The Halston chapel where Mad Jack Mytton is buried gets its historic Hatchments restored.

Shropshire Star

Watch The Halston chapel where Mad Jack Mytton is buried gets its historic Hatchments restored. - Shropshire Star on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00So we're here at Halston Hall and we're in the chapel and we're with Rupert. Hello sir.

00:05Hello.

00:06Rupert, you've had a bit of works going on in here. It's a lovely old building.

00:11First of all, I guess we should say, tell us a little bit about this building. What do we know? Kind of how old is it?

00:16Well, we had the time team group coming over a couple of years ago and historically everyone believes it's mid-1500s

00:24but they found there's an entrance over there in the stone behind the panelling and they think it might even be 1300-1400.

00:33On the site we had the Hospitallers that goes back to 1150 odd and this whole area was Hospitallers

00:45and it was one of those very wealthy institutions and then in the 1500s when Henry VIII did his bit

00:51in, I think it was 1535, they dissolved the preceptory here and for a few years it was an interregnum

01:01and then, give or take, the 1540-1550 around there, the Mitten family bought the estate

01:09and the Mitten family have been here ever since and during this period, this chapel and where it was built on

01:17was combined into the chapel that we see today.

01:21So you haven't got any family links to the Mitten family, have you?

01:25We have no family. The family purchased the estate in 1922.

01:33My great-grandmother, Mrs. Eccles as she's known, and her husband Joseph Eccles,

01:40they came down from Preston and obviously found Tropshire to their liking.

01:47Yeah, yeah, and why not? So what are the plans for the chapel here? I understand there's a friends

01:52group been recently set up, is that right?

01:54That's right. What I've done with Harriet and a few friends, we've created a trust, well it's a charity,

02:04called the Friends of Halston Chapel. The aim of the charity is to restore, renovate and allow worship,

02:16or should we say reintroduce worship in the chapel, as well as allow access to the chapel

02:21and obviously ensure education to those that are interested. We've had, for example, a primary school,

02:29Whittington Primary School, they've come and visit and hopefully, well hopefully we're going to have

02:35every quarter of service here, which we hope the public will come to and enjoy the chapel.

02:43One of the things we always do is a carol service, which if you look around you can see the candle

02:48holders and it's always done by candlelight. So that must be magical. Yeah, so part of that process

02:55of restoration is the hatchments, which we see up there on the wall. Now I didn't know until an hour

03:02ago what a hatchment was, but I'm a little bit, I'm a little bit wiser now. Just if people like me

03:08don't know, it's nothing to do with chickens and birds, as I thought it might be. What is a hatchment?

03:15Well the hatchments really is a family coat of arms when an individual dies. You'll see them all in

03:23cathedrals, churches, there must be some in the abbey in Shrewsbury, where either the wife or the owner,

03:33I mean years gone by tend to be men, and they'd have their coat of arms and each death of the family

03:42owner at the time would have his or her own coat of arms put up. And these hatchments,

03:49some of these hatchments that you can see are all the Mitten family. Yeah. And as a result,

03:55from a historical perspective, it's very important to Shropshire. Yeah. And part of the research we've

04:01done does indicate that they are one of the best groupings of hatchments on one single family in

04:09Shropshire. Wow. And they're not in the greatest of state. Yeah. So they do need repair, which we are

04:16using hopefully the funds that we can raise from those that visit and those that are interested

04:23to repair and restore these hatchments. So how many hatchments do you have here

04:28in the chapel when they're kind of all in place roughly? We all have a total of seven. We're missing

04:33four, which we've given to a restorer to repair, who's very local, and she's got a very good history of

04:43restoration of hatchments. And we're very hopeful that there will be coming back in renewed vigour,

04:51shall we say, for people to enjoy. Now, perhaps a slightly morbid question. When the final day comes

04:58for yourself, would you like to see a hatchment made for yourself? I think those days have long gone.

05:05And I don't think... I've added it to my shopping list. I've got a hatchment now. No, it would be quite fun,

05:11but sadly, it's... I don't think it's the modern way that it is. Yeah. And a lot of people know the

05:17Mitten family from Jack, Mad Jack, as he was known. Did he have a hatchment made? Yes, I believe he did.

05:23He was... he was probably the second last one. I think his wife, Harriet, I believe, has one as well. But one of the...

05:32one of his hatchments of... there's three here that, as you can see, there are spaces where there were

05:39hatchments, and they've gone to be repaired. So, yes, he has. He's buried here in the crypt below the chapel?

05:47I don't worry. Down below. Where the dog is. Oh, yeah. Fantastic. Which has been opened,

05:55but obviously in today's world, we've, for various reasons, made sure that it's closed now. Yeah.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended