Sixty Years Ago, a Boy Took Medieval Tiles From an English Monastery. He Has Just Returned the Stolen Keepsakes.
A sinister visage and an elegant dragon embellish the shattered clay tiles dating back to the late 13th or early 14th century. These were discovered hidden in an old toffee tin.
The shattered clay tiles were stored in a toffee tin for almost sixty years.
English Heritage
In the 1960s, nine-year-old Simon White explored a medieval English monastery with his family. Motivated by his father, White managed to lift some of the historic site’s 700-year-old floor tiles to keep as mementos. At home, he placed them inside an old toffee tin for safekeeping. There, the tiles remained, forgotten, for nearly six decades.
Recently, White—now 68—was organizing his belongings when he stumbled upon the tin. Initially, he couldn’t recall the origins of the red clay tile shards, decorated with a grotesque face and a dragon.
“Luckily, my mother maintained very thorough diaries written in delicate, spindly script,” White tells ITV News’ Mark Gough. “So I revisited them … and pinpointed a day in 1967, a summer day, when we visited Wenlock Priory. I thought, ‘This must be the best guess.’”
Simon White and his father, Clifford White, at an unidentified location in 1967 Simon White
Situated in the West Midlands county of Shropshire, the priory was established more than 1,300 years ago as an Anglo-Saxon monastery, later refounded in the 11th century as a Cluniac monastery. It was among many historic places that White’s parents brought him to during his formative years.
“Back then, of course, there was no visitor center or CCTV, and you could roam around these sites freely, without charge,” White tells the Telegraph. “[My father] literally stood over me while encouraging me to take these tiles; I took three of them—which, looking back, was a terrible act.”
Upon rediscovering the tiles and their origins, White reached out to English Heritage, the charity managing Wenlock Priory and other historical locales across the nation. Matty Cambridge, an assistant curator at English Heritage, stated that the organization is “excited to witness the safe return of these historical pieces.”
“Tiles featuring these designs are only recognized at Haughmond Abbey, Bridgnorth Friary and Wenlock Priory and would have been produced locally in Shropshire,” Cambridge explains. “Since Bridgnorth Friary has no intact tile and was excavated after Simon’s visit … and Haughmond Abbey only has a small patch of tile remaining at the site, we can attribute the tiles found by Mr. White to Wenlock Priory.”
Simon White and Matty Cambridge, an assistant curator at English Heritage, at Wenlock Priory English Heritage
The history of the site dates back to the late seventh century C.E., when it was founded by Merewalh, the ruler of Magonsaete. Magonsaete was a subkingdom of Mercia, one of the most formidable kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. For centuries, Wenlock hosted a “dual house,” accommodating both nuns and monks. Among its abbesses was princess Milburga, the daughter of Merewalh, who was later venerated as a saint.
In 1066, William the Conqueror of Normandy, France, invaded England and defeated its king, Harold Godwinson. This initiated the Norman Conquest, a crucial era in English history characterized by rising French influence—which impacted Wenlock. Monks from La Charité-sur-Loire, France, came to Shropshire, transforming the priory into a Cluniac monastery. Favoring ornate decoration, the monks replaced the Anglo-Saxon church with a grand new abbey constructed between 1225 and 1260.
English Heritage assistant curator Matty Cambridge inspecting the tiled floor English Heritage
Did you know? The Dissolution of the monasteries
From 1536 to 1540, Henry VIII seized control of England’s monasteries, abbeys, and religious establishments to acquire their substantial wealth and land and to assert the authority of his new Church of England. Wenlock Priory capitulated to the crown in 1540.
White’s tiles are remnants of the floor of this 13th-century church and library, which now stands in fragmented ruins. In the 20th century, conservators restored its floor and left some tiles loose, allowing White to collect some broken ones in the 1960s, as reported by ITV News’ Stacey Foster.
The tiles White has returned are significant not only for their history. The dragon piece is particularly unique: Cambridge notes that researchers have not identified that motif elsewhere in Wenlock’s flooring. Furthermore, due to their prolonged storage in a toffee tin, these artifacts are in remarkably good condition.
“It’s wonderful to be able to hold them and truly appreciate the intricate details, as they are beautifully preserved,” Cambridge tells ITV’s Gough. “Especially in contrast to some of the ones on the pavement here, which have clearly been walked on and exposed to the elements.”
The tile flooring was laid in the late 13th or early 14th century. English Heritage
White expressed his “absolute delight” in returning the medieval tiles. According to his statement, they will be housed at Wenlock Priory and may undergo further examination by English Heritage archaeology researchers.
“The delicious irony of this situation is that, now in retirement, one of my hobbies is archaeology, and the local society I’ve joined will likely view this unfavorably!” White remarks in his statement. “So, after almost sixty years, it is only fitting and proper that the tiles make their way back home.”