Guilty conscience leads to medieval tiles' return

5 hours ago

Andy GiddingsShropshire

News image — Simon White said he had always felt uneasy about taking the tiles

English Heritage A man with white hair a blue jacket and pale green shirt holding small tiles in both hands with a ruined stone building behind him — Simon White said he had always felt uneasy about taking the tiles

A man with a guilty conscience has returned a collection of medieval flood tiles to their rightful home after keeping them for 60 years in a toffee tin.

The 700-year-old decorative objects were taken from Wenlock Priory in Shropshire as souvenirs during a family holiday in 1967, English Heritage said.

They were returned after Simon White, from Hampshire, remembered visiting the area as a young boy and removing the tiles with his father.

The 68-year-old said he had felt uneasy about it ever since and, after digging the tiles out of storage and working out where they came from, he contacted English Heritage to give them back.

White was nine when he helped take the tiles and said he had to go back through family diaries to remember where they had visited.

Casting his mind back 60 years, he said: "I can still remember the day this all happened with my father 'standing guard'.

"Heaven knows what he would have said if we'd been caught."

He said the tiles, which were stored in a Thornes Toffee tin, had survived "numerous house moves and assorted family upheavals".

Ironically, the former chartered surveyor said one of his hobbies since retiring was archaeology and he joked his local society "are likely to take a dim view of this".

English Heritage Three patterned brown tiles lying in front of a collection of stones with a battered old tin behind them with the words Thornes Toffees on it — The tiles survived for six decades in an old toffee tin

Matty Cambridge, assistant curator at English Heritage, said he was thrilled to see the tiles returned and thanked White for bringing them back.

"Tiles of these designs are only known at Haughmond Abbey, Brigdnorth Friary and Wenlock Priory and would have been locally-made in Shropshire," he said.

The tiles added to the knowledge of the site, he added, and it was likely there were more tiles in the set.

Wenlock Priory was founded as an Anglo-Saxon monastery in 680 AD and English Heritage said the ruins were known for their "architectural remains and elaborate decorative features".

English Heritage Two irregular brown tiles with white patterns on them, depicting animals — English Heritage said the tiles would be cared for and recorded before being returned to the priory

Cambridge said the medieval tiles were re-laid at the priory in the early 20th Century.

They feature various designs including heraldry, floral motifs and animals and he said they were one of the highlights for visitors.

"Sadly, it is not unheard of for mementos to have been taken from historic buildings, though is it unusual in this case that the artefacts were kept so well for so long and preserved," he added.

Cambridge said he hoped the story might prick other people's consciences and lead to other items being returned.

English Heritage said, after the tiles were recorded and cared for, they would be kept at Wenlock Priory but might be moved to an archaeology store for further analysis.