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 Perhaps the best-known event in Madeley’s proud history is the occasion on which the future Charles II spent a night in ‘King Charles’ Barn’, at Upper House, during his escape after the battle of Worcester in 1651. Charles later dictated the story of his escape to Samuel Pepys who published the full account in his Diaries. After the Restoration, a grateful king rewarded his protector, Francis Wolfe, with a set of silver plate and an inscribed silver tankard. The fate of the set of plate remains unknown but the tankard was sold, first to the Reynolds family then ‘to a Liverpool merchant’ during the 19th century, and its subsequent whereabouts seemed untraceable. For a long time an illustration of the tankard apparently hung in Upper House but that, too, is now long gone.
I have been trying to trace the tankard for several years but thought I had hit a dead end. However, some months ago I spent a day in Shropshire Archives in pursuit of unrelated information. Clearing my enquiries earlier than expected I went through the Madeley card index and noticed that a file covering the Wolfe family had previously escaped my attention. The file contained correspondence, dating from the 1950s, with a member of the family who had been trying to trace the tankard and it also referred to two publications which made reference to the tankard.
I obtained one of the publications and was pleased to see an illustration of the tankard but even more pleased to read a note to the effect that, when the tankard was sold, a solid silver replica had been made and presented to the Society of Antiquaries of London. Now, this is an organisation with which I am very familiar and I knew that they would never throw anything away. I emailed the Society (the ‘Antiques’ as they are known in the archaeological world) and received a reply by return with the news that they did indeed have the replica which I would be welcome to go and inspect and – by the way – did I know the original had turned up and been acquired by a branch of the Wolfe family in the 1990s?
The upshot was that I went to London and saw and photographed the replica. On my behalf the Society of Antiquaries are writing to the family to ask if I might visit them and photograph the original and learn about its more recent history. The Society also owned some early photographs and drawings of Upper House and the barn which they have copied for me.
While in London I asked whether there might be a possibility that the replica tankard could be returned, on loan, to this area so local people could see it. The Society will only lend objects in its collection to registered museums but told me that, if I could find a local museum willing to display the piece, there should be no problem in arranging a temporary loan for an initial period of up to two years.
Following my visit I opened discussions with Sophie Heath, curator of the Coalport China Museum (which is situated at a spot close to where Charles made a failed attempt to cross the Severn) and we agreed that the tankard would provide an excellent focus for a temporary display at the Museum. Negotiations were set in hand with the Society of Antiquaries and a loan has now been agreed. The tankard will be coming to Telford in September this year and the exhibition will be launched on Tuesday, 16th September with a special reception at the Museum. After all, the story of Charles in the oak tree at Boscobel is known all over England but how many people outside Madeley know about his night in our barn?
Shelagh Lewis
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