The Ancient High House

The Ancient High House in Stafford is an imposing Elizabethan (1595) dwelling on Stafford’s high street. It is free to enter and various periods of history are exhibited, with the Staffordshire Yeomanry’s artefacts occupying the uppermost floor.

In 1643, King Charles I and Prince Rupert stayed here in the early days of the civil wars, perhaps to remind the wavering townsfolk of Stafford where their loyalties lay. It is said that Rupert demonstrated the accuracy of his new pistol by shooting the cockerel on the weather vane atop the spire of nearby St Mary’s Church. A set of mannequins representing the pair with a courtier or servant occupy one of the rooms; sadly, Charles (right) looks like he is suffering from constipation.   

By January, 1644, the Ancient High House had become a prison for higher ranking cavaliers who had been captured by the victorious parliamentarians. A man of decidedly puritan theology, I naturally prefer the side of the Parliament in our civil wars, though I do not doubt the conflict's complexities, and acknowledge that my ancestors fought on both sides. Nevertheless, the old house reminds me of this wider world. Its kings and princes hold court and rule the roost, but the time is coming when the powerful ones will be cut off, their potency gone, their dignity eroded. The greats of this world are fading away, and their followers await the dark, deep pit; only the people of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, shall prosper and flourish in the newer, better, post bellum world to come.

There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit. There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit. Ezekiel 28:29-30

A D