John Audelay was a noted 15th-century writer who resided at Haughmond. Audelay, a blind and deaf poet, was not an Augustinian canon but the first secular priest to serve in the Lestrange chantry. His accession date, 1426, is noted in a colophon of a manuscript of his work and he signs off several poems with a self-description: "" It is known that Audelay had some involvement in disturbances at the church of St Dunstan-in-the-East in London at Easter 1417, in which his employer, Richard le Strange, 7th Baron Strange (1381–1449), and his entourage assaulted Sir John Trussell, on the second occasion killing a by-stander. Formerly regarded as little more than samples of the contemporary Shropshire Middle English dialect, Audelay's poems give considerable insight into the spiritual concerns of the age. Most reflect on the value of points of Christian doctrine or liturgy. His defence of the mass, for example, is clearly shaped by his own daily concerns as a chaplain. Pursuing his exposition, he brings in an example from the life of Augustine of Canterbury. The themes, which are strongly anti-Lollard, and the strategies of argument and exposition, are reminiscent of the work of his older contemporary, John Mirk, a canon of nearby Lilleshall. Like Mirk, Audelay seems very aware of the distinction between internal criticism, however trenchant, and heretical dissent. He drew a clear distinction between the work of conscientious priests and the conduct of worldly clerics. His strong emphasis on respect for the divine service may reflect his own sense of responsibility for the events of 1417. Occasionally he comments on topical concerns, as in a poem on Henry V's wooing of Catherine of Valois or another on the succession of Henry VI.