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Even though Charles II had decided to make for London, they were forced to flee northwards, and together with a guide, Charles Giffard, they made their way into what is now the Telford area, and this is where I decided to take up the trail and follow in the footsteps of His Royal Highness King Charles II. Now, with me trying to retrace his path some 335 years later, things had obviously changed. Housing estates, developments, in fact a complete new town had sprouted up and consequently his exact route was hard to follow. mmm Charles and his group were heading for a house called Boscobel, as their guide was related to the owner. However, it was to a former Priory called White Ladies that Charles and his party were initially taken. It was explained in this way.
"Upon further consideration by His Majesty and council, and to the end of the company might not know whither His Majesty directly intended, Mr Giffard was required to conduct His Majesty to some house near Boscobel, the better to blind the design of going thither. Mr Giffard proposed White Ladies, lying about half a mile beyond Boscobel."
It was thought far too dangerous for a large number of people to know Charles' actual hiding place and so to White Ladies they went. mmm I made my way down a leafy, narrow and overgrown lane which was full of potholes, in turn full of water, and found the Priory of White Ladies, which is now in ruin. mmm In reality, the Priory was dissolved over a hundred years before Charles' arrival but the Priory buildings had been turned into houses. It had been an Augustinian Priory dedicated to St. Leonard. The name refers to the wearing of undyed habits which distinguished St. Leonards from a Benedictine nunnery in the area known as Black Ladies. mmm For a moment, as I stood by the gate looking across the lawns surrounding the ruins, I heard a light wind whispering through the trees behind me and I imagined I could hear horses hooves, the jingle of harness and the riders' anxious voices as the company approached the house.
Charles and his group were let into White Ladies by a servant called George Penderel. Penderel had four brothers and it was this family that would figure prominently in the events of the next few days. Here. Charles changed into 'a pair of ordinary grey cloth breeches, a leather doublet and green jerkin'. His hair was cut short and his face darkened with soot. The rest of the party then left, but, unknown to the others, Charles had sent Lord Wilmot on a secret mission and that was to see if a route to London was possible. One of the Penderel brothers, called Richard, soon arrived at White Ladies and together with the King they set out on foot and hid in a wood nearby known as Spring Coppice.
'In this wood I stayed all day without meat or drink and by great fortune it rained all the time which hindered them, as I believe, from coming into the wood to search for men that might be fled there.'
Although Charles claims not to have had any food or water during the day it is now widely believed that he did.