St Bartholomew's Church, Tong

The statutes insisted from the outset on the centrality of the collegiate church's rôle as a chantry, stressing the Sacrifice of the Mass as the rationale for the foundation:

The bargain implicit in the foundation was explicitly admitted as being "to barter an earthly treasure for a heavenly."[40] In traditional theology, a chantry mass was distinguished as exemplifying the "special fruit" made available through Christ's sacrifice and applicable at the will and intention of the priest.[41] This made possible remission of temporal punishment, or time spent in Purgatory. Nevertheless, as at Tong, foundation deeds almost always added that the mass should also be for all the faithful departed.[42]

This view of the mass was no longer uncontested, and John Wycliffe had taught that special applications of masses were futile.[43] According to The Testimony of William Thorpe, the Lollard preacher had taken the pulpit at St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury on 17 April 1407 and questioned the value of all external rituals, including masses:

"As I stood there in the pulpit, busying me to teach the commandment of God, there knelled a sacring bell; and therefore many people turned away hastily, and with noise ran from me. And I, seeng this, said to them thus: 'Good men ye were better to stand here still and to hear God's word; For certes the virtue and the value of the most holy sacrament of the altar standeth much more in the belief thereof that ye ought to have in your soul, than it doth in the outward sight thereof. And therefore ye were better to stand still, quietly to hear God's word, because through the hearing thereof men come to true belief."[44]

The document claims that Thorpe was arrested and interviewed by Thomas Prestbury, the abbot of Shrewsbury Abbey,[45] and later by Thomas Arundel, the Archbishop of Canterbury.[46] Thorpe's account of his preaching at St Chad's is given as his response to questions from Arundel that sought to entrap him in a denial of transubstantiation, the specific mode of Real Presence closely associated with the sacrifice of the mass, but Thorpe was not to be drawn on that subject.

The college statutes reiterate the orthodox faith of the Western Catholic Church in the face of incipient revolt: the mass is a sacrifice in which the priest offers up the Son to the Father, a re-enactment of the Crucifixion, and it contributes to both the well-being of the living and the freeing of the dead. The three husbands of Isabel Lingen, with all their ancestor and descendants, were to be the chief beneficiaries of the special fruits of masses at Tong, listed immediately after the king and his heirs: no mention is made at the beginning of the statutes of Beaufort or even of Isabel's own family.[40] Pious works on behalf of the college also attract reward: all the faithful departed are included as beneficiaries of the masses, but with the proviso that this applies especially to "those who shall have given any assistance or regard to the support of the said college."

Remains of former almshouses from the south. St Bartholomew's Church, Tong, Shropshire.

Remains of former almshouses from the north west corner.

The statutes list the constituents of the college. The five priests were to be secular clergy and, with the exception of the warden, they must not hold any other benefice. The warden was to preside over the college and to receive obedience from the other chaplains, as well as having cure of souls of both the college and the parishioners.[47] There was also to be a sub-warden, a deputy elected by consensus who could be removed at will – unlike the warden, whose tenure of office was perpetual. There were to be two assistant clerics, serving at the behest of the warden, who might be in minor orders, as it was stipulated only that they be in prima saltem tonsura constituti[38] – "at least instituted in their first tonsure." At the dissolution of the college in 1546 they were described as "laye men named deacons,"[48] which reflects a changed perception of minor orders. Finally there were to be 13 poor men, of whom seven must be seriously ill or severely disabled: "so weak and worn in strength that they can scarcely or never help themselves without the assistance of another." Once admitted and settled, they were not to be removed without good cause, which must be proved to the satisfaction of at least a majority of the five chaplains.[49]

The warden was to be the nominee of Isabel while she lived. After her death he was to elected unanimously from among the chaplains, without canvassing, at a meeting convened for that purpose in the chapter house.[50] The letter informing the bishop of the election was to be passed via the patron, Richard Vernon in the event if Isabel's death, and he was to levy no payment. However, the patron could nominate a warden if the chapter did not make a unanimous decision within fifteen days of a vacancy.[51] Almost all eventualities were covered: in the event that the patron made no nomination within four months, the bishop would have the choice or, failing him, the archbishop or, as a last resort, the chapter of Canterbury Cathedral.[52] An equally prolix regression applied to the bishop who should induct the warden. Similarly if there should be no warden or a negligent warden, there were provisions for making up he number of chaplains in case of a vacancy.[53]

The newly elected warden had to swear an oath before the chapter, with his hand on a book of the gospels, to administer faithfully and to maintain the statutes.[49] Similarly, the warden was to take an oath of obedience from chaplains when they had completed their first year in the college, which was probationary. The oath covered not just liturgical duties, but all reasonable instructions from the warden, and contained a confidentiality clause.[54] The chaplains swore never to do any harm to the college. The warden was to ensure that the rules were collated and recorded, to take up difficult issues with the advice of the brothers but also "to build up and encourage charity and peace" not only in the chapter but also among the servants. Above all he was "to behave and conduct himself that he may give an upright and fearless account concerning his way of life before God and man."[55] He was also to account fully for the financial position of the college. He was expected to take an inventory not just of goods, but also debts and credits. This was to read to the chaplains so that they understood the situation. It was to written up in the form of an indenture, with one half to be kept by himself and the other by another chaplain for future reference. This was so that an evaluation could be made of his financial performance in office and it was expected that he would leave the college in a better state than when he took over. In the same way, he was expected to take responsibility for the annual accounts and to present them to the chapter.

Benefit of clergy meant that the chaplains were answerable to the warden for all offences: not merely breaches of the statutes but also serious crimes. Homicide was deemed too serious for the perpetrator to continue in office, even after penance, and he would be expelled.[56] Adultery, incest, perjury, false witness, sacrilege, theft and robbery would not merit expulsion, so long as due confession and penance were undertaken, and an oath sworn never to offend again. Lesser crimes included fornication, disobedience, rebellion, brawling, insolence, gluttony and drunkenness. These would result in expulsion only if repeated three times or if the penance were to be ignored.[57] The thirteen poor men were under similar discipline to the college. The warden himself could be denounced to the bishop by the other chaplains if, after a complaint and reprimand from his chaplains, he offended a second time.

Confession was an essential part of Penance and Reconciliation, which was itself part of the preparation for Eucharist, a central part of the daily routine in a chantry. The warden was expected to hear the chaplains' confessions whenever they invited him to do so – in any event, at least once a year. This was a reciprocal arrangement: the warden was to choose a confessor from among the chaplains. Moreover, the chaplains were to hear each other's confessions "in the way that they know is most helpful for the salvation of their souls."[58] This was to be done in a specific place of confession. In Latin this is given as in confessionis foro,[59] a forum implying a very public place, not in any way like the modern confessional. Auden translates it as "hall of confession." It was confidently expected that the bishop would grant the warden full powers to impose penance on the chaplains, but the warden was to be equally subject to his own confessor. Possibly it is for this reason that the statutes now tell us that the warden was allowed to take one of the other chaplains with him if he had business outside the college: he was allowed to keep two horses so that the other chaplain could ride alongside him.[60]

It was the sub-warden who had responsibility for maintaining the liturgical life of the college. For this reason he was in charge of and accountable for all the books and ornaments. He was responsible for the timetable and rota of liturgical duties. He was to make a note of absentees and present it at the next chapter. He was responsible for the provision of all the requisites for Eucharist: bread, wine, wax, oil, cruets, towels, etc. The statutes recognised that this double rôle of precentor and sacrist was too much for one man and he was to have an assistant from among the two clerics who were additional to the chapter.[61] This assistant or sub-sacrist was to ring the bell for worship, both for the canonical hours and the masses. He also kept one half of the sub-warden's inventory indenture, so that there was independent check on his stock-keeping.

In principle, all the chaplains were to attend every act of worship in the collegiate church. The aim was not just to ensure that the services were celebrated honourably. The constant round of activity was a form of pastoral care, as it helped to drive away "the worst of vices, despondency." This was accidia[62] or acedia – neglect, lack of concern, absence of appetite for life – classified as one of the Seven deadly sins. It was recognised that business might sometimes take the warden out of the church and there were dispensations for sickness. Each chaplain was also allowed a month's holiday a year but could not take it in one block. There was to be no absence from the major festivals, which were celebrated according to the Use of Sarum. Absences were punishable by a fine on each occasion unless taken by permission of the warden or sub-warden. The chaplains were to lose one penny for each absence from Matins, mass or Vespers and half a penny for other canonical hours. The clerks were to be fined only half as much as the chaplains.[63]

15th century high mass, in which the celebrant was assisted by a deacon and sub-deacon.

All of the canonical hours were to be celebrated according to the Sarum rite, from the heart and with a clear voice – corde et voco distincte.[62] The bell for Matins[note 3] was rung at or before daybreak. Like all the hours, Matins might be said or sung, as directed by the warden, although music was obligatory on Sundays and other festivals so long as there were enough assistants.[64] Immediately afterwards a mass according to the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary was to begin on the north side of the church. This was recited by the chaplain named for the week on the sub-warden's rota. All the others chaplains, except the warden, were expected to attend, unless they had another mass to read elsewhere in the church. There might be a number of these additional masses, and they would always include one for the founders and benefactors of the church. At this point in the statutes Isabel, William and Walter for the first time insert their own names among those deserving such masses. A founder's mass was to include a special collect which began: Deus, cui proprium est misereri semper, et parcere, propitiare[note 4] – "God, whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive and be gracious." Later the priest nominated for that week would celebrate High Mass. This was to include the Collects as laid down by the Sarum Rite. On Sundays there would be an address to the parishioners in English.[65] A further themed mass was prescribed for each day of the week: a Corpus Christi mass on Thursday, for example, and a Requiem on Saturday.[66]

The paupers of the almshouses were not compelled to attend all the complex calendar of services. However, they were normally expected to hear one or two masses each day, alongside the college. In addition they were to say the Lord's Prayer and the Angelical salutation fifteen times and the Apostles' Creed three times each day.[67] On Sunday, Wednesday and Friday there was to be a mass in the chapel at the poor house if there were any inmates unable to attend the church.[68]

In the evening the Vespers bell would ring and the chaplains would say the office for the dead, a combination known as a Dirige. Compline would follow Vespers and after it there would be a Marian Antiphon: Salve Regina is suggested, although a wider range of Marian hymns might be used at festivals.

Special anniversaries were to be celebrated for Isabel's husbands and parents. For Sir Fulk Pembridge and his first wife, Margaret Trussell, this was the day after the feast of St Augustine of Canterbury, 27 May. For Sir John Ludlow it was on the feast of St Margaret the Virgin, 20 July. Sir Thomas Peytevin was commemorated on 15 November, the feast of St Machutus or Malo,[67] one of the founding saints of Brittany. For Isabel's parents, Ralph Lingen and Margery, it was St Andrew's Day, 30 November. Isabel herself, together with William Mosse and Walter Swan, were each to be commemorated after death by a Dirige or Vespers of the Dead on the anniversary and a mass the following day.

The correct vestments for the chaplains were carefully prescribed. These had to be bought by the chaplains themselves, although there was provision for an advance to be made of the first year's stipend in case of need. This had to be repaid if the chaplain did not complete his probationary year. Not appearing in the correct vestments was counted as an absence and attracted the same fine.[69]

The warden and chaplains were expected to have a life in common and without undue distraction. They lived in a single building and it was laid down that their rooms were to be large, although they might vary according to rank. The keys to the dormitory building were to be guarded by the warden or sub-warden at night. Meals too were to be taken at a common table, in the shared college building and nowhere else, unless by express permission of the warden. At the beginning of meals the food would be blessed by the warden or the priest who conducted that day's high mass. Dinner should be accompanied by a reading from Scripture. Meals ended with a prayer of thanks and prayers for the souls of the founders and benefactors. It was envisaged that the college's income would rise and that a chaplain would be appointed as steward to manage the quantity and quality of the meals, keeping a weekly account. However, the actual purchasing was to done centrally and seasonally. Outsiders were allowed to take part in the meals only in strictly limited numbers and women were allowed only if of unimpeachable reputation and for the best of reasons: the key point was to minimise distraction from the purpose of the college.[70] All such guests had to be paid for by the chaplain who had invited them, although the cost would be shared if the guest had been invited for the whole college. There was a high table and a low, possibly referring to the quality of provision rather than a distinct piece of furniture, and the cost of dining differed accordingly. All meal charges were to be returned to the food budget. Chaplains might entertain holidaying visitors for a day or two, with the warden's permission, but they were to be accommodated away from the college. The chaplains were particularly warned against the distractions of hunting and hawking. They were not allowed to keep dogs without the unanimous permission of the college and offenders were liable to peremptory expulsion.[note 5] The chaplains were exhorted to wear decent dress even when off the premises and it was recommended that they adopt uniform clothing, to be supplied annually, when meeting outsiders.

The warden had the cure of souls not only of the college, but of the whole parish. It was recognised that this might be more than he could manage alone, so he was to select another member of the chapter as parochial chaplain to assist in the work, especially the administration of the sacraments.[71] Another of the chaplains or one of the clerics was to become a teacher under the direction of the warden and chapter. He needed to be capable in reading, singing and grammar. His responsibilities were wide-ranging, as he was expected to teach the clerks, the employees of the college, the poor children of the village and even children from neighbouring villages.

The warden was assigned an annual stipend of ten marks while the chaplains received only four marks.[72] This was, however, in addition to their boarding costs, which were borne by the college as a whole. They were also able to receive additional payments for masses after deaths of parishioners and others, including trentals (30-day masses) and obits (anniversary masses), as well as bequests. All of these were added to the stipend and paid in two annual installments: on the Feast of the Annunciation (25 March) and Michaelmas (29 September). The sub-warden, the parochial curate and the steward were each assigned an extra half mark, so long as they performed their duties conscientiously. The salaries of the other clerics and any choristers were not fixed in advance but subject to negotiation with the warden. The thirteen poor people were allowed one mark in money or in kind, in addition to their accommodation, although it was hoped this could be increased as the college income rose.[73] They were paid in four installments annually.

In addition to these payments, the warden was made responsible for maintaining an oil lamp, to be kept lit during services and at night, before the High Altar, as well as all necessary wax candles. He was accountable to the bishop for meeting all these expenses. Certain dealings and payments were categorically forbidden and would make the warden liable to dismissal.[74] These included pensions and corrodies (a form of annuity guaranteeing living costs): these were the undoing of the great neighbouring abbey of Lilleshall, which had great numbers of royal servants added to its payroll.[75] However the chaplains themselves were to be fed and clothed even in old age and infirmity, unless they had at least six marks from outside rents of their own to live on.

Any chaplain could resign from the college but he had to give six months notice. If he failed to complete this stay, he would lose his final half year's pay.[76]

The situation was greatly improved by Henry V's grant to the college of Lapley Priory in 1415, which allowed for an optimistic revision of the statutes in 1423.[77] Lapley was an alien priory, a monastery subject to a mother house abroad – in its case the Abbey of Saint-Remi at Reims.[78] As Reims Abbey came under the rule of the King of France, and was a location of great ideological and historical importance to the monarchy of France, Lapley Priory had been regularly confiscated and exploited by kings of England during their French wars ever since the reign of King John.[79] The Fire and Faggot Parliament, held at Leicester in 1414, petitioned the king to take over definitively all the alien priories that were not self-governing and he reassured the parliament that this would be so.[80] His grant of Lapley to Tong College, dated 19 June 1415 and made in response to a request from Isabel Lingen,[81] reiterates that it was in accordance with an ordinance of the Leicester parliament and mentions that he had since let the priory to the former prior, John Bally, and two others.[82] The king points out the great damage done to the national economy by constant remittances to foreign monasteries.[83] A considerable part of the rents and dues was already committed. Lapley had been made to contribute 12 marks annually towards the huge dowry granted by Henry IV to Joan of Navarre, Queen of England, which was still partly outstanding: Henry V was not inclined to reduce his mother's income. A further £20 was being paid to a John Vale, an esquire, and this too was to continue.[84] The king added a number of other names to the list of those whose souls were to benefit from the masses said at Tong. Firstly he added himself; then Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, another of his uncles, alongside Thomas Beaufort, now Earl of Dorset; finally, John Prophet, the Dean of York, an important figure in his own administration and in his father's.

Despite the king's piety and the pious intentions of the college and chantry, the letters patent signifying the grant cost Isabel £100, deposited in the hanaper.[82] Although there were additional outgoings and responsibilities, the grant was substantial. Lapley had desmesne lands around the priory and village of Lapley, not far from Tong on the western edge of Staffordshire, as well as further estates at Hamstall Ridware, Meaford, and Marston in Church Eaton, all in Staffordshire, and at Silvington in Shropshire.[78] At Lapley itself, Tong acquired not just the priory building and its surrounding lands, but the advowson and tithes of the parish church, although there was a need to find money for the vicar and for the poor of Lapley.[85] About 25 years after Henry V's grant, the Lapley estates were to contributing about half the total income of the college.[86]

This upturn in the fortunes of the college brought about a revision of the statutes in 1423. The new statutes raised the warden's stipend from ten marks to £10 and that of the chaplains from four marks to £5.[87] The higher stipends, however, were not paid and the old rate for chaplains, given as 53. 4d., was still in force at the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535[88] and at the inquiry preceding dissolution in 1546.[89] Aged chaplains were allowed to remain at the college even if they had means of their own. The lord of the manor and the head of the Fraternity of All Saints, a religious guild, took over responsibility for the almshouses. The college warden was to hand over £20 a year to the guild wardens towards the support of the inmates, an amount still recorded in 1535.

Tong College was founded in a period when demesne cultivation had been in decline for more than a century and it continued to decline further.[90] Even monasteries and religious houses generally sought to replace agriculture with less labour-intensive stock rearing and to lease out uneconomic parts of their demesnes.[91] Most of Tong College's estates were leased and brought in annual rent but it seems that there were demesne lands around Lapley and Wheaton Aston that were always kept in the hands of the college[92] and provided it with at least a subsistence. Around 1440 the demesne required five employees and produced enough grain, meat and dairy products to feed the college. In 1438 the college had 92 sheep and was able to sell wool, although this was the only commodity produced for the market. There were 11 oxen, presumably the main draft animal, and six horses but few cattle. The inquisition on the eve of dissolution found adequate stocks of agricultural produce in the barns. As well as wheat and rye valued at £3 10s. in the main barns (probably at Lapley), there was a further 20s. worth of wheat at Wheaton Aston. There were also quantities of barley and oats and mixed grains, dredge (oats and barley) and muncorn (a general term for rye mixtures, but usually with wheat).[93] Along with the hay supply, this suggests crops were stored for animal feed as well as for bread. However, the number of animals had declined considerably, with just two oxen, two cows and 36 sheep. There were, however, eleven pigs and a few poultry, almost certainly intended for consumption by the college and residents of the almshouses.[94]

In 1448 the college, together with Sir Richard Vernon, still lord of the manor, acquired by royal charter a range of privileges giving a wide measure of legal autonomy.[95] This included waif and stray (the right to unclaimed goods and cattle), treasure trove, the goods of fugitives, convicts and suicides. The college was to execute royal writs and mandates, to the exclusion of the sheriff, escheator, coroner and other royal officials. This extended even to justices of the peace: the college and manorial lord were to appoint their own, who were to have the same powers as the justices mandated by the king for the county, although they would require a licence from the king before determining a felony.

There were to be no further large acquisitions. However, by the time of the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535, two small estates had been added: the college held a fifth of the nearby manor of Weston-under-Lizard, which brought in £2 a year, and some land at Wellington, Shropshire, worth 6s. 8d.[88] However, the total income from the college's temporalities at that time was £33 16s. 6d., of which £22 15s. 10d., two thirds, came from the manor of Lapley.

The college and its chaplains made irregular additional income from bequests. In 1451, for example, William FitzHerbert, who had already resided in the college for some years, made Richard Eyton, the warden, and Agnes Hereward his executors, with responsibility for disposing for any of his goods remaining after his bequests had been carried out. He instructed that eight pounds of wax candles be burnt at his funeral. As well as gifts of 3s. 4. and 6s. 8. to the clerics of the college, he left the substantial sum of 100s. or £5 for a priest to celebrate mass for his soul for one year and 8d. A year for four years for the parish chaplain to mention his name in prayer from the pulpit.[96] In 1454 Fulk Eyton, godson of Sir Fulk Pembridge and brother of the warden, asked to be buried in the lady chapel and left 4d for each of 5000 commemoration, to consist of a Placebo, a Dirige and a mass. He left a silver basin and a feather bed to the college, on condition that further prayers, masses and Diriges be sung in return.[97] The will of John Mytton of Weston, 21 December 1499, left money specifically for the building of the church.[98]

Lands and churches known to have been held by Tong College are listed below.

The commission to dissolve Tong College, issued on 17 September 1546, referred to legislation of the previous year that permitted the king's commissioners to seize on his behalf the property of "chantries, hospitals, colleges, free chapels, fraternities or guilds."[112] It was stamped by William Clerk, a clerk to the Privy Seal under Henry VIII, in the presence of Sir Anthony Denny and Sir John Gates.[113] The commission was addressed to four of the Midlands upper landed gentry,[114] all men with either powerful connections or great wealth, or both: Sir George Blount of Kinlet, brother of the king's former mistress, Elizabeth Blount, a religious conservative[115] but a distinguished soldier[116] who was close to the powerful and Protestant John Dudley, Viscount Lisle; George Vernon, lord of Haddon, apparently not much in favour at Court, whose father Richard had died in 1517, only two years after acting as executor for Sir Henry Vernon;[117] Thomas Giffard, son of Sir John Giffard of Chillington, a former courtier who had played a major part in preparing Henry VIII's reception of Anne of Cleves, and a Catholic who had, nevertheless, acquired Black Ladies Priory[116] after its dissolution through the favour of Thomas Cromwell;[118] and Francis Cave of Baggrave, a property he had acquired on the dissolution of Leicester Abbey, a noted City lawyer and a Protestant.[119] Tong College was one of only a few colleges selected for dissolution under the 1545 act.[120] For the purposes of the seizure, it was grouped together with Vernon's Chantry, housed in the chapel on the south side of the church but institutionally separate, and the "Chantry of the Blessed Mary,"[112] a similar Vernon foundation in All Saints' Church, Bakewell.

Three of the commissioners, Vernon, Giffard and Cave, entered and seized Tong College on 27 September and went on to take over a close or small pasture belonging to Vernon's Chantry, as a symbolic seizure of the entire property.[121] Two days later they took over Katherine Wynterbotham's home in Bakewell to represent the seizure of all the chantry property there. Once these token seizures had taken place, proper inventories were drawn up, supervised by Blount, Giffard and Cave.[122] It seems that the sale of the properties to Sir Richard Manners, George Vernon's stepfather, was a foregone conclusion. To make sure he was aware of important outgoings, the inventory began with a detailed list of foods required by the almshouses at Tong, including coarse grain for bread, malt for brewing, fat cattle and pigs, and Lenten items, like pulses and herring. Eggs were specified for the period between Easter and Whitsuntide. Manners was also reminded of the need to provide firewood and to employ a servant girl for the almshouses. The arrears of pay owed to servants from Lady Day to Michaelmas were also listed, along with small loans and wages for casual labourers. The goods of the college and almshouses were appraised by and recorded by a team of surveyors:[123] William Skeffington, a Wolverhampton businessman; Nicholas Agard of Foston, Derbyshire; and Robert Forster, a Tong College tenant.[124] The list included quantities of vestments and textiles, beds and bedding. The cooking equipment was listed, with both the college and the almshouses owning substantial brewing vessels, including brass pans and wort leads.[125] By far the most important assets were the livestock, valued at more than £10 in total, including two oxen, two cattle, and 36 sheep. By contrast, Vernon's Chantry had nothing but vestments, valued at just 11 shillings, although a chalice worth more than £3 made the Bakewell chantry much more valuable. The shared equipment of the almshouses consisted only of old pots and pans.

William Clerk stamped the letters patent granting the Tong and Bakewell estates to Richard Manners in January 1547.[126] The annual value of Tong College was given as £53 13s. 5¼d., Vernon's Chantry at £6 9s. 2d. and Bakewell at £7 5s. 1d. Manners had agreed to pay £486 4s. 2d. for the three properties. However, Henry VIII was dying and the sale went no further until 25 July 1547, when Edward VI was king and his regency council, acting as his father's executors, were in control.[127] It was accepted that Manners had paid the agreed sum at the Court of Augmentations on 12 May to the satisfaction of Henry VIII,[128] who had actually died more than 3 months earlier. The grant specified the lands that were to be transferred to Manners and that he would hold them as one fortieth of a knight's fee, which was translated into a cash rent of £5 4s. 0½d. for the college, 12s. 11d. for Vernon's Chantry and 14s. 6½d. for the Bakewell chantry, to be paid at Augmentations each Michaelmas.[129]

Manners was quick to profit by selling off some of the property. Less than a month later, 15 August 1547, he obtained for 60s. a licence to sell the Tong College building and site, the rectory or tithes of the church and the advowson, Vernon's Chantry and its meadow, together with other small properties to James and Alice Wolryche or Woolrich.[130] On 30 May 1548 he paid £7 18s. 9d. for a licence to sell a Lapley manor and large number of properties previously belonging to the priory to Robert Broke,[131] an eminent lawyer in the service of the City of London but from Claverley in Shropshire.[132] It is clear that Robert Forster, who had helped in the surveying of the college, acquired the lands which he had been leasing from Manners in Wellington and Horsebrook (in Brewood), as well as several estates belonging to Vernon's Chantry, as in 1557 he bought a licence to grant them to his son.[133]

Reputed grave of Little Nell in St Bartholomew's churchyard

The churchyard has a grave in it that has a little metal plate attached to it which reads "The reputed grave of Little Nell". This stems from the character of Little Nell in Charles Dickens' novel, The Old Curiosity Shop.[220] In the novel, both Little Nell and her grandfather are made destitute, and move to an unidentified West Midlands village to become beggars. At the end of the book, Nell dies and her grandfather sits by her grave waiting for her return (he is afflicted with a mental illness and so refuses to admit that she is, in fact, dead).[221]

Around 1910, the verger at the time, George Bowden, created a false entry in the parish register to state that a Nell Gwyn was buried in the churchyard.[222] The giveaway was that he used Post Office ink rather than the normal ink used in the register. He also created a grave which has moved around in the last 100 years as real people were interred in the church grounds. Despite being a fake and also that Nell is a fictitious character, the grave has attracted many visitors including some from as far afield as America.[223]

Tong has been identified as the setting for Nell's death because Dickens' grandmother was the housekeeper at Tong Castle[224] and whilst he was staying at nearby Albrighton to visit her, he is said to have penned the closing lines in the novel.[225] Dickens himself confirmed this to the clergy in the church of Tong after publication of The Old Curiosity Shop, with Dickens also describing the church as "..a very aged, ghostly place".[226]

In the nave and aisles are many monuments, tombs and effigies celebrating the lives of many of its worshippers, gentry and former owners. The most famous is the Stanley monument which used to be on the north side of the altar in the church, but was moved to the south transept in the 18th century by George Durant II to make way for a monument to his father, George Durant I.[246] There are two epitaphs inscribed on the Stanley monument, written by Shakespeare at the behest of Sir Edward Stanley for his parents, when the two met (surmised to be in London by Moorwood).[247] This gives Tong Church the distinction of being the only setting where two of Shakespeare's epitaphs are carved into stone in one place. The only other epitaph written by Shakespeare that is carved in stone is that on Shakespeare's own grave in Stratford-upon-Avon.[248] Shakespeare's connection to the Stanley family lies in the fact that they were (alongside other families) his patrons when he was in Lancashire.[249][250] The two epitaphs are said to be very close in literature to sonnets 55 and 81 by Shakespeare.[251] The tomb itself is on two levels with the upper level displaying the effigies of Sir Thomas Stanley and his wife, Margaret Vernon. The lower level has an effigy of their son, Edward, who is not memorialised with his wife as her tomb is in St Mary's Church in Walthamstow. The decorative figures that used to adorn the tomb (and are now much damaged) have been placed on the upper part of the Burgundian arch. Sir Thomas and his wife have their hands clasped in prayer, whereas Edward has his right hand on his chest. According to Watney, writing in the Church Monuments Society journal, this placement of Edward's hand signifies that the tomb was completed in his lifetime.[252][253]

Early 15th-century effigies of Sir Fulk and Lady Isabel de Pembrugge

Effigies of Sir Fulke and Dame Isabel de Pembrugge lie together on a tomb located at the north side of the tower. The tomb is made from Nottingham Alabaster[note 10][201] and has sustained some damage, although some of the original black paint in Isabel de Pembrugge's widow dress is still visible today. Dame Isabel died in 1446 and every Midsummer's Day, a chaplet of roses is placed around her head. RW Eyton, the great Shropshire antiquarian, reported in 1855 that this tradition had at that time died out,[254] although he quoted an anonymous correspondent of The Gentleman's Magazine for 1800 to show that it had been alive, if not understood, in the late 18th century.

The effigies lie on an altar-tomb, and had the remains of a garland of flowers (then nearly reduced to dust) round the neck and breast. The sexton told me, that on every Midsummer day a new garland was put on, and remained so until the following, when it was annually renewed. As this is a singular custom, I could not forbear noticing it, and wish to be informed what was the origin of it.[255]

Eyton explained that the custom was rooted in a deed sufficiently unusual to be recorded by the herald William Dugdale,[256] by which a lord of Tong, Roger la Zouche, some time between 1237 and 1247, had granted land and rights to a neighbouring landowner.

This Roger, being Lord of the Mannor of Tonge, in Com. Salop. … did, by a fair Deed grant to Henry de Hugefort, and his Heirs, three Yard-Land, three Messuages, and certain Woods lying in Norton, and Shawe, (in the Parish of Tonge) with Paunage for a great number of Hogs, in the Woods belonging to that Mannor: As also liberty of Fishing in all his Waters there, excepting the great Pool of Tonge; with divers other Privileges, viz. of getting Nuts in those Woods for several days, &c. Rendring yearly to him the said Roger, and his Heirs, a Chaplet of Roses, upon the Feastday of the Nativity of St. Iohn Baptist, in case he or they should be then at Tonge; if not, then to be put upon the Image of the Blessed Virgin, in the Church of Tonge.[257]

Subsequent authors have asserted out that since the Reformation when the statue was removed, the churchgoers have placed the flowers into the hands of the churches' "other lady".[239][258] However, the original terms indicated that the chaplet was owed by the Hugford family to Roger la Zouche and his heirs, so the logic seems to be that it is now paid or commemorated on "the earliest Monument of the Manorial Lords which the Church happened to contain."[254]

Part of the tomb of Sir Richard Vernon (died 1451)

On the opposite side of the de Pembrugge's tomb is the tomb of Sir Richard Vernon and Benedicta de Ludlow. Again, it is carved from alabaster and Pevsner suggests this came from Chellaston in Derbyshire because the angels carved into it are of the type supplied by Thomas Prentys and Robert Sutton who worked in alabaster.[238] The Vernons lived at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, but when they married into the Tong lordship,[note 11] they chose to be buried at St Bartholomew's.[259][260]

15th-century tomb of Sir William Vernon and his wife, Margaret Swynfen

West of the first Vernon monument and adjacent to one of the original 13th century pillars, is the tomb of Sir William Vernon and his wife, Margaret Swynfen.[261] This is constructed of Purbeck marble which is inlaid with a brass representation of Sir William and his wife.[262] Other members of the Vernon family have tombs next to the pulpit (Richard Vernon and Margaret Dymoke)[246] and also Henry Vernon and his wife Anne (Talbot) Vernon, who are memorialised underneath a Burgundian archway that separates the Vernon Chapel from the south side of the nave.[263]

The Vernon Chapel, divided from the south aisle by an ogee-headed door,[264] was completed circa 1519–1520 and holds many monuments including one to Sir Henry Vernon (carved from Nottingham Alabaster) who built it.[265][266]

Bust of Arthur Vernon, MA (died 1517)

In the chapel is a bust of Arthur Vernon, son of Sir Henry and Dame Anne Vernon, who died in 1517.[267] The bust is on a corbel and shows Vernon holding a book in his right hand. The left hand is damaged. The miniature fan vaulting above his head replicates the fan vaulting in the chapel itself which is said to be similar to Henry VII's Chapel in Westminster Abbey[224][268] and a rare example of fan vaulting in Shropshire.[264][note 12][269] Arthur Vernon is also commemorated in a brasswork set into the floor of the chapel.[270]

There are three 20th century war memorials in the church. On the chancel arch are separate tablets for parish dead of the First (or 'Great') and Second World Wars. The former's is a brass plaque in a marble surround with crossed swords above a shield at the top, dedicated in glorious and undying memory of those from this parish who gave their lives in the great struggle of right against might. There is also an individual memorial plaque to Humphrey Herbert Orlando Bridgeman who during that same war went missing in action at Roeux in France on 11 May 1917, inscribed with the text from Ephesians: This is a great mystery.[271][note 13]