[The Lady Oak: 36.jpg]



CRESSAGE


Is forty-three miles from Worcester, and eight and a half from
Shrewsbury. The name is an abbreviation of Christsache, _ache_ been the
old Saxon term for oak. The folk-lore of the district is, that the old
tree was one under which the early Christian missionaries preached, that
it stood in the centre of the village, and that upon its decay it was
supplanted by a market cross, which cross itself has disappeared. Our
engraving represents another of these venerable trees standing a quarter
of a mile from the village, known as the Lady Oak.

[The Nddel's Eye: 37.jpg]

Before the railway caused a deviation in the road, it stood by the
wayside, where it was regarded with veneration by the inhabitants, who
cramped it with iron, and propped it with blocks of wood to preserve it;
they also planted an acorn within its hollow trunk, from which, as will
be seen by our engraving, a young tree mingles its foliage with that of
the parent oak. About a mile from Cressage is Belswardine, the seat of
Sir George Harnage, an old border estate, in possession of the same
family which received it from the Conqueror. Cressage station is the
nearest and most convenient on the Severn Valley line from which to reach
the Wrekin. The distance is three miles. The road crosses the river by
an ancient wooden bridge, and at Eaton Constantine passes the house in