Tong is a delightful village, whose fascination soon gets a hold on those who come to live in it - even on those who come as visitors. One resident was The Reverend John Ernest Auden, Vicar from 1896-1913. He took a deep interest in the history of his parish, and his notebooks provide much information about Tong and its people from the fourteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. His notes make it clear that although Tong is a small village there was once a large castle, some of whose inhabitants were nationally famous. Even today these monuments in the church of former Lords of Tong form one of the finest collections in any English Church. Auden also draws out the village connections with such eminent people as Shakespeare and Dickens, as well as telling us about the more 'ordinary' people of Tong.