Lode was a Saxon term for ford, and the name here, as elsewhere, denotes
an ancient passage of the Severn. In this case, it was one by which the
inhabitants of Highley, Billingsley, and Chelmarsh formerly passed to
Quatt and Alveley. A ferry has long been substituted, but the old load
still winds along the hillside, past an old stone cross, in the direction
of Alveley, an old Saxon manor. The tall grey tower of the old church is
seen from the line, occupying a high position on the right. The building
is an ancient and interesting structure, with many Norman features, and
is greatly admired by antiquarians. Judging from the materials used in
older portions of the building, the first church would appear to have
been built of travertine. Above Hampton's Loade, the wooded heights of
Dudmaston and of Quatford, with the red towers of Quatford Castle, come
into view; but a deviation of the line, and a deep cutting through the
Knoll Sands, prevent more than a passing glimpse. _Quat_ is an old
British word for wood, and refers to a wide stretch of woodland once
included in the great Morfe Forest; and _ford_ to an adjoining passage of
the river--one, half a mile higher up, being still called _Danes' Ford_.
On a bluff headland, rising perpendicularly 100 feet above the Severn,
close by, the hardy Northerners, who thus left their name in connection
with the Severn, established themselves in 896, when driven by Alfred
from the Thames; and on the same projecting rock, defended on the land
side by a trench cut in the solid sandstone, Roger de Montgomery
afterwards built himself a house.
And tradition adds that, in consequence of a vow made by his second wife,
Adeliza, the church close by was built upon the borders of the forest,
then the favourite hunting-ground of the Norman earl. The church, like
other neighbouring structures of ancient date, was built of tuffa, or
travertine, a material found in the beds of brooks in the district, and
portions of the chancel, including its fine Norman arch and pillars, are
still composed of the same. Among old endowments of the church, is one,
from a source unknown, of a piece of land, the proceeds of which defray
the expense of ferrying persons attending church across the Severn.
The old man at the ferry is a fisherman, who knows well where to get "a
rise" of trout, or to hook a grayling, and where to look for pike, or
perch, or gudgeon.
[Perch and Gudgeon: 18.jpg]
In the parish of Quatford is Eardington, celebrated for the manufacture
of iron for guns, wire, and horse nails; and parochially and manorially
combined with Eardington is the More, the ancient tenure of which
indicates the manufacture of iron here at a very early period. By it the
tenant was required to appear yearly in the Exchequer, with a hazel rod
of a year's growth, and two knives, the treasurer and barons being
present. The tenant was to attempt to sever the rod with one of the
knives, the other knife was to do the same work at one stroke, and then
be given up to the king's chamberlain; a custom which was continued until
recently.