A man who put tiles in old bags as a boy returns them 60 years later | An inheritance

Pieces of wood from a 15th century house that spent almost 60 years hidden in a toffee tin after being thrown into the pocket of a nine-year-old boy on a family outing have been recovered.

Three pieces of decorative clay tiles, dating from the late 1300s to the early 1400s, were taken as souvenirs by Simon White during a family visit to the village. Wenlock Priory in Shropshire in the late 1960s.

White, now 68 years old and retired, found the pieces in an old toffee tin when he was moving house and had them. English Heritage. He told the authorities that he remembers his father encouraging him to get the pieces but he was always worried and he was happy when he found them again.

He said: “I remember the day when all this happened when my father was standing. “Heaven knows what he would have done if we were caught. What happened to the tiles after that I’m not sure, but they survived many house moves and family upheaval but ended up in my attic earlier this year in a battered tin.”

With the help of family records, White discovered that he may have come from Wenlock Priory and was associated with the site’s guardians, the English. An inheritance.

Matty Cambridge, the group’s assistant director, said former experts thought White was right to say Wenlock was where the action took place. He said tiles like the ones White took were only known to exist in three places in Shropshire: Haughmond Abbey, Bridgnorth Friary and Wenlock Priory.

Cambridge added: “As Bridgnorth Friary has no tiles and was not excavated until after Simon’s expedition, and Haughmond Abbey has a fragment of tiles on the site, we can discount the tiles found at Wenlock Priory.”

Wenlock was once home to Cluniac monks, who loved to decorate its architecture. Cambridge said English Heritage was particularly pleased that one of the pieces contained an image of a dragon, which was not known at the site. He said: “That is very interesting. Another piece shows the face of a lion, or a glowing face.”

White met Cambridge at Wenlock Priory to return the pieces. “He wanted to go a little further,” Cambridge said. He was only nine years old and was told: ‘Oh, this is good, take it home.’ We are very grateful to Mr White for coming forward.

“It is not unusual for memorials to be removed from old buildings, although it is not surprising in this case that the paintings have been well preserved for a long time and preserved. These days we have very strong measures to prevent this, but if Mr White’s example hurts anyone’s conscience from years ago, we would like to hear from them.”

The tiles will not be put back on the floor but will be moved to English Heritage for further analysis.

White said that since his retirement he has become interested in archeology. “The people of the community where I have joined the group of people of the community where I have joined the community may consider this inappropriate.