Woolly says – With Jo having limited time off and in the interests of catching up with friends and family who we haven’t seen since the first lockdown, I had decided that blogging days had to be combined, with this in mind I knew just the person who would enjoy a wander round an abbey.
Mick was one of Jo’s longest standing friends and had accompanied us on our trip to Ireland a few years ago and once messaged he was delighted to join us at Wenlock Priory.
We have driven through the town of Much Wenlock many many times which had included stopping to look at the Priory only to find that it was closed, today was finally the day to see what this small town had to offer. I delighted to see that Mick had already arrived as we pulled into the parking area and having exchanged bits of news, I hurried the humans and Alfie the Dog into the shop to show our tickets we many could start to look round.
Merewalh, King of the Magonsaete founded the original Anglo-Saxon monastery here circa 680 and Merewalh’s daughter quickly became its abbess, and was later canonised. After her death around 727, however, little is historically known of the monastery until just prior to the Norman Conquest. The priory was inhabited by monks until after the Norman conquest and in the 12th century was replaced by a Cluniac priory for men. Just after 1200 Prior Humbert obtained various grants from King Henry III, an occasional guest at the Priory, who imported his own wines to be stored there. The grants enabled the building of a newer, larger church so by the early 14th century, the priory church was lavishly and completely rebuilt.
The first view as we turned the corner onto the grounds was stunning, large walls and pillars stood without glass nor ornament, stark but beautiful, reminding me of a long ago visit to Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire which was the setting for the book Dracula.
The bases of columns gave us a good indication of how the building was shaped, to the right of us were the walls of the infirmary with the church standing in the middle and the cloisters to the right.
Peering upwards I could see the passages on what had once been the second floor and how narrow they would have been. Once the many arches would have been adorned with stained glass and must have been stunning to look at.
We wandered under one of the arches passing the immense columns that had stood here for so many years. Small nooks and crannies where crosses and pictures of religious figures would have once stood made for a great photo opportunity.
While Jo and Mick paused for a break and continued to catch up on news, I wandered towards the outer wall allowing me to look at the impressive ruins from another angle.
Alfie the Dog led the way into the chapter house and the beautiful decoration that still lined the walls, it must have been incredible in it’s prime.
Across the grass lay the bath which the Monks would have once washed in, I hoped for there sake it had had a roof at the time otherwise they would have frozen to death in the winter months.
A number of large bushes caught my attention, once they would have been a topiary delight but it appeared that their upkeep had been left for a while. We moved into the old refectory with it’s arched ceilings and far fewer windows it must have been quite dark to use even on the brightest of days.
Having competed the ruins, we wished Mick goodbye and set off on the second part of the day, a look round the pretty town of Much Wenlock itself.
Much Wenlock is the chief town of the ancient borough of Wenlock. “Much” was added to distinguish it from the nearby Little Wenlock and to show it is the larger of the two settlements. The name Wenlock comes from the Celtic name Wininicas, meaning “white area” (in reference to the limestone of Wenlock Edge), plus the Old English loca, meaning “enclosed place” and dates back to the Domesday Book. Given that we are not far from Wroxcester Roman City I would have thought that the Romans had probably occupied the area at one point as well.
We set off into the town passing small cottages covered in roses and Tudor buildings and the original police station before reaching Holy Trinity Church, an Anglican parish church.
The first church on this site was built in Anglo-Saxon times with the present church dating from 1150 and was built by the Cluniac monks from Wenlock Priory. A rather nice Norman tower stood next to a long rather plain building as was the style of the times.
Crossing the road, we found the towns War Memorial with its fancy gold topping it suited it’s surrounding well. The Old Guildhall with its timber beamed frontage was most impressive and I rather liked the small museum that sadly we didn’t have time for today.
I came to an abrupt holt as I spotted something I had been looking out for, a small circular disk on the pavement which told me that I had arrived in the place where the Olympic games had been held. Did you know that Wenlock was the forerunner of the modern Olympic games? No, I didn’t think so.
On 25 February 1850 the Wenlock Agricultural Reading Society (WARS) decided to establish a class called The Olympian Class – “for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of outdoor recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in athletic exercise and proficiency in intellectual and industrial attainments”. The secretary of the class and driving force behind the Olympian Games was Dr William Penny Brookes who was inspired to create these events through his work as a doctor and surgeon in the sprawling borough of Wenlock which consisted of Madeley, Broseley and Much Wenlock. The first meeting was held at Much Wenlock racecourse on 22nd and 23rd October 1850.
The first Games were a mixture of athletics and traditional country sports such as quoits, football and cricket. Events also included running, hurdles, football and cycling on penny farthings. Some of the early Games included “fun events” as the blindfolded wheelbarrow race and, one year an ‘Old Women’s Race’ with the prize of a pound of tea. During the 2012 British Olympics they had been honoured with the flair passing through the town and the Olympic mascot being named after it. The Wenlock Olympic games still take place today.
Our walk continued past another timber clad building with a very old collection box for the RSPCA and further rows of tiny cottages which even Jo would have had to duck down to get into. Ashfield Hall looked well kept and rather pretty with its timber and stone work combination.
We arrived at our final destination, a rather nice pub with a beer garden to sit in while we waited for the arrival of Zoe and boyfriend Tim to join us for lunch, and for the start of a huge adventure for myself as I left Jo for a couple of weeks to become a travel presenter for Zoe’s Rainbow group, I was fully prepared with my backpack and interesting tales of life on the road along with some autographed pictures for them to remember me by I just hoped that Jo would be safe on her own without me!