Simon White, now 64, took the tiles during a family trip to Wenlock Priory when he was nine. According to White, his father encouraged him to take the tiles and stood guard while he pocketed them. The tiles survived numerous house moves until White rediscovered them earlier this year in a battered Thornes Toffee tin. Using family diaries, he determined the tiles likely came from Wenlock Priory.
White contacted English Heritage and met assistant curator Matty Cambridge at Wenlock Priory to hand over the tiles. Cambridge confirmed the tiles are from Wenlock Priory based on known tile designs that only appear at three Shropshire sites: Wenlock Priory, Haughmond Abbey, and Bridgnorth Friary. "Given Bridgnorth Friary has no in situ tile and wasn't excavated until after Simon's trip, and Haughmond Abbey only has a small patch of tile still at the site, we can narrow down the tiles found to Wenlock Priory," Cambridge said. English Heritage said it is grateful and has no hard feelings about the tiles being taken. "He wanted to make a bit of a pilgrimage. There are no hard feelings. He was only nine and was told: 'Oh, this is pretty – take it home.' We are very grateful to Mr White for coming forward," Cambridge added.
One fragment features a dragon motif previously unknown at Wenlock; another shows a lion or grimacing face. Cambridge said the tiles were locally made in Shropshire. "Tiles of these designs are only known at Haughmond Abbey, Bridgnorth Friary and Wenlock Priory and would have been locally-made in Shropshire," he said.
The tiles will be moved to an archaeology store for further analysis. White, who has taken up archaeology since retirement, joked that his local archaeology society would take a dim view of his childhood souvenir. "I can remember the day this all happened with my father standing guard. Heaven knows what he would have said if we'd been caught. What happened to the tiles afterwards I'm not really sure, but they survived numerous house moves and assorted family upheavals only to turn up in my loft earlier this year in a battered tin," White said.
Cambridge stated it is likely there are more tiles from the same set still to be found. "It's not unheard of for mementos to have been taken from historic buildings, though it is unusual in this case that the artefacts were kept so well for so long and preserved. Nowadays we have far more stringent measures in place to prevent it, but if Mr White's example pricks anyone else's conscience from years ago, we'd love to hear from them," he said. It remains unclear what specific archaeological insights the tiles will provide, whether they will be publicly displayed after analysis, or if other similar artifacts from Wenlock Priory remain in private hands.