This fine cast-iron ledger can be found in the church of St Mary at Leighton, Shropshire and was almost crtainly cast at Coalbrookdale, some five miles south-east of Leighton. Cast iron ledgers are rather rare, are almost all situated in Shropshire and are usually limited to the period 1675-1725, though there is a fine early 19C coffin-shaped cast-iron ledger in the churchyard at Stokesay in that county. The inscription on the Leighton example reads:  HERE LYETH/ THE BODY OF/ WILLIAM BRO/ WNE WHOE D/ EPARTED THIS/ LIFE THE EITH/ DAY OF AVGVST/ 1696. It seems that the caster was limoited to a maximum of eleven letters per row.

by Dr. Julian Litten

Ledgerstone to William Browne, Leighton Shropshire
(c) Philip Hellin
William Browne Ledger – St. Mary’s Leighton, Shropshire (Ledger of the Month – May 2016)