Does anyone know the history of tong church ,shropshire and the castle ,no longer in existance ?

i`m interested in the history of st .bartholomew`s church (tong church) and also any thing about tong castle, how old it was , what happened to it as most of the site is now under the m54 (hope thats right) and who lived or owned the castle . was it destroyed , beseiged, or simply left to fall into ruin ? thanks ,sue|||Tong S.Bartholomew


Built: 1410


Architect: Carol Thickins





The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Lichfield, value £83. The church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, originally belonged to the Abbey of Shrewsbury, but was purchased in 1410, and almost rebuilt by Isabel, relict of Sir Fulk Pembridge, who made it collegiate. The edifice is old, with a tower and six bells, independent of the great bell of Tongs, which was destroyed during the civil wars, but was recast in 1720, and lasted till 1848, when it cracked while tolling for divine service. The church has a groined roof, 8 stalls, a carved screen, several stained windows, a chantry chapel, and tombs of the Vernons and Pembridges, among which is the brass of Sir William Vernon, bearing date 1467.





The parochial charities produce about £174 per annum, of which £45 belong to Harris and Pierrepont school, £5 to Sunday-schools, and £24 to almshouses. The principal residence is Tonge Castle, erected on the site of the old castle by George Durant, Esq., in the last century, which contains many valuable pictures and cabinets. The mansion has been recently purchased, together with the estate of Captain Durant, by the Earl of Bradford, who is lord of the manor and chief landowner."








[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)


Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]





WHEN THE former Dean of Worcester, Robert Jeffery, was Vicar of Tong in Shropshire, he found the existing History of Tong and Boscobel to be “a rather strange and bitty book . . . not very well organised”. More than 20 years later, he has completed his own well-researched version.








He mentions in passing The Voices of Morebath, Eamon Duffy’s book about a Devon village at the time of the Reformation. Surprisingly, the Tong book also tells us much about English life, but over a much longer period, and reaches out beyond Shropshire. You do not have to be familiar with Morebath or Tong to enjoy either book.








Robert Jeffery is fortunate in finding so many interesting characters. Even one of his more recent predecessors was famous for having bowled out W. G. Grace for a duck. Tong Castle was the home of Henry Vernon, who witnessed Prince Arthur’s marriage contract with Catherine of Aragon. Two hundred years later, one of her books was found, uncatalogued, in the Castle library.








In 1756, a guest at the Castle gave birth unexpectedly to a girl whom we now know as Mrs Fitzherbert, the secret wife of the Prince Regent.








The most interesting castle resident was George Durant, who had 20 children by two wives, and yet others by the maids. One son, who invented Sweep’s Patent Chimney Brushes, was called Anguish after his mother’s sufferings at his birth.








Durant attended church on Sundays, sitting in a chantry that he had turned into his family pew. Halfway through matins, a servant with a tray would carry his lunch down the nave to his seat. He improved the Castle grounds with such features as an iron seat called St Swithun’s chair, which triggered a shower of water whenever anyone sat on it. The lodge was rebranded Convent Lodge, and had a gatekeeper dressed as a nun.