“Mising saints remains lead to Shropshire”
Soulton Hall is featured in local papers in London, with recent coverage discussing a centuries-old historical mystery connecting thus Shropshire estate to an early nation builder and father of England.
“Mising saints remains lead to Shropshire”
The August 31, 2026 articles explores art historian James D Wenn’s theory that the missing remains of St Erkenwald—the seventh-century Bishop of London, nation builder, and father of England whose shrine vanished from St Paul’s Cathedral during the English Reformation—were secretly preserved and brought here.
“A centuries-old mystery involving an Anglo-Saxon saint, a Tudor Lord Mayor of London and a country house in Shropshire has been revived by an art historian who believes the three may be connected.”
Reflecting on the enduring legacy of this foundational figure, Peter Ackroyd notes that:
“we may still name him as the patron saint of London, [his]… cult survived for over eight hundred years, before entering the temporary darkness of the last four centuries”.
The press coverage details how Rowland Hill, the Tudor Lord Mayor of London, protected these artefacts despite his Protestant faith.
It also highlights the hypothesis about a large stone block at Soulton Hall potentially being an altar stone from St Paul’s.
“Wenn has called for the underside of the stone to be examined, arguing it could contain evidence of its origins. He has also suggested the stone may have been placed upside down to hide what it was.”
