliefs set out in Fox's Journal and takes place in a room on the first reinforced by the insights gained floor and the Thursday meeting in in their meetings where issues the inter denominational chapel. were ‘held in the Light’ to discern Sunday meetings are also held at their truth (these insights are now Dale House once a month from written up in Quaker Faith and The first meeting house in May to October. Usually 15-20 Practice). However, the eighteenth Coalbrookdale, near Tea Kettle people out of a total membership century was a period of Row, was built by Abraham Darby of 42 members and attenders join consolidation and contrasts with (2) in 1741. He was the first to be the meeting. the fire and enthusiasm of the buried in the adjoining cemetary. Survival early Friends. In 1808 a new meeting house was How was it that of all the radical How much of Fox's radical zeal built by Richard Reynolds on this groups which sprung up in the remains now? site near Dale House (above). times of the English Republic With increasing toleration, However, numbers dwindled to (Diggers, Fifth Monarchy Men, Quakers found their voice again in the point where, in 1954, the Ranters, Levellers), the Quakers the great reformers of the meeting house was sold and are the only one which remains? It nineteenth century (Elizabeth Fry demolished. could be that it managed the and Joseph Rowntree) The concern Wellington difficult task of combining the for social reform still continues individual religious and spiritual strongly to the present day. freedom of the local meeting with A glance through the weekly the need for central co ordination magazine The Friend shows the and support in London scope of their present interests ... (Devonshire House 1666 to 1926, ... a campaign to increase the now Friends House, Euston Road). age for joining the Forces from 16 The very effective structured to 18yrs, articles on sustainability pattern of meetings at local, area and economic justice, promotion and national level was allied to a of an exhibition about the horrors unique method of conducting the of Nagasaki/Hiroshima, prison For a time in the eighteenth and Society's affairs through a process reform, fate of our war veterans nineteenth centuries there was a of communal discernment which from Iraq and Afganistan, working meeting at Newdale, near sought to find the ‘sense of the for peace in Zimbabwe, priesthood Wellington, when the meeting’ rather than mere of all believers, anti slavery in Coalbrookdale Company was consensus or majority vote. This modern times and the need for active in the area, but it was closed pattern and way of conducting the integrity at work all feature in 1843. After that it was not until Society's affairs continues to this prominently. the late 1960s that scattered day. I am sure George Fox and Quakers in East Shropshire In other churches, those in James Nayler would have smiled resumed meetings for worship. authority often feel they have to their approval. When the group grew too large to define belief and control For information about Quakers, meet in private houses, it met for a interpretation, but in Quakerism, phone Barry Stimpson on time in Prince’s Street school any who identify themselves with 01952 586449. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 9 several years. Based in Union town’s social and economic QUALITY ADVERTISER Road behind the Wrekin Inn, it history, as may be judged by the featured adverts for local business, few samples shown on these household and personal items, pages. he Quality Advertiser was a with forays into hosorscopes, If you have any other issues, free (one penny when sold) wise sayings and poems supplied photographs or information about Tmonthly publication which by Wellingtonians. These papers this illustrious publication, please began in 1960 and survived for shed an interesting light on the get in touch.

10 Wellingtonia: Issue 9: Fourth Quarter 2010 www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 11 HIDDEN HERITAGE Allan Frost

ave you ever wondered High racking in the building is why English Heritage sites full of treasures. Monetarily, most Haren’t littered with are worth next to nothing, but masonry fallen from ancient culturally they form an invaluable buildings? Most of what visitors to collection. EH properties see has been tidied From the small sherds of up and made safe. Sometimes, all pottery to chunky Roman that is left visible of an ancient columns, to Medieval keys, spurs, monument is a pile of stones. So, floor tiles and everyday items where have all the loose bits gone? which have yet to be identified ... Surely they can have been buried it’s all here. or sold off as hardcore for roads? In addition to fascinating No. More often than not, these objects salvaged from Whitley seemingly uninspiring remnants Court, Kenilworth Castle and of our cultural past have been many other well-known sites, our collected, catalogued, cleaned and corner of Shropshire hasn’t been closeted away from the public eye, not just to preserve them but also prevent further damage which could occur if left in situ. Often, pieces can’t be returned or restored to their original locations because it’s physically impossible to do so, for example where a building, or parts of a building, no longer exist. English Heritage has several ‘repositories’ scattered around the , each of which contains artefacts from a wide area. There is one at Atcham. Normally closed to the general public, a small party from our Committee were shown around one of several enormous (and very cold!) warehouses by Dr. Sara Lunt (below, centre). overlooked. Haughmond Abbey (above, top) and Lilleshall Abbey (above), however, aren’t anywhere so well represented as Wroxeter Roman City. The number of archaeological finds from Wroxeter is astounding, as is their range, and documentary records of excavations have to be stored in a special storage facility within the warehouse itself to minimise the possibility of normal atmospheric damage. However, some of the most impressive stonework comes from Much Wenlock Priory, some of which is shown opposite. Now you know why sites can be very tidy. Why not visit them? Better still, show support by joining English Heritage!

12 Wellingtonia: Issue 9: Fourth Quarter 2010 Above: An ‘industrial size’ grain mill from Wroxeter, operated by handles fixed to the stone at both ends. Above right: Small finds are stored in numerous boxes. Rest of this page shows parts of the late twelfth century lavabo from Much Wenlock Priory.A ‘lavabo’ was the name given to both the wash-house and the large construction within it which was where canons and other did their ablutions. A sketch of what the lavabo looked like is shown bottom right. The base still exists at the Priory, although one of the panels (bottom left) has been replaced with a replica and the original stored at Atcham. This particular panel shows Christ calling disciples Peter and Andrew on the Sea of Galilee, with James and John at the rear of the sculpture in a smaller boat. Another precious panel (right) depicts disciples Thomas and Andrew. Other surviving pieces originally formed the rim and side of the large central basin (below). Water was fed (probably by gravity) into the uppermost basin which, in turn, fed the large central basin underneath via small gargoyle-like piped mouthpieces. The same procedure enabled water to pour into the lowest trough via 16 smaller heads (right). Plugholes allowed drainage for cleaning and repairs, and the whole Wenlock limestone structure was polished to look like marble. It is still possible to see fossils in the stonework.

www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 13 THE COALPORT BRANCH AND THE ‘DODGER’ Neil Clarke

ne of the half dozen or so train services that helped Omake Wellington an important railway centre in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was that between the town and Coalport. The ‘Coalport Dodger’, as it was affectionately known, not only carried people between the small stations along the line, but also brought passengers to Wellington to shop in the town and its market, or to catch connecting trains to more When the line opened, there distant parts. were three trains in each direction The 8-mile branch line to between Wellington and Coalport, Coalport left the Wellington– Mondays to Saturdays. This Stafford line (operating since June gradually increased, peaking at six 1849) at Hadley Junction and was after the Second World War; but opened for goods traffic in for the last year of operation there September 1860 and for passenger were only four trains in each trains the following June. It had direction, with one extra on been conceived by the London & Thursdays and two extra on North Western Railway Co. as a Saturdays. replacement for the ailing Shrop- Although it is now almost 60 shire Canal and, like the canal, it years since it last ran, there are served the coal, iron and clay- many people who still have vivid based industries along its route. memories of travelling on the Over the years, many local ‘Dodger’. Amongst them are those works – including Blockley’s who took the afternoon train to Saturday, 31 May 1952, to be brickworks at New Hadley, the Coalport and walked down to replaced by a bus service that had Lilleshall Co’s furnaces at Swinney to picnic and bathe in the to follow a tortuous course to link Priorslee, Randlay brickworks, the river; those who caught the early the settlements along the route of Old Park Co’s mines and morning train to Oakengates to the railway. A daily goods service ironworks at Malinslee and get to the Walker Technical (which was very sparsely used) Stirchley, the Madeley Wood Co’s College on Hartshill; and a newly and a few excursion trains brickworks at Blists Hill and enlisted soldier who travelled to continued to travel over the Coalport China Works – were Wellington and changed to a branch, but the line was finally served by sidings off the Coalport Paddington train on his way to his closed to all traffic – between branch. London Barracks. For others, Coalport and Stirchley in 1960, But for the people who lived in living alongside the line, the and between Stirchley and Hadley the towns and villages along the usually punctual ‘Dodger’ Junction in1964. line, it was the ‘Dodger’ that was provided a reminder of the time of 1964 also saw the end of more important to their daily day. passenger trains on the lives. The last ‘Dodger’ ran on Wellington-Stafford line.

The ‘Dodger’ at Wellington station, c.1900 (left) and Coalport station, 1948. Photos © LNWR Society and W.A. Camwell.

14 Wellingtonia: Issue 9: Fourth Quarter 2010 THE MOUNT

The Mount in Haygate Road is being sold to help pay for Wellington’s new Civic Quarter.

he Mount is currently the subject of a planning Tapplication. Its new owner recognises that it is a Grade II Listed Building and wishes to preserve as many original features as possible, remove the less described as a ‘fundholder’, lived If you have any additional sympathetic additions and convert here. By the 1880s, the house was historical information to do with the former gardens into small known simply as ‘The Mount’. The Mount, or old photos of this dwelling plots. Between 1900 and 1926, houses building as well as of Wrekin The former junior school and for rent were built on part of the Road Junior school and Highfield House, both in Wrekin grounds facing Wrekin Road; Highfields House, please contact Road, are also subject to planning interestingly, it is the same concept Allan Frost. applications which seem to have being proposed by modern similar intentions to those of The planners. Mount. Understandably, the In 1926, the whole Mount Borough Council feels it makes estate was sold off together with sound business sense to dispose of the houses on the estate (see plan substantial properties it no longer bottom left). By 1928, it had needs and reinvest the proceeds become a children’s home run by into the town’s new Civic Quarter Shropshire County Council. (The buildings. original children’s home had been The Mount, or Mount House as accommodated at the workhouse it was known when built in the in 1914 and moved to Brooklyn early nineteenth century, was House on Watling Street two years home to Mrs Lettice Ridding (or later. A second children’s home Riding) during the 1830s. (At this opened at The Vineyard in 1947.) time, this stretch of Wrekin Road Latterly, The Mount has been was called Water Lane, as shown used as a Children & Young on the amp, right.) During the People, Children & Families centre 1840s and ‘50s, Elizabeth Taylor, by Telford & Wrekin Council.

www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 15 and living standards. Councillors, MEMORIES OF WUDC George Evans however, kept a keen eye on expenditure. There were 15 councillors; five industrialised. The RDC also had A former Chairman of being elected each year, all for the Parish Councils which met whole town until wards were Wellington Urban District separately, taking responsibility introduced in the 1960s. Many Council (WUDC) recalls his for some functions and making were independent and those days in office. recommendations to the RDC on belonging to political parties others. promptly forgot their party The UDC had many allegiances after the election, or many years the town of responsibilities, including public concentrating on what they as Wellington was administered housing, slum clearance, parks, individuals thought was best for Fby its own Urban District allotment gardens, roads, parking, the town and never meeting as a Council, which took over from the water supply, sewerage and caucus. I was asked to ‘put up’ for Commissioners in 1894; the Civil sewage disposal, public lavatories, the council in 1954 and very Parish was divided between road safety, street cleaning and reluctantly did so after a promise Wellington Urban and Wellington lighting, refuse collection and that no-one would ever tell me Rural District Councils. These disposal, public health, swimming how I must vote on any subject. were abolished in 1974 when the baths and trading standards. Election day came and I found, Wrekin District Council was Overall town planning was a to my surprise, that it was quite formed. That too disappeared in County Council function, as was exciting. To begin with I had not 1998 when The Wrekin District education, police and the Fire particularly bothered whether I was removed from Shropshire and Brigade though the UDC made was elected or not and looked became the county of The Wrekin. frequent recommendations about forward to losing and getting on The appropriate law is an Order their own patch. In fact the UDC with life as before; as the day came titled ‘the Shropshire (District of had many more duties than the nearer there was a little frisson of The Wrekin) (Structural Change) present excitement. Is this common to Order 1996’, which came into force Borough Council as some have councillors today? Eventually on 1st April 1998. been delegated to bodies like the there was the count and I found The Urban area was roughly Severn Trent Water Board, The myself, as in the two next what we now think of as the town UDC thought of itself as being elections, bottom of the five and the Rural Council dealt with responsible for pretty well elected. As usual only around 30% the villages around, though everything that went on in the voted. Hadley and Ketley cannot be town and was often forward- We met in Walker Street and I described as rural areas and were, looking, seeking ways of found the others friendly and for most of the time, heavily improving trade, housing, leisure supportive, asking what

Wellington Urban District Council in session. Clockwise, from George Evans (Chairman): Arthur Barton (Surveyor), -?-, Cllr Bert Reade, Cllr Ernie Griffiths, Cllr Joe O’Connor, Cllr Graham Murphy, Cllr Ann Jones, Cllr Joe Pearce, Cllr Bill Fisher-Jones, Cllr Sidney Parker, Cllr Phillip Bott, Cllr Alan Hartland, John Addison (Public Health), Dan Draper (Engineer), -?- (Minutes clerk), Reuben Rushen (Clerk)

16 Wellingtonia: Issue 9: Fourth Quarter 2010 like Fletchers were building too. This was the post-war housing boom. In 1961 I found myself elected Chairman and first citizen of my town. At my first council meeting Cllr. Ernie Griffiths challenged my ruling and I had to tell him to sit down and be quiet as he was ‘out of order’. With the chair came an ex officio appointment as magistrate and that was interesting. The first thing I was advised was to be quiet and learn. I learned that though some spoke the truth, nobody spoke the whole truth and some spoke anything but the truth; also that I was WUDC offices in Walker Street, May 1960. unsuited to the job. committees I wanted to be on. for a full meeting, including the We (Naomi my wife, Reuben They were a dedicated group of usual forty pages of committee Rushen the clerk and I) decided (mainly) independents with reports was 12 minutes. Spending there should be a civic reception, (mostly) Conservative leanings. £250,000 on a sewage disposal which became a dinner. It’s There was no hint of party plant took 2 minutes but deciding satisfying that the Town Council meetings; it was ‘every man for to buy the rent collector a new revived it in 1988, after the himself’. At my first Council bike took half an hour. An fourteen years Wellington was meeting I established my argument about how to deal with without its own council. To make credentials as one of the ‘awkward the debts of a recently ‘retired’ sure everyone wanted to come we squad’ when the reservoir was clerk was defused by, ‘I thought made it difficult to get a ticket and reported 30 feet down and I asked we were supposed to be charged a high price. Profits went how far it was up. Christians’. to charities. From there on there was a The most expensive items were Recently there have been seemingly endless ritual of council houses, of which we proposals to once more change the evening meetings and my little owned 2,000 by the end of my system, this time to a ‘unitary’ son learned to say, ‘Daddy ’genda’ stint. It was a hugely expansive authority incorporating both as the big envelopes clunked time, as Arleston, North Road, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin through the letterbox. The council Hollies Road estates and so on Councils. took up most of my ‘free’ time for were developed and private firms Will that actually happen? nine years. Why do it? I wondered. I wanted to influence the development of Wellington and perhaps, to a very small extent I did but not as much as I would have liked. We had no party meetings. An annual pre-council informal meeting decided who should be on which committee and who should be chairman and vice- chairman of the council. This was agreed on the principle that each councillor should take his turn provided he has at least three years experience. Parties, gender and age were nothing to do with it. There were some interesting characters on the council; brewers, undertakers, accountants, industrialists, civil servants, Above: The first WUDC chairman's reception, 1962. shopkeepers, wholesalers, and From left: Cllr Philip Bott, Cllr Sidney Parker, Camilla Yates, Bill Yates MP, assorted retirees. The speed record Naomi Evans, George Evans (Chairman, WUDC), Isaiah Jones (Chairman, WRDC). www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 17 100 YEARS AGO: 1910

Here are some more reports, adverts and photos relating to Wellington in 1910.

December

ENTERPRISE AT WELLINGTON ‘Wellington might have been a great railway centre and taken the position now occupied by Crewe’ was a comment made by the sages of the town. The passenger station as it BELLES (NO WHISTLES, PLEASE) CHRISTMAS AT appeared a hundred years ago is The short story, The Belle of the WELLINGTON WORKHOUSE shown below. Wrekin by Chetwynd Hamilton, The Christmas dinner of roast beef True or not, there is no denying was published in the Wellington and plum pudding was served at the enterprise of local tradesmen Journal. Wellington Workhouse on backed by the progressive local Monday. The large dining hall was governing authority and the WELLINGTON POST OFFICE gaily decorated for the occasion by exceptional opportunities for Although there was no increase in Mr. and Mrs. Frost, Mrs. Thomas Christmas shopping. cards and letters, a greater number and Mr. R. Langley, while the Shops had been extended and of parcels had to be delivered. children’s hall had been tastefully developed, with new industries Postmen were on duty all day decorated by Miss Frost and Miss coming to the town. The shops [Christmas Eve], and at the end of Jevon. mentioned in the columns are the day were treated to a Beer was served to the men tremendously varied – food, gifts, substantial supper laid on by the and women, and coffee to others clothes, cycles, hardware, shoes, Postmaster. who preferred it. Speeches were confectionery, jewellery, game, He praised the men for their delivered by the Guardians; and cards, saddlers and agricultural hard work and a favourable report after the usual cheers had been implements. was being sent to Head Office. given at the request of the master, [To see the extent of detail The photo above is of postal tobacco, snuff, tea, sugar, oranges, relating to Christmas shopping workers outside the Post Office, sweets and toys were distributed and the types and presentation of then situated in Church Street in a at intervals. Christmas letters were goods in the town reported in the property which subsequently presented to the inmates. Wellington Journal at around this became D.W. Agnew’s ‘Ladies & On Christmas Day, the time, see Bygone Christmases by Gents Tailors and Outfitters’. At Wellington Town Band attended, Allan Frost. The book reveals the this time, Mr. Agnew traded from and played several selections. history, customs and traditions of St. John Street. [A year earlier, this comment Christmas throughout the ages.] appeared in the Wellington Journal in the report of the 1909 Workhouse Christmas dinner: ‘women were allowed such quantities of gin as would not make them too demonstrative in their appreciation of it’!]

WELLINGTON PARISH CHURCH Bright ceremonial, appropriate discourses beautiful music and hearty thanksgiving were dominant features of Sunday’s celebration of the great festival. In accord with custom, the edifice has undergone tasteful adornment. Notwithstanding the seasonal limitations, and

18 Wellingtonia: Issue 9: Fourth Quarter 2010 abundance of decorative material Exceptionally, two General Elections had been forwarded, including were held in 1910. The indecisive choice contributions of bloom, and results of the January election led to plant, and shrub, by means of a deadlock between Conservatives which and beautifully-designed and Liberals. The December rerun text and device, the august event (wherein Australian-born Liberal was pleasingly symbolised, and Sir Charles Solomon Henry won the hearts and minds attuned to the Wellington seat), which resulted in importance and grandeur of the it being the last election where the occasion. Liberals won the highest number of [Christmas Day worship took seats in the House of Commons place at 7 a.m. (Holy Communion); required Liberal Prime Minister 8 a.m.; ‘morning prayer’ later in the Hubert Henry Asquith to form a morning and an evening service coalition with the Irish Nationals. followed by a carol service led by The crowd outside the Wrekin Hotel organist and choir master Malcolm in Market Square await the results Allison.] of one of these elections.

The 1910 date stone (above) from the town Baths will be incorporated into the Wellington’s new Civic Quarter.

Webb’s Grammar School building in New Street eventually became The Majestic Ballroom, seen here in 1960.

Hiatt’s Ladies’ College on King Street. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 19 ANNOUNCEMENTS DUE OUT EARLY 2011 IN AND AROUND TELFORD WELLINGTON HISTORY GROUP PUBLIC TALKS 100 YEARS AGO JANUARY TO JUNE 2011 by Allan Frost All talks will start at 7:30 p.m. in the Civic If folk were able to travel back in time to visit Offices, Wellington. Admission and refreshments are free but donations are invited after each towns and villages in and around the modern lecture. Watch Press for details of other events. Telford conurbation, these are the scenes they’d * see a hundred years ago. Wednesday January 19th: Allan Frost TELFORD THROUGH TIME Although photographs were then taken in * black and white, age has made many adopt a Wednesday February 16th: Pat Fairclough sepia tint. However, most of the images in this WELLINGTONS AROUND THE WORLDS * astounding and intriguing collection, produced Wednesday March 16th: Geoff Harrison mainly between the 1890s and 1917, were EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY made all the more attractive by studio artists * hand painting them to produce colourful Wednesday April 20th: Wendy Palin miniature works of art to delight postcard TURNING UP TURNERS: A LOCAL FAMILY * buyers of that period... and today’s readers. Wednesday May 18th: Neil Clarke This really is a most unusual collection. WILLIAM REYNOLDS – A MAN OF MANY PARTS WATCH LOCAL PRESS FOR DETAILS OF WHEN THIS * BOOK WILL BE RELEASED BY AMBERLEY PUBLISHING. Wednesday June 15th: Allan Frost WELLINGTON’S ARCHAEOLOGY Only £14.99.

The Wellington Annual Literary Festival, which took place throughout October 2010, benefitted from more events with an historical theme than usual. Whereas many welcomed the appearance of Nell Gwyn (looking remarkably well for her age – she must be at least 360 years old) those with a less (shall we say) glamorous appearance also held their audience’s attention when speaking under the banner of Wellington History Group. Phil Fairclough (left) has become something of an authority on the privations and politics of Post-War Britain, whereas Cllr Kuldip Singh Sahota (right) gave a very personal account of how his family came to Britain from the Punjab, India, and their subsequent trials, tribulations and successes.

President: George Evans, 18 Barnfield Crescent, CONTACT DETAILS Wellington, The Wrekin, TF1 2EU. Tel: 01952 641102. email [email protected]

Please address general correspondence to: Chairman: Neil Clarke, ‘Cranleigh’, Wellington Secretary: Joy Rebello, 6 Barnfield Crescent, Road, Little Wenlock, Shropshire, TF6 5BH. Wellington, Telford, Shropshire, TF1 2ES. Tel: 01952 504135. email: [email protected] Tel: 01952 402459. email: [email protected] Treasurer: Wendy Palin, 35 Pembroke Drive, Other officers of the Wellington History Group Wellington, Telford, Shropshire, TF1 3PT. committee are: Tel: 01952 244551. email: [email protected]

DISCLAIMER: Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this publication is correct at the time of going to press. Wellington History Group cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, nor do opinions expressed necessarily reflect the official view of the Group. All articles and photographs are copyright of the authors or members of the Group and must not be reproduced without prior permission and due credit.

20 Wellingtonia: Issue 9: Fourth Quarter 2010