Then came Henry VIII.

and his quarrel with the Church of Rome, and the abbey was confiscated and given as a grant to Sir Philip Hoby, one of his friends, who at once (being a man of the type of the Rev.Francis Gastrell) raised what money he could on it by turning it into a quarry for stones.

And that is why so many old houses in this neighbourhood have carved stones in their walls.
The party then returned to the marketplace and walked down to the bridge, where they joined Kink and set out for their goal.
Elmley Castle is one street, with a ruined cross at one end and the church at the other, and the great hill over all.

The cottages are as white as snowdrops, and they have heavy thatch roofs.

The women wear large blue Worcestershire sunbonnets.