Stella Pates, a graduate of London University, read English Language and Literature (including Anglo-Saxon and Middle English) at Westfield College, now Queen Mary and Westfield, where she first developed her life-long enthusiasm for Piers Plowman.

The Author lived for many years in Ottery St Mary, Devon, and now lives in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. She has spent much time studying local history: this book is one of the results of her investigations.

Other papers she has written in connection with the study of Piers Plowman include the paper reproduced on this website on The Prophecy in Piers Plowman and the Black Death.