Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/290

 to the blessed Virgin, which has for some ages been the burial place of the Cloptons, a family that receives its name from a manor about one mile and half from Stratford. This was granted by Peter de Montford to James de Clopton, in the reign of Henry VIII. since when it has been enjoyed by the lineal descendants of the original possessor to the present time.

The memory of some of these worthies is still held in respect by Stratford, for instances of their munificence towards the town. To Sir Hugh Clopton, who lived in the latter end of the 15th century, it is indebted for the remarkable bridge and causeway over the Avon, which stretch three hundred and eighty yards, and connect the town with the opposite side of the river by nineteen arches. The remains of this knight were deposited in the city of London, where he had been lord-mayor, and for which he had always a strong predeliction; but a great many of his successors found their last home in the church of Stratford. These, however, did not long detain us from the monument of Shakespeare, which is fixed in the north wall of the chancel, and consists of an ornamented arch, forming a recess, within which is placed the half-length bust of the poet, holding a pen in his right hand and a scroll in his left. At present the whole of the