L U D LO W

T w n a nd N i h u r h o e g b o OO d .

A SERIES OF SKE TCH ES OF I TS SCEN ER Y .

” N TI UI TIES GEOL OG Y ETC D RA WN é; D ESCRIB E D Q , , E A N D IN IN P N K .

OL IV ER BAKER ,

T HE O L So c i ET Y OF PA IN T E R - ET CH E R S L ON N R YA ( DO ) ,

MEMBER OF T HE RO Y A L SOC IET Y OF A R TIS T S (BIRMING H A M)

WIT H IL L UST RA TION S IN FA G- SIMIL E

FR OM S KE TCH ES B Y TH E A U TH OR .

Th i rd Edition .

HAL L O L N N IMPK IN M AR S dc C . O DO : S ,

LU D LOW

W L L EY 2 B U L L I N G . G . O O , 4 , R

1 06 9 .

"AL L RIG H TS R ES ER V ED . "

’ AUTHOR S PREFACE TO 1 888 ED ITION .

’ ME SO few years ago , whilst making additions to Wright s l Lud ow Guide for Mr . Woolley , I undertook at his request to write and illustrate a more ambitious work , which has eventually taken the shape Of the present volume . Of Its general plan was adopted , for the sake brevity and to avoid the tedi ous repetitions to which topographi cal l books are so liable . The purely historica portion has been

l as . only slightly treated , for severa re ons The documents wh ich would have been essential to a serious historical treatise are bulky and numerous it would have been easy to fill the book , or a much larger one , with deeds , charters , ’ and churchwardens accounts ; but apart from the d iffi culti es as to space , they would have been to some extent out of place in a popular work . Many of these have been already published , and I have met people who collected — them but never anyone who read them . h There was not much room , therefore , for original researc Of in the historical branch the subj ect , except where it was Of possible , by the examination existing buildings , to throw n Of Bromfield light o their past , as for instance in the case

Priory , in which important events at and subsequent to the

Reformation are traced from the existing remains , appar m ently for the first ti e . This was a field which had remained m co paratively untouched . I regret that in the case of the Guild College , I discovered the most interesting remains too late to insert more than a very slight notice Of them . The large fourteenth - century window at the back of Church

Street (which has low transoms and wooden shutters , showing it to be domestic work) would have been worth describing in detail .

8 8 4 376 u In conclusion , I have to ask the ind lgence of those who — m a y think the point of view I have taken that of the e —a n n sketcher and the arch ologist u practical one . It is Th e n ot . so in reality fact is , that stronger language than mine might be used in condemnation of the heedless vandalism which in some cases is robbing us of our lawful heritage . This is sometimes done by people who h u n n ave no exc se for not k owi g better , under the plea of ” i restoration , which often amounts to actual rebu lding . I have to acknowledge kind und valuable help from man y friends who showed an interest in the work I under

E . took ; and especially to Miss Smith of Ludford , Mr .

E . . . dwin Smith , and the late R K Penson , Esq , my thanks k a re due ; also to the Rev . J . D . La Touche for loo ing o ver the geological chapter .

E GBA T N I 8 SS. D S O , ’ U BL I ER P P SH S REFACE To 1 906 ED ITION .

The aim of this work is to present in a popular and readable shape an accurate account of the Ludlow district , and of the obj ects of historica l interest with which i t abounds .

hi s . B In entrusting it to Mr Oliver aker , I felt that a artistic and arch eological qualifications , and his intimate i o f acquaintance with the local ty, well fit him for the task dealing with a neighbourhood whose cla im to attention i ts rests so completely on scenery and antiquities .

The Pictorial Illustrations form an important feature , - for Mr . Baker having made sixty seven spe cial Sketches - l th e them , which have been reproduced in fac simi e by - E eminent process engravers , the Typographic tching Com pany , of London If it reveals the rich mine Of good things that

Ludlow and its Neighbourhood is to the Antiquary ,

Artist , Amateur Photographer , Naturalist , Geologist , Lover ” Of r Nature , and the j aded man of business , in far wide circles than hitherto , my ambition and aim in publishing this volume describing in black - and-white one of th e most interesting and picturesque towns and localities i n

E wi . ngland , ll find ample reward

1 888 The 4to Subscription edition published in , and the 8 vo 1 88 m edition of 9, have been out of print for so e m time . To eet the demand for copies by the public , Of 1 88 I have reprinted the edition 9, with all the original illustrations . I heartily thank the Press and the Public in for so kindly receiving the previous editions , and trust this more handy size it will still enjoy the appreciation o f the touring public .

C R E ST . O V , LUDLOW,

1 06. August , 9 CO N T EN T S .

AG P E . H P ER I C A T .

I NT RODUCT ORY

H P ER II C A T .

THE T IT X A H T CAS LE 2 S E T ERIOR ND IS ORY. — — — — First Aspect Ou ter Walls Sally - port B eacon Tower Ex — — — ’ t ern al Walks Gat eway Its Origin Leland s Accoun t of — — ‘ ’ th e Fi t zwari ne R omance Its Cast ellan s Th e Baron s W a r — — Its Occu pation by th e Mortimers B y R ichard Plan tage ne t— e h L — E r IV t e n n R e e . Sack d by a castria s stor d by dwa d _ - — — Pri nce Arthu r Co u rt of Marches Th e Lords Presid e n t “ — — Comu s H u dibras Parliamen tary Siege D ecay

HAP ER III C T .

T H E T I N ERIOR OF T CAS LE .

— — ' — T h e O u t er Ward Barracks Mortimer s Tower Bridge a nd — — — I nner Gat e Th e I nner VVa rd Norman K eep O ther Nor — — ’ — ma n ork R ou nd Chapel Prince Arthu r s R oom Great —W H all S tate Apartmen ts

HAP ER IV C T .

TH E I H H PAR SH C URC . — — — Its Sit u ation Sou th Sid e First I mpre ssion Scen e fr om — — — Ch u rchyard Its History I n terior He xagonal Porch — — — — N ave Arcad e s Aisl e s R ood Loft Collegiat e Stalls — - — — Miserere Carvings Th e Lady Chape l It s Screen Th e ’ n — n e — Its ee n a nd n — n i en Fo t St . Joh s Chap l Scr Fitti gs A c t — — — — — Glass Th e Ch ance l Vestry S edili a R eredos Treas u re — Chamber Monu men ts

HAP ER C T V .

T H T W E O N . — — R emai ns of th e Monasteri es Th e College Th e Grammar School — — — Barnaby Hou se D i nham Chapel Th e Town Wall — — — Broad Gat e Gaol B u tter Cross Corporation Maces — — Civic B u ildings D omestic Architect u re Almshou ses Th e M u seu m ii .

H P ER V I C A T .

LUDFORD . — — — ge Village Chu rch Monu men ts to th e Foxes ’ n —Lu H u e—St Gi leS s A m u e Charlto s dford o s . l sho s Whi tcli fi

R V II CHAPT E .

N ING I T I T SURROU D D S R C . Introd u ctory

H P ER C A T VI I I .

’ W T H T ALK o RIC ARD S CAS LE .

’ — — — — H u ck s Barn Overton S u nny Gu tter Moor Park H aye — — — ’ Woods B a tch co t t Th e Castle Mou nd a nd R u ins Clark s — — — Accou n t Chu rch Bone y W ell Cou rt H ou se a nd D ove cot e

H P ER IX C A T .

W LK T o B FI L T H GH O AK L Y . A ROM E D , ROU PARK

— ’ — — V iews of Castle Prior s H alton Oa kly Park B ro mfield — — — Bridge Priory Village B u rw a y

H P ER C A T X .

W R N F W F E RI’ ‘ ON E TC LK T o O EL TO T H GH H O O F . A , ROU AS ORD , , — — — — O verton Lodge Ashford H all Mill Ashford Carbonell Ash — — — — —ford Bowdler Woofferton Comberton Orle ton Cou rt Chu rch

H P ER X I C A T .

W T T N ALK O S EVE T ON .

T h e R e - e—F e— e en n iv r sid old Gat S t v to .

HAP ER X II C T .

I T H GH WIG L IN T WA IN W N T N ETC D R VE ROU MORE , E RD E , DO O , . — ary Knowl Comu s Vall ey ( S unny G u tt er) — — — — Pipe Aston Elton Le in thall S tarke s Wigmore - — — — Ch u rch Castl e Th e Mortim ers Abbe y Lein twardine — - - - — D own ton o n th e R ock Limestone Gorge D own ton Castl e -Clu ngu nford H P ER C A T XI I I .

D I TH G H W IG TO A T KI NG L N ETC R VE ROU MORE YMES REY , S A D , . — — — W i gmore Hall D eed o ld For w t Le in thall Earles Croft — — — ’ Amb re Gatle y Park Aymestrey Mor ti rn er s Cross y — — Shobdon Cou rt Priory Village Kingsla nd Eyton — — — — Y arpole Lu cton Croft Castle Chu rch Bircher I Io

H P ER X V C A T I .

H H ST B H B W D I T G T K . IL G To N L R VE ROU S O E M OROU RO C EE , E R N E E T ITT STO , T C . — — — — R ock Green D od mor e Middle ton Crow Leasowe Ascen t Ti t er t n —Th e — t u — of t s o e Moor S toke S . Milboro gh Cold — — — — W eston Brown Clee Bouldon H e ath Cha pel Pea ton — — Corfh a m Castle S u tton 1 2 1

H P ER C A T XV .

I T H GH AL DR VE ROU CORVE D E . — — Corve Bri dge Site of Norman Ch ap el T umu li on Old field — — — — S tan ton La cy Saxon Work Chu rchyard Tornb s V il

— - — — — la ge Manor hou se Th e Lacys Cu lmington B lsi ch —H e c — u n — e Mi lli ch o e I 2 D elb u r & . U y olgat , M slow pp r p 9

H P ER XV I C A T .

D I TH GH H A N H WH ITT N W H I TT N T ETC . R VE ROU AS FORD , C Y AM , O , O COUR , — — — — Ashford Hou se Cayn ham Cou rt Camp Church Whi tton — — — — —Cour t Wh itton Chapel H ope Bagot Bitterley Chu rch H enley H all

H P ER C A T XVI I .

A W X TO T A R IL AY E CURSION S OKES Y . — — — Ri ver Onu y Onibu ry Craven Am s N ewton4 tokesa — — y Castl e Its History Stokesay Chu rch 1 44

H P ER C A T XVI I I .

AI LW X I N TO T NB AN W ALK TO B ETC R AY E CURS O E URY , D S URFORD , . — — — — Woo fler ton Easton Cou rt Little H ereford N u nu pto n Up — - - — — t o n Cou rt Middle ton-o u th e Hill B rimfield T enbu ry ’ — m s — e — d rd — m — Chu rch To b St . Micha l s B u o To bs Kni gh ton-ou - T eme

H P ER X IX C A T .

GEOL OGY OF THE N EIGH BOURH OOD IL L U ST RAT ION S .

D N m n e Lu e oorway to or a Chap l , dlow Castl

T h e u e m e ee Lu B tt r Cross , fro a sid str t , dlow

An en e e Lu ci t Corporat S al , dlow

Lu e m th e N dlow Castl , fro orth

C e m th e R e b e Lu astl , fro iv r a ov dlow

Th Kee a nd nne Lu e h e e H e . t p I r Moat , dlow Castl (By lat arry Baker)

G e nne Lu e at way to I r Ward , dlow Castl

D Kee Lu e oorway to p , dlow Castl Grou nd Plan of Lu dlow Castle

L m th e e u e . dlow Castl , fro M adows Parish Chu rch a nd Old H ou se i n Churchyard D oorway to Old Hou se i n Ch urchyard

R een a nd Lu u ood Scr S talls , dlow Ch rch

e e e n Lu u Mis r r Carvi g , dlow Ch rch

S een th e L - e a nd u n e Lu u cr of ady Chap l , So th Tra s pt , dlow Ch rch

S e a nd P n Lu u dilia isci a , dlow Ch rch

E e e u e a nd To wnesh end m Lu d Cu ast r S p lchr To b , low h rch

P n th e n n th e Old la of Tow , showi g Wall

T h e mm m ee Lu Gra ar School , fro M ill S tr t , dlow

T h e e Lu Broad Gat , dlow Lu dlow Corporation I nsignia

T h e Fe e H e Lu ath rs ot l , dlow

’ A m i n L ne H Lu r s a s ospital , dlow

Lu e m th e Whi tcli fi dford Bridg , fro foot of Lu dford Bridge from below Th e T eme from t h e Wh i tcli fi Q u arrie s

P O Lu H u e orch of ratory , dford o s

T h e Old e Inn Lu B ll , dford T h e T eme u nd er Wh i tcli ff

“ T h e u Inn Y Lu B ll ard , dlow

N m n F n H e or a o t , olgat V .

' Ri cha rd s Castle Ch urch

’ P R e u orch , ichard s Castl Ch rch

' Th e u H u e a nd D e - e R - e Co rt o s , ov cot , ichard s Castl

D u O Oa kl P r id aks , y ark B ro mfi eld Priory from th e R iver

P e H u e B ro mfield riory Gat o s ,

e B ro mfield P m th e R Gat way , riory , fro oad

e n a nd N m n L A b ne u 1 V sica Wi dow or a ights , shford Car o ll Ch rch 9 Ch u rchyard Cross at Orle ton

Pu a nd n e O e n . lpit Cha c l Arch , rl to

Le n l Cottage at i tha l S tarkes .

Old F e e e en n ir plac , S t v to

’ N m n m nu m Pi e n m H A . F or a Ty pa , p sto ( ro Wright s istory of Lu dlow

m e m th e P Wig or , fro ark 99 Gatehou se to Wigmore Abbe y Th e T eme at D own ton Croft Castl e 1 1 9

D od more m ’ H f Th e H eath Chap el . ( Fro Wright s istory o Lu dlow 1 2 5

I n terior of t h e H eath Chape l . Saxon D oorway at S tan ton Lacy

m th e L n n L To bs of acys , S ta to acy

Cu lmin gton Ch urch Elsi ch Manor H ou se

Old Su n - i u n d al , M slow

e n m u Tripl Arch , Cay ha Ch rch Whitton Cou rt

u e e . Ch rchyard Cross , Bitt rl y

N m n F n e e or a o t , Bitt rl y

e a n S toke say Castl d Chu rch . Stoke sa y Castle from th e Chu rchyard

D e H Sto ksea oorway of Gr at all , y

e H e a Gr at all , S tok s y

En n e e e tra c Gat , S tok say

H e ne en u art Shri , T b ry

m P i n e E z e u T o b of r c ss li ab th , B rford

e en u F n u 1 6 P rp dic lar o t , B rford 2

' P enla meru s Kmghm ' A 0 4 ;

N H W A T . DOORWAY T O ORMAN C APEL , LUDLO C S LE

LUDLOWTOWN ANDNEIGHBOURHOOD

CHAPTE R I .

I N T R O D U C T O R Y .

IN a modern work on English antiquities , Ludlow is spoken ” - of as the Queen of our inland watering places . Though not too strong as a term of praise , this statement is to a great extent misleading , as in the ordinary acceptation of l - B the phrase Lud ow is not a watering place at all . ut to l n the dwe ler in crowded cities , to the j aded man of busi ess , to the antiquary , artist , amateur photographer , naturalist . l geologist , or lover of nature , it is something a great dea b n etter . To all these the place is a rich mine of good thi gs , but it is not a watering -place ; and for those who seek crowded hotels and brass bands its beauties are not revealed . W 2 LUDLO TOWN AND N EIGHBOU RHOOD .

i L ke most things that turn out well , it is a trifle disappoint — ing at first the visitor arriving by rail has no preparatio n in the approach to the town , or in the first aspect of the and place itself , for the actual wealth of beauty interest h t that await him , and it is only on closer acquaintance t a il l he w l fu ly reali se it .

‘ E B M A T T W . TH UTTER CROSS , FRO SIDE S REE , LUDLO

Then he will find that the town is grouped on the summit

of a bold mass of Ludlow rock , that rises at the lower end

of a flat and fertile plain . On three sides it is nearly I N TRODUCTO R Y . 3 isolated from the neighbouring hills by the rivers Teme and al Corve , and on the fourth it gradu ly merges into a spur of the Clee range . On the side towards the plain , where the rock is precipitous , stand the church and castle crown al ing the summit , the one with its t l and graceful tower , and the other with roofless and crumbling turrets a nd i v - y covered walls , which still defy the ravages of time , and Show an outline against the sky nearly as grand as when f they sheltered the Court O the Prince of Wales . The ridge is fortified along its whole outline in continuation Of nl - the churchyard and castle walls , but o y one gate tower remains , and that on the sloping side . The old town , confined within these walls , only covered the upper part of the mound , but in later times the houses have over ’ a rticu flowed nearly to the water s edge , and on the east p la rl a ll y, nearly the recent growth of the town has extended .

Though ancient enough in appearance , it is even more so in reality numbers of the houses which show a neat front Old of brick or stucco , being within , and often possess early

fireplaces , panelling , or staircases , quite unsuspected from the outside .

AN I N T AT AL L DL W . C E CORPOR E SE , U O ' U D L OW A T E L TH N TH . C S E , FROM OR

CHAPTER I I .

T H E T L I IT S X T I AN H I T CAS E E ER OR D S ORY .

— — - — — First Aspect Ou t er Walls Sally port Beacon Tower Ex — — — ’ t ernal Walls Gat eway Its Origi n Lelan d s Accou n t O f — — ’ th e Fi tzwa ri ne R oman ce Its Castellan s Th e Baron s W a r — It s Occu pation by th e Mortimers B y Ri chard Plantag e e t— e h e L n n — R e IV n Sack d by t a castria s stored by Edward . — — Prince Arthu r Cou rt of Marche s Th e Lords Presid en t mu H u - P men e e —D e Co s dibras arlia tary Si g cay .

O P Of i t CCU YING the post honour , the Castle is the first po n to which every stranger di rects his steps . Probably the first glimpse he will get of the obj ect Of his search will be when reaching the open square , where the old red Market

- House stood , he sees its high outer walls and nail studded gate among the tall elms , which , planted more than a h filled -u undred years since in the p moat , now make a g reen wall of foliage round two Sides of the first courtyard . And though few sights are more picturesque than thi s s w ame scene on market days , when the square is filled ith l the stal s of the country people , who converge to this spot i from every d rection , yet there is nothing in the first glimpse greatly to raise his hopes or to gratify any high expecta E R R THE CASTLE : ITS EXT RIO AND HISTO Y . 5

tions he has already formed of this celebrated ruin . The e ntrance arch , flanked by proj ecting buttresses , is grim

- enough , but the gate tower is too much shattered with age all t to be at striking , and the walls near it are withou character . But if he will turn to the right , through an iron wicket , down a wide gravel path , once part of the moat , and past a square tower without windows or even loops , he will see , behind large trees , a more considerable block of th e towers , with a fine chimney ; and when he reaches Old i trees , where the town wall , on his right , ends , he w ll be gin to realise the unrivalled beauty and boldness of its r site . For between their t unks a prodigious prospect s Opens out , stretching from the foot of the hill , across field ,

i . and farms , and woods , for m les B him ll ehind , at the base of the walls , is a sma outwork , built out on a mass of Ludlow rock , and by clambering all - round it he can reach a very curious little s y port , which the outwork was doubtless intended to cover . The door still remains , and is protected in a unique manner with slabs of stone bolted to the woodwork , and iron plates over them , which would resist an attack of fire for a long time . al - Below the s ly port the path turns to the left , and , emerging from the trees , brings suddenly into view one of Of the main blocks towers which , lifting their massive m shapes into the sky , co pel our admiration and awe , defy ing as they have done the attacks Of man or the wreckful th e siege of battering days to reduce them . From beacon - cresset on the topmost battlements to the great f ul drain openings at the foot , where it is di fic t to distinguish stu en the masonry from the solid rock , the whole of this p s i dous ma s is full of the most varied and interesting deta l , and clothed with lichens and wallfiowers and weeds on every ledge and cranny . The curtain wall beyond is ll l pierced by the ta and graceful windows of the Great Hal , O h ften called the Comus Room , from the performance t erein ’ Of Milton s celebrated Masque . The path continues round l the wal s , commanding fine views over the meadows below , — with the river its current stilled by mill-weirs lower down — fiowin th e g sluggishly through them . The castle on one hand and the view of distant country on the other con tinu all y arrest the attention , until the path passing through an avenue of fine trees , the one is nearly hidden and the other completely lost . Here the path divides , one branch 0 W E H RH LUDLO TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD . d n C l b escendi g steeply to the astle Mi l in the road elow , a nd the other going straight through the avenue . These al w ks were laid out , and the trees which add so greatly to 1 2 their beauty planted in 77 by the Countess of Powis . O f course the stern an d defensive appearan ce of the place h e al has t ereby b en reduced , but they are a great addition c rm ha , and a source of much health and pleasure to hun dreds of inhabitants and visitors . By keeping to the e - upp r one , we emerge through enormous wych elms into a n open space level with the castle wall , where an archway has been cut through it near its j unction with that defend ing the town . Passing through the arch , on the left is a

’ - Of . large fragment building , once the court house Another Of modern archway admits into the area the old moat , now

. u level with the street Passing under the trees , populo s i find w th colonies of rooks , the visitor will he has com leted i p the c rcuit of the castle , eleven acres in extent , and a arrived once more at the entr nce . Let him lift the latch boldly— no warder now to challenge— and enter the outer court .

H R ISTO Y .

But before examining i n detail the massive ruins that l m c lie before him , it wi l be well to glance , in a manner e es saril l t i y brief , at the long series of bri liant even s wh ch make up their history , and to enumerate a few of the great men whose names are linked with their varying fortunes . ’ Great Obscurity hangs over the castle s first foundation , and learned authorities have differed as to the identity of its origina l builder but it is almost certain that Roger de

Lacy , who held the estate from Osborne Fitz Richard , e rected at the end of the eleventh centu ry the keep tower . the l a l a . This Roger rebe led ag inst Wil i m I I , and later , on Of death of his brother Hugh , it became the property the was Crown . Henry I . granted it to Pagan Fitz John , who 1 1 slain by the Welsh in 36. A romance of the first part of t h e thirteenth century" whi ch gives a h istory Of the Fitz m in warine fa ily , states that the reign of Stephen the l oce m cast e was held by one J de Dinan . who ade the

Castle of three wardes , and surrounded it with a double ” foss , one within and one without . It appears that

’ W H Lu 1 8 2 . right s istory of dlow , 5

H H 8 LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIG BOU R OOD .

siezed i was by a grappl ng machine thrown from the wall , a nd n d was being dragged away when Ki g Stephen ro e up , hi m and saved by severing the cords with hi s sword . h u ’ From a t irteenth cent ry history of Wigmore Abbey , e by a monk of that house , we learn that there aros at this time a very great war between Sir Hugh de Mortimer

(of Wigmore) and Sir J oce de Dinan . Insomuch that thi s oce ul i same J co d not freely , or at his pleasure , enter or qu t hi s castle for fear of Sir Hugh , so pertinaciously the latter pursued him . And because J oce could avail nothing a a h e gainst him by force , he set Spies long the road where as o him heard Sir Hugh was to p s unattended , and to k and held him in his castle in prison ti ll he had paid his ransom s and of marks of silver , be ides all his plate , horses , ” o - a hawks . In the ab ve mentioned rom nce his place of i mprisonment is spoken of as the highest tower in th e i ’ m . third bailey , wh ch is called to this day Morti er s Of ’ s is u thi romance the following Leland s acco nt , given in his ll n Thi n es excer tid Co ectanea , u der the head g p out of an old Englisch boke yn ryme of the Gestes of Guarine his sunnes Guarine wedded Mellet had a sunne

ca ulid . r Fulco J OOS , a knight , was left as gove nor to efe a a young Fulco . Guarine he d ndid his lands g yne one 8c Walter , the greatest of the marche lorde oute of Lacy b d e . e B r Ludlow They met at a b nt by ourne , at a y g r ende a little from Ludlow . Joos bare a sheld of sylve i with thre blew lyons coron d with gold . Joos had a ca ulli d Ha wi se daughter , whom Fulco entirely loved , se in In aski d th e o y g her great dolour , cause of her s rrow , she answered that it was no matter for an h a uker to amende sword e rescew he upon that toke his and spere to J oos , God a rd e her father , as one was about to streke of his hede so C sla ne 81 Gwalter dr ven that odarde was y of him , Lacy y woundid S r away . Then Joos recovered a horse sore y killid one Arnold that did bym much hurt . Then Fulco Gwalter lon i n . Andrew , a knight gg g to Syr Walter Lacy 8: r 8: th e Lacy Syr A nold were taken prisoners , put in i Castle of Ludlow in a prison ca ullid Pend ower . A gent l woman ca ullid Marion d eliveri d both these knights by Pendower Arnold e treason oute of for love of Syr de Lis , o ne of them that promised her falsely marriage . Fulco Ha wi se l Guarine wedded , daughter to J oos , at Lud ow ’ L l 2 W H r u 1 8 . right s isto y of d ow , 5 E THE CASTLE ITS EXT RIO R AND HISTORY . 9

Castel . Joos Fulco Guarine toke a journey into Ireland 8: Marion tarried , faining sickness , behind , write a lettre to her her lovre Syr Arnold de Lis , to cum secretly to up into the Castel with a ladder of leder 8: cordes . Arnold came ’ d esi er 8c 81 according to Marion s , had his pleasure of her some 8: sca lin e l after came his band , secretly g the wal s ,

ca st ella nes. killed the Then Marion , seeing this treason , lept out of a tower brake her neck ; Arnold killed l after many of the burgesses of Lud ow towne , sparing neither widow nor child . Walter Lacy hearing that the 8c ma nnid 81 castel was won , cam with his band thither ,

vi ta ilid owne . Ludlow , keeping it as his This tidings was 8: told to Joos lying at Lamborne . Joos Fulco , his 8: father Guarine , cam to rescue Ludlow , in assaulting it k i ’ ill d . many of Lacy s men Lacy , with a band of men , cam oute to fight with them , but he losing many men , was fayne to recoyle within the toune . Gualter Lacy sent to w nnin the Prince of Wales for help , he cam y g by the way , l Whitington . Fulco Guarine hurte the prince of Wa es in l 81 b m ca ullid Ca h ome the shou der drave y to a castel y , a sse in where Cay had been lorde , there g g by three days k n illid certe . many of them at a issue Fulco was wounded , Gloscestre yet roode to mete King Henry by , of whom interta nid kinnesma n he was welle y as his , there he had ’ his wou nd e that Arnold s brother gave bym in the waste 81 w elle h elid . King Henry made Fulco a knight steward

81 . of his house , lord governor of thos marches

It has been made clear , however , by Mr . Eyton , the historian of Shropshire , that portions of this story are not al in accord with the re history of the castle , which after

oce 1 1 66 . the death of J in , was restored by Henry I I to

Hugh de Lacy . The growing power in Ireland of this 1 1 8 1 Hugh led Henry again to seize the castle in , and he granted the estates of Hugh , after his assassination in

I reland , to Walter , his son , retaining the castle , which , e 1 206 00 however , Walter r gained in , on paying 4 marks to 1 20 King John . In 7 it was again taken by John , and handed over to William de Bra ose . It was for a time in n charge of Philip de Albini , and then of Thomas de Erdi gton . In 1 2 1 4 John ordered Ingera m de Cygoine to restore the castle 1 to Walter de Lacy . In 2 24 Walter gave it up to William de

' In Wright s translation sh e first kills Si r Arnold with hi s o wn e h e w a s ee sword whil asl p . E H RH 1 0 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IG BOU OOD .

‘ Ga mma es. g I t was afterwards held by Peter de Geneva ,

- who married Matilda de Lacy , one of the grand daughters ll of Walter . Peter made over the constableship to Wi iam

in 1 2 . 1 2 i d de Lacy 34 Peter died in 49, and his w ow nville th e Ge . married Geoffrey de , who next held castle ill 1 Genv e 2 2 . Peter de , their son , held it in 9 During the ’ B arons War the c a stle and neighbourhood was the scene o f in an d prolonged turmoil , which the king , the barons , the W i l elsh took a lead ng part , and which continued ti l the victory of Henry at Evesham , after which comparative m tranquility see s to have reigned , broken occasionally by the local squabbles of the Lords Marchers , among whom m the Mortimers were the ost prominent and powerful . They added Ludlow to their other great possessions by the m Genvi lle arriage of Roger to Joan de , daughter and heiress of Peter . Roger Mortimer , his son , received

Edward I II . in his Castles of Ludlow and Wigmore . After s his attainder and execution , his son Edmund recovered thi 1 and other castles in 354 , and the estates passed out of the family on the death of this Edmund , the last Mortimer , in 1 2 4 4 , and into the hands of his nephew , Richard Plan t a enet Y g , Duke of ork , who selected it as his chief place of be residence , and when , thirty years later , involved himself in intrigues for the possession of the throne , he twice found it necessary to retreat here , and raise an army among his tenantry . But on the second occasion he was defeated and taken prisoner by Henry VI . Having afterwards been appointed Protector by the House of Commons and again i 1 mak ng war on the royal party , he had , in 45 9, fortified i h mself at Ludford , where he was j oined by the army of

al Bloreh ea th . Lord S isbury , returning victorious from He ’ had repulsed one attack by the king s army on the 1 3th of u October , and had planned a surprise in which they wo ld l e have been a most certain of success , when he was desert d t by his pri ncipal officer and the troops under him . In his position he broke up the camp and fled to Ireland . The d Lancastrians thus having Ludlow at their mercy , revenge themselves for the support it had always given to the

House of York by sacking it and the castle . ’ E now The duke s eldest son , dward , Earl of March , r Y his came fo ward , and revived the cause of the orkists by courageous and able tactics . Having defeated the king at the battle of Northampton , his father , hearing of his 1 1 THE CASTLE ITS EXTER I OR AND HISTORY .

success , hastened to England , and laid claim to the crown , but was defeated and killed at Wakefield , and his second l s on . murdered Edward was here , at Lud ow , when the news reached him , and immediately prepared to attack the victors but was recalled by the advance of an Irish a nd Welsh army under the Earl of Pembroke . They ’ fought at Mortimer s Cross , a little south of Ludlow , and

Edward was again victorious . Shortly afterwards , march

i n . g on London , he was proclaimed king , as Edward I V in 1 1 46 . f Ludlow , whose fortunes had su fered with those of the

Y . orkists , shared abundantly in their prosperity From Of this time the castle became the palace the Prince of Wales , the seat of the Council of the Marches , and the centre of government for the whole Border . In the first year of his reign the king granted an extended charter to the town , which greatly advanced its prosperity, in consideration of the laudable and gratuitous services which our beloved and faithful subj ects the burgesses of the town have rendered unto us in the obtaining of our right to the crown of England , for a long time past withheld from us and our ancestors , in great peril of their lives , and also the rapines , depredations , Oppressions , losses of goods , ' and other grievances , for us and our sake , in divers ways f ” brought upon them by certain O our competitors . Eleven years after , the king sent his two eldest sons , under the guardianship of their uncle , Earl Rivers , to Ludlow Castle, where they remained until the death of Edward IV . , when they were taken to London , and murdered in the Tower by order of their uncle , the Duke of Gloucester , afterwards

Richard II I . In the reign of Charles I I . their remains

- were discovered , and re interred in Westminster Abbey . The stirring events of Richard ’ s reign are many of th em connected with the locality , though not with the town itself .

On the accession of Henry VI I . , after the battle of Bos worth , he made considerable efforts to restore order and j udicial authority to the Marches , placing his son Arthur , i i the Prince of Wales , at the castle , and pay ng v sits to him ’

i n 1 02 . there up till the prince s death , 5 l On the death of Prince Arthur , who nomina ly presided at the Council instituted by Edward IV . , a regular Court was established by Henry VI I under a permanent Lord

. AS President to the origin of this Court of Marches , A E H H 1 2 LUDLOW TOWN N D N IG BO UR OOD .

which for so many years made Ludlow a sort of metropolis . B i to the Welsh order , a few words may not be at this po nt out of place . It was due in the first instance to the exis tence of the ancient and almost unlimited authorities of the — Lords Marchers a n authority which had its origin in a local condition of affairs during the Norman dynasty , and the political exigencies of various kings of that and later l periods . Not on y because the conquest of Wales was an fea u tre h important in their programme , but quite as muc for the sake of occupying the attention of a warlike and quarrelsome nobility , in directions convenient to themselves , those princes encouraged their barons in the dangerous enterprise of making settlements a nd seizing territory on TO the Welsh side of the Border . enable them to hold the a territories they had conquered , this encour gement took th e form of giving them complete and independent j uris d In iction their several domains ; so that each Lord Marcher , — except those of Glamorgan who met in one co urt at C — n th e ardiff had his own court , where he admi istered al of English law , lowing at the same time , from motives th e prudence , many of the native laws and customs of people he had conquered . This authority of the Marchers

' was not held under any grant from the Crown , being simply connived at for the time , and no doubt was useful enough in holding in check the turbulent people who had so often . devastated the Border . But in more civilised times it became necessary to reduce thi s primitive state of things to e b b tter order , and efforts in this direction were made y

. V . . Henry III and Henry , but it was not before the accession

. t of Edward IV hat , as mentioned above , the Council of th e Marches was established at Ludlow . Even then the separate j urisdiction of the old Lords Marchers was not a n i i ltogether superseded, and ma y feuds and confl ct ng of authorities were the result . But the vigorous policy

Henry VI I . finally put an end to this , and set up a per manent court , under a Lord President , the first to hold the “ fi B u of ce being William Smyth , ishop of Lincoln , and fo nder C l f t of Brasenose o lege . His successors , were Geo frey Bly h , B Li chfield of ishop of Coventry and John Veysey , Bishop E B Lee Li chfield e xeter ; and ishop of Coventry and , whos presidency was signali se d by many reforms and extremely al mi r ze ous ad nistration of j ustice , leaving the Welsh Borde n in a condition of peace and prosperity . Richard Sampso E T ER R R THE CASTL I S EXT IO AN D HISTO Y . 1 3

followed him in the presidency and bishopric in 1 5 43. In 1 8 5 4 , the Duke of Northumberland ; William Herbert , 1 0 Earl of Pembroke , 5 5 ; Richard Heath , Bishop of 1 i Worcester , 5 5 3 Will am Herbert , Earl of Pembroke , 1 6 again , 5 5 ; Gilbert Bourne , Bishop of Bath and Wells , who was imprisoned on the accession of Elizabeth ; Sir dl I l i him . n John Wi l ams , who died at Lu ow , following his place the celebrated Sir Henry Sidney of Penshurst was 1 appointed , in 5 59, whose administration , lasting twenty s a ccom even years , is memorable for the great works he lished p , and the extreme zeal and prudence with which he regulated the district . His even more distinguished son ,

Sir Philip Sidney , was resident here during most of his ’ father s tenure of office . In the British Museum is a paper describing the Build i ngs and repa ra ci ons don by Sir Hy . Sidney upon hr es — Mati h owses in the Marches of Wales referring to

. m Ludlow and Wigmore Henry Herbert , Earl of Pe broke Z 6 1 f l 1 0 . ol owed for fourteen years ; Lord ouch , Lord al f Eure , whose wife has an abaster e figy in the church , does n ot seem to have shown - the same probity as some of his l predecessors , as a bond is sti l in existence between him , m a as Lord President , and Robert Morgan , Hu frey p a m Richard Owen , and Humfrey p Edward Hu frey , gentle 0 men , for the payment of £5 to Lord Eure upon his obtaining a grant for the sessions and quarter sessions being held at 1 61 6 m 1 . 61 Harlech Lord Gerard , Earl of Northa pton , 7

1 6 . em Earl of Bridgwater , 33 On certain adventures countered by the latter and his family while passing through s the neighbouring Haye Wood , on his arrival , was founded ’ the plot of Milton s celebrated dramatic poem , or masque , C ” omus , which was written for the earl , and acted by his children in the great hall of the castle on Michaelmas

1 6 . N ight , 34 Macaulay speaks of this poem as certainly t h e noblest of the kind which exists in any language . The speeches must be read as maj estic soliloquies , and he who reads them will be enraptured with their eloquence , their sublimity , and their music ; but the finest passages are ” those which are lyric in form as well as in spirit . Ludlow has through its castle other links of connection m with great literary names . Sa uel Butler resided here when secretary to the Earl of Carberry (the succeeding

Lord President to that last named) , who made him steward 1 W W EI H RH 4 LUDLO TO N AND N G BOU OOD .

of the castle , where probably a good deal of his great work u m Hudibras was written , in which humoro s poe l Cromwe l and his son , Fleetwood , Desborough , and Prynne ,

. An with most of the prominent Puritans , are satirised o f ther name great in literature , though in a very di ferent w i l branch of it to Butler , is associated ith th s grim old pi e that of Richard Baxter , the great Puritan divine . Born in i a s Shropshire , he l ved at Ludlow , when about seventeen , a pupil of the chaplain to the Council . The Holy Dying ” of Bishop J eremy Taylor was written to console his friend , Lord Carberry , for the death of his wife , who , i ’ in her youth , was the Lady Alice Egerton of M lton s ” Comus . l The position of the castle , especial y its nearness to the Whit cli ff high rock called , was such as to make it an easy ll prey to arti ery of any great length of range , so that it was far from being the impregnable fortress it had hitherto been held , when the Parliamentary wars began . It held out for some time against the Parliamentary forces , but l in 1 6 6 when seriously invested by Sir Wi liam Brereton , 4 , 1 6 1 l was compelled to surrender . In 5 it was dismant ed , and the furniture and fittings sold ; the Court of Marches l i was virtua ly abolished then , but at the Restoration , be ng m no inally set up again , the Earl of Carberry , the Duke of Beaufort and Earl of Ma cclesfield ( 1 687) were

. 1 68 Governors In 4 , the Duke of Beaufort made a Pro gress through Wales , and the MS . of Thos . Dingley , who still a nd accompanied him , Show the castle to be entire to

- have been more or less re furnished . During the popular ferment which preceded the Revo lu tion 1 688 of , the local gentry met and declared for the Of Prince Orange , and Lord Herbert seized the castle , and secured in it some adherents of the king . In the next year u the Co rt of Marches was finally abolished , and the castle , f though held by a governor for the Crown , was su fered to

Of . gradually decay , a process hastened in the reign George I 1 1 by the stripping of the lead from the roofs . Buck , in 73 . describes some of the apartments as entire .

E H RH LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IG BOU OOD .

A A W A T . THE KEEP ND INNER M O T, LU DLO C S LE

leto Illustri ssimaz Serenissimae a p anno regni ac Regin , ” l u E iza bethae V i cesimo C rra nte . Tertio And below it . with the arms of Sidney and Eli zabeth : Hominibus Ingra ti s L oqu imini Lapides Anno Regn i Regi na Eliz a 2 2 betha 23. The year complet of the Presidency of Sir 1 INTERIO R OF THE CASTLE. 7

Henri Sydney , Knight of the Most Noble Order of the m Garter , etc The otive of this latter portion is said to be found in the thankless work this benefactor of d m Lu low perfor ed in Ireland ; though , in that case , why ’ these stones sho uld bear witness to man s ingratitude is not very obvious .

G T W TO I NN W L L W L A E AY ER ARD , UD O CAST E .

H E T E INN R WARD .

The arches on the inner side of this portal are all late ’ Tudor, forming part of Sidney s alterations . Passing under al them into the inner court , considerably sm ler than the

first , and surrounded by much larger buildings , the keep on s the left is till the principal feature , and should be first

examined . It was the starting point of the original castle ,

but not , as was generally the case , complete , within itself . Its vaulted basement , entered by a passage and flight of

steps , contains two pairs of Norman arches , and has the

appearance of having formed , or at least part of it , the

earlier chapel of the Norman fortress , the character of the 1 8 E H RH LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

work being much plainer than that in the beautiful circular - one in the court yard . It was probably afterwards used as

a dungeon . In the thickness of the east wall is a very s u ing lar passage , of which there have been many explana t ions , of various degrees of improbability , the most popular being that it was an arrangement for letting loose wild

b . easts upon the prisoners It is twelve feet long , and opens at each end by square -headed doorways from the

large chamber . As it was Obviously part of the original d esign , and as there are evidences on the vaulting that there l l was original y a partition wa l across the chamber , this passage must have been intended as a communication

between the two rooms . The fact that the doors opened inwards towards the passage and were strongly barred on t till s . hat side , makes it more curious It may be that it was designed to enable either half of the chamber to be

used as a dungeon . There are two rectangular holes in the

vault above , but they are comparatively modern alterations ,

probably for ventilation . The rooms above are now reached by a doorway made in the fifteenth century (which has

some beautiful late panelling) , and a flight of steps . Most o f the original doors and windows have been re - modelled

a . bout the same time In continuation of these steps , a

staircase leads to the top of this tower , which is well worth c t limbing , as the trouble of the ascen is abundantly re o warded by the magnificent View it c mmands .

Bearing in mind the position of the well , and the circular c m hapel , and the presence of Nor an work in the north oi n eastern group buildi gs , it seems that the later Norman fortress must have included all the ground occupied by the

inner court an unusually large area .

Of this chapel only the circular nave remains . It is an m exquisite exa ple of twelfth century art , and one of the

very few of that shape now remaining . It is entered on t h e i west by a deeply recessed doorway , enriched w th m chevron , double billet , and other characteristic ouldings .

Above a string course of double billets , are three large

- Norman windows , and below it , two late square headed o penings have been pierced . Round the interior walls is i n an arcade of fourteen arches , which had the sixteenth c entury oak panelling with the coats of arms of successive B u l Lords of Ludlow . The panels may still be seen at the l “ Hotel (in the Bull Ring itself an interestin g house . ER I R THE I NT O OF CASTLE . I 9

A T L W T D W O K DL L . OOR Y EEP , U O CAS E W W 20 LUDLO TO N AND N EIGHBOU RHOOD .

m The chancel arch of three orders , profusely orna ented with sunk star , chevron , and other mouldings , is supported on each side by four elegant shafts , and now Opens into a l sma l bare space , showing the probable extent of the chancel , though it has often been stated that it reached to

al . l the east w l of the castle If it did , it was certain y a later addition . The remaining ruins will be best described by means of the accompanying plan . The square tower in the south west corner marked which is of Norman workmanship , m has the lower story converted into an i mense oven , and there are other evidences of its having been the bakery , ' though the kitchen is at the spot ma rked In the opposite corner of the space is the well , still of great depth , ls though dry ; and near it another square tower , a o more all or less Norman . In the next group , which are fourteenth 1 6 century , with a few alterations , the corner one ( ) is known ’ as Prince Arthur s Room , and was so called in the inventory 1 6 1 l of 5 , when the furniture was sold by the Cromwe lian

Government . The walls of this tower are pierced with

- &c. e recesses , wall passages , windows , , of the most intricat kind , and are worthy of the closest study . Communicating with it is the Hall frequently called the Comus Room , the shell of which , now roofless and open to the cellars , shows it to have been a beautiful chamber . Entered from the court by an ascending slope (once a flight of marble i t steps) , and a fine pointed arch with graceful mouldings , l l is lighted by three ta l windows in the outer wa l , and two larger ones in the inner , which have their fourteenth century tracery remaining . Between the latter is a smaller six th e t eenth century insertion . The block at the east end of 1 hall contained the state apartments . No . 4 was called the b a n u ettin - fire - q g room , and contains a good place and 1 2 1 0 doorways . The principal rooms beyond ( and ) are called the armoury and the Apartments of the Two l Princes (Edward V . and his brother) , but on doubtfu authority . It is also stated that the fifteenth century traceried window in the latter room was the scene of the tragic end of Marion de la Bruere but obviously without a shadow of probability , as the size of the opening would th e not allow any one to j ump out , and window was not e built for at least two centuries after that event . Thes rooms are part of a very fine and well -proportioned mass L u w e of dlo Castl .

T h e Ki tch e n . 5 T o wer . 1 7. - ro a l th e or i i na l C a l a ~ e 1 8 . h e f er wa r o e h o us . P b b y g p , t d s c n

ver e nt o a ri son. t . t d i p w e n w u h t - v l e f tw o a r h e s. . T h e ll o a o e i fi e de . g o c 1 9 , b t g y e fe t e p

er t we r . e rect e i r H enr d ne 2 0 . os n o d by S y Sy y . P t ’

B a keh o us to r . r 1 . e e s l o dg e . 2 w ma m r t i r a i n h t f t . ll Ch a e i n ee . c se l ea d g to t e op o he Kee p 2 2 . S b K p - eq . ta es co a c h o us t h T o wn . 2 3 S bl , h e , &c . " e te o f h h o f th ' l h ri a l a m si t e C i r o e Cha e . 2 . T e nci e wa l e a di n to he C a s l e fro p 4 p p g t y , g t t t o ccu w M r - n s i e th o r i e ons f . od er n fi e e i ne d e t nc s s o 2 sh e . p d by P , 5 g r d IV . 2 6. M od ern h o u se . ower . a r e r 2 7. E ly to w , p ro b a bly N o rma n. a m n A r t e ts. r M e n a . p 2 8 . od p li sa d es a cross th e O uter Court l or o uncI o a o . C R om. 2 9. A S llyp rt ’

m. th ur s oo 0. T he Ca stl e r d or u er our . R 3 Ya , O t C t 22 E H RH LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

b f

L L W T L F THE W UD O CAS E , ROM MEADO S . of towers which stand out from the line of ramparts and rise from the rock , which is itself more than a hundred feet above the river . The one to the east of the group ( 1 1 ) j uts a nd out into the inner moat , , in the lower part , is of Norman

- . u al work Near this tower is a built p doorway in the w l , by means of which , and a plank across the moat , the sally port already described could be reached . In the outer wall to the north of the gate is a plain square tower ( 27 which though of very early masonry has no architectural features to identify it . If Norman , it would indicate a very extensive area for the original castle .

E 24 LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG HBOU RHOOD .

I H H H AN O L D H I N H H PAR S C U RC D OUSE C U RC YARD .

walls , are reared against the tower like huge flying but n l tresses , and allow the eye to ra ge at wi l over the transepts and side chapels .

If we move forward into the nave , a long vista opens e l astward the entire length of the church , broken on y at a - the chancel arch by the dark m ss of the rood screen , and ended only by the storied pan es of the great east window . The impressiveness of the whole is owing in no small degree to the extreme beauty and refinement of the per vadi ng colour . The ruddy tone of the external walls is n al - a e here excha ged for a p e yellow grey , sobered with g , and varied with the broken colour of mortar and time stains , i m l n wh ch har onise wel with the rich brow of the woodwork , R THE PA ISH CHU RCH . 25 t h e w warm glo of stained windows , and the sombre tone of the screens and roof timbers . In wealth of colour and a glow of light it culmin tes in the Chancel , where the windows —o i great size and height , and only divided by slender buttresses— are all filled with rich glass that in the east end setting forth the life and martyrdom of the patron saint , St . Lawrence ; and below it is the stone reredos of

- fine tabernacle work , gorgeous with colour and gilding . Where the chancel is entered by the groined portal under

- the rood loft , the old stalls , from which the brethren of the m College of Pal ers chanted their daily service , remain in nearly their pristine beauty ; but the sculptured monu effi i es ments beyond them , where groups of g lie in stony m repose , are not theirs . Whatever me orials may have marked the place Of their rest have long since been super sed ed by grim Lords Marchers and their stately dames .

m . But they were , perhaps , not less reme bered This noble fabric itself is their monument and as we wander under i ts long arcades and explore its dim recesses , we shall realise more and more what a grand memorial it is . m But before exa ining it in detail , let us turn through the north door into the churchyard , where we Shall see the building free from the houses which choke the view on other sides , and realise , in a manner impossible from any other place , the extreme beauty of the site . Here , in the dark

- avenue of yew trees , the reigning stillness , in pleasant con t rast to the bustle of the narrow streets so close at hand , is emphasised rather than disturbed by the sleepy echo of the m church clock chiming the quarters , and the inter ittent -clang of the j ackdaws that float far above in aerial evolu m tions , circling in noisy cla our round the tower , or sunning themselves in secure enj oyment of the square putlock holes so invariably left by the old builder , and so carefully filled up by the modern restorer . Down the long perspective of rugged stems and dark Of foliage , the proj ecting mass grey wall and buttress , with the fine flamboyant windows , is the north transept , an iron arrow on the apex of its gable marking it as the Fletchers ’ Chancel and beyond it the chequered walls of the build ’ — ing known as the Reader s House a quaint and delightful seventeenth century house of stone , plaster , and carved — oak is j ust discernible .

Th e m n e - F e m e . gift of a Co pa y of l tch rs , or arrow ak rs E 26 LUDLOW TOWN AND N IGHBOURHOOD .

D W T O OL D H I N H H OOR AY OU SE C URC YARD .

in churchyard , beautiful as it is at this day , must earlier times have been a very delightful place , more like a quadrangle or cloister garth to the college than an ordinary ‘ churchyard . From the far side of the open space the church i to its topmost pinnacles is visible , tower ng above the dark line of yews which gird it at all seasons in a belt of living ‘ ’

. m green To the right , Hosier s Al shouses , a Gothic build 1 68 ing of stone , erected in 4 , is now a bald brick box , - ed ified re in the eighteenth century by the Corporation , Resu scit a ru nt a m li a r un t who inscribed upon it , p , orna i runt The College , in a l ne with it , has a little more h as character , and retains its fifteenth century portal , but

m . been lately ade a Cottage Hospital The old Rectory , i also (as I bel eve) a part of the College , is picturesque in

i . outl ne , but has likewise been recently renovated Some - t old fashioned and diminutive houses of red brick , wi h the ’ Reader s House , shut in the eastern side . TH RI E PA SH CHU RCH . 27

all 15 But on the north side open , and as we lean on the low wall that surmounts the old town ramparts , and look the across broad prospect , as of old the Brethren of the s Guild must often have looked , in their quiet pacing on thi of level space , there is doubtless much in the wide expanse cultivated plain , into which the winding vale of Teme : broadens itself , that is as they beheld it shut in by the same rounded hills that melt into the far horizon , and clothed

m . then , as now , in its so bre mantle of dark woods But how much that is changed " From this high terrace they would see where , at the edge of the slope , the Church of

St . Leonard now makes , with the masses of trees , a blot of dark in the landscape , the tower and steep Gothic roofs of the Carmelite Monastery of White Friars— that fayre th n e and costly y g which , four hundred years ago , John Leland saw nearly covering the flat ground by the windings

o i . the Corve , and of which but one tottering arch remains And instead of the red - brick villas where the town is ex tending on the right , only the houses on each side of the steep descent below Corve Gate would meet their eyes .

HI T R S O Y .

It may almost be taken for granted that a site so ob vi ously fine as this would be occupied before the Norman Conquest indeed there is evidence of sepulchral remains there which could hardly have been later than Saxon but there is no evidence of a church of that date , no mention of a priest being found in the great Domesday Survey o f l m Wi lia the Conqueror . The Norman church was doubtless a much smaller building than the present , though somewhat similar in plan .

It probably had aisles and a tower . The font in the north . chapel is Norman , and in the outer face of the wall near it ,

al . is a flat buttress , which is most certainly of the same date In an interesting Latin document which Leland met wi th in the monastery at Cleobury Mortimer , and which a monk of that convent copied for him , is preserved a statement that the people of Ludlow in 1 1 99 found it necessary to enlarge re their church , and that in doing it the workmen had to move a large tumulus to the west of it , in which were found three mausolea of stone , containing human remains . — Professing them to be the bones of three Irish saints the 2 8 E H RH LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BO U OOD .

— - father , mother , and uncle of St . Brandan they re interred t hem in the church , in anticipation of numerous miracles f and consequent o ferings . Whether the bones were Saxon o r n Roman remains , the above record is valuable as fixi g t h e date of Early English additions to the structure , of

which there are indications which , taken altogether , go to s how that this later church was of similar dimensions to the

present . A theory has been started that it was then a bay shorter in the Choir than it is now but the very beautiful a little window at the back of the high altar , the m sonry

surrounding it , and the j ambs of the east window above it a re Early English , and it is impossible to suppose that they

were placed there by the fifteenth century builders . The s outh door , the window j ambs in south aisle , and a piscina

- in the Lady Chapel , are also Early English .

The early part of the fourteenth century , when the College of the Palmers ’ Guild was confirmed in its posses m sions , and obtained for al recognition , was probably the date of the Decorated alterations and addi tions to the

c vi z . th e hurch , the north aisle , porch , portions of

chapels , the south transept , the beautiful reredos , and

parts of the stalls . The next alteration , late in the four t eenth i century , would probably be the bu lding of the north - m transept by the Fletchers , or arrow akers , whose name is l stil connected with it , and whose badge it bears on the

gable . And when the town flourished so much through the — favour of Edward IV . , the tower which was perhaps a i Norman , and was burnt , there is re son to bel eve , in the w a r which raged in the district j ust before hi s accession W as rebuilt as we now see it , together with the nave and

n . greater part of the buildi g , including all the roofs Abo ut m this time , probably , the screen , stalls , vestry , and any

windows were added .

When the Guild was dissolved , the church seems to have been administered with the other Guild property by the C orporation , and such papers as refer to it are preserved o a mong the municipal records . The best of these is a bo k ’ o f 1 0 1 600 churchwardens accounts from 5 4 to about , which is of exceptional interest in throwing light on the

history of the fabric at and after the Reformation . The reredos was probably mutilated in th e fourth year of h K . ing Edward VI , when an Act was passed for abolis ing a nd putting away divers books and images , and pretty THE PA RISH CHU RCH . 29

generally carried into effect , but the wooden erection which was placed in front of it has the appearance of being con sid era bl d y later , and is said to have been given by Lor

Powis in 1 764 . n The organ , which is an exceedingly fine one , was give by Lord Powis at the same time , and was originally erected - m d over the rood screen . I t has been enlarged and i prove more than once , and now stands in the north transept . The galleries which till 1 860 di sfigured the aisles were m probably put up in the sa e century , and also the high pews which then existed . It is to be regretted that a quaint pulpit of early eighteenth century character , with a m th e picturesque canopy , was re oved at the same time as latter .

There are a number of interesting piscinas and lockers , which Show that , in addition to the two existing chapels , there were chantries in the transepts , at both ends of the south aisle , and at the east end of the north aisle ; also probably at its west end .

TERI R IN O .

e The south porch is hexagonal , and the only known instanc ’ f in this country , except at St . Mary s , Redcli fe and at m th e Chipping Norton . I t is al ost entirely Decorated ; principal external details having perished , were renewed . some years ago , but within it is untouched . The groining of the vault is very fine and of the same date , but the

- inner doorway , with its bold mouldings and nook shafts , is noteworthy as one of the few early English features of the building . Over this porch is a chamber which may have been a residence for chantry priests , or was perhaps a

domu s i nclusi . It is reached by a staircase turret , in the angle , which opens from the church . e Just within the aisle , on the east , are remains of a lat

- holy water stoup , and by the staircase door is a niche for a piscina . The nave arcades are carried on each side on five

m . slender colu ns and two responds , which for the late period of their erection (about 1 460) are unusually simple and elegant in design . In plan they are elongated quatrefoils , and have at each proj ection a shaft with base and capital , between each of which the wave - moulding of the arch above is continued down the pillar . The large piers which support E H RH 30 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IG BOU OOD .

the tower are treated in a similar manner , but on a larger and more elaborate scale , and the arches above them are efle ti ve e xtremely beautiful and c . The south aisle contains a number of windows now fi E i fteenth century , but in their j ambs early ngl sh mould ings can be traced . The corresponding windows in the n t al or h aisle , fine examples of the Geometric Decorated 1 20 style (about 3 to are untouched , and contain in al the upper lights the origin heraldic glass . Both aisles at their eastern ends are continued into the a - tr nsepts under large half arches , which are a very con s i cuous p feature of the church , and similar ones open into the side chapels , having rich screens across the bottom . ‘ g Th e rood -loft under the chancel arch is supported on a

D N AN D T LL L DL W H H ROO SCREE S A S, U O C URC .

H RH LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIG BOU OOD .

that at a time when pictures were few and the power to read enre o the rare , they were the g paintings and story bo ks of

Middle Ages . dl m Those of Lu ow were not all of the sa e period , some being earlier than the stalls , others about the same age , and others later . This may be explained if we suppose the al st ls to have been burned in the fifteenth century , when the tower was destroyed , and the earlier misereres to have been part of the salvage from that fire . The best executed , earliest , and most interesting are those which represent a distinct subj ect and it is noteworthy that they appear to " be the work of the same man , each bearing an incised mark resembling a sprig of some conventional plant ,

N H H I I G L L W . M SERERE CARV , UD O C URC

which was no doubt the private mark of the artist . Like m rm nearly all isereres , they are arranged on a unifo plan a central group and two subordinate wings . Some are purely decorative , others appear to be illustrations of the quaint and fabulous Natural History of the Middle Ages , while many are satires directed against the exaggerated costume and gluttonous habits of certain periods . Be ginning at the west end of the stalls on the south side , the execu first seat is blank , the second a Tudor rose of poor tion (3) is blank .

x N o . 4 has in the centre a figure in large cap , collar , and gown , holding a scroll , probably a scholastic ; on the left

e e ar e m e x Th s ark d . R THE PA ISH CHU RCH . 33

s e . i an old face in drap ry , and on the right a young one

x N o . 5 seems to be an attempt to ridicule the worship

o f . the beer barrel A tun is set on end in the centre , and t wo men in the costume of the reign of Richard I I . are “ kneeling on either Side like a pair of heraldic supporters . T h e - fla ons side ornaments are the ale bench , with barrels , g , - n and drinking cups interesti g from their unusual design . A man drawing liquor from a diminutive cask with a n fla on immense g ; he wears a hood , belt and pouch of h e con t same period as the last . The side ornaments are venti onal foliage . ’ A grotesque monster , with bird s head and wings , w hich was known as the cockatrice smaller ones at e ither side , erased . Representations of the fabulous ae animals , with which medi val literature abounded , are frequent on the carved details of churches .

Mutilated . A number of cocks and hens , with fox . T his was probably meant to illustrate one of the popular t a bles , which recounts the adventures of Reynard the Fox ,

" In this one the incised sprig is many times repeated , and forms a kind of ground for the birds . The two sides are stiff foliage .

x (o) A group of five men apparently wrestling . On the left a horse with rich trappings . This group is so much damaged that its intention is difficult to understand . ciére On the right is a gyp , or pouch , and a pillow . The gypciére was a kind of external purse made of Silk or l eather , stitched to a metal frame , and usually had three tassels the opening drawn together by a cord , as in this e xample . It was from this purse attached to the belt that ” t he - thieves of the period got the name of cut purse . I ndeed , it is likely enough that the scene here depicted is t hat of a traveller who has been dragged from his horse , an d and is struggling with thieves , that the group on the r ight is the booty for which they contend . I t is perhaps

Th e following i s a n ancien t accou n t of th e origin of a cockatrice en t h e i s e en e a n e e n hi m Wh Cock past s v y ars old gg grow th withi , ‘ w r e H e ee e e m wh eI ea t h e ond e th . e gr atly s k th privat ly a war plac . i n e h e e t en me A o n u n . a d ghill or a stabl , to which go th ti s daily t i e h i m a nd ex a mi ne th t h e ne e e see oad priv ly watch th , st v ry day to W h e fi d e h th e e h i f th e e e t b e . en t n t e e e gg y laid h toad gg , r j oic th m u a nd en n i t rod u ce th a n n m t h e e ch , at l gth hatchi g , p a i al with h ad a nd e c a nd m en e n d t h e br ast of a Co k , fro th c dow war s body of a ” s e And a i s C c e . rpen t . th t a o katric W E H 34 LUDLO TOWN AND N IG BOU RHOO D .

l an i lustration of the parable of the Good Samaritan . 1 0 ( ) An old woman in a peaked hood , seated in a quaint

- . the three legged chair , is warming herself at a fire On right two sides of bacon , on the left a pot hung over a fire .

1 1 . ff ( ) A swan rudely executed On each side sti foli a ge . 1 2 ( ) An owl in the centre , pigeons at each side . ( 1 3) Large female head in centre with reticulated hea d l h dress sma l ditto on each side . T is seems to be a bur les ue e o q on the mode of wearing the hair, which cam int

. e n o vogue about the reign of Edward IV , and develop d i t re the horned or mitred shape , of which there are some markable examples in church sculptures .

. e A man in Richard I I costume , with large bundl e strapped on his shoulders , is stooping to draw on his larg boots . Conventional foliage at sides .

( 1 5 ) A group of stiff foliage .

- A man in long frock , with waist belt and collar , his

. o f head bare and hair long By his side a barrel , pair bellows (showing a very respectable antiquity for that l m m t usefu i plement) , clogs , and ha mer . The left pendan is a woman seated on a stool . The right shows an altar a nd tomb with fourteenth century panelling , spades , skulls b ones , and a pick , above them a hand issuing out of clouds . - d and holding the holy water pot . It has been suppose that the principal figure is of a grave -d igger ; but th e

&c. w grouping of the hammer , , ith him , makes that very o ff doubtful . The arms of both figures are broken ; but the attitude Of the woman suggests that she is admonishing h the central figure . I f we suppose the tools to show im to m be a s ith , and that he is unduly fond of the barrel at his i ts Side , the woman might be pointing to the tomb and ghastly accompaniments on the other pendant as the certain end of such weakness . r On the north side , the first at the east end , is anothe - — a burlesque of the horned head dress large female head , f on with a hideous face , wears the offending coi fure , and i c d each side are boys j eer ng , one with a The se on is a similar subj ect but this time a bat wears the hea d dress , and on each side are grotesque monsters . Represents the end of the ale -wife who gave short r n mea sure . In the centre group a demon is ca ryi g the m i fu bi on unfortunate hostess in the most uncere on ous .

e e u n e 2 S il l stratio pag 3 . R H THE PARISH CHU C . 35

l with her false measure in her hand , to thrust her into hel mouth , which is shown on the right hand , while the foul

fiend himself plays the pipes . On the left is another f " demon , reading a long catalogue of her o fences .

(4) A mermaid with mirror . Fish on each side .

. n Mutilated A man on the ground , with a woma holding him , and another apparently assisting on the left , a pot o ver a fire . Probably this represented practical — j oking in a kitchen rather a favourite subj ect . 6 ( ) A hart with scroll , a crown round its neck , with chain attached grotesque heads on sides . (7) The head of a bishop with long hair ; he wears th e mitre , amice round the neck , and below may be traced the cope fastened by a morse or buckle on the two sides are mitres showing the pendant ornaments , called vittae or infulae . This combination of amice and cope is very un C usual , but occurs in the figure of Bishop oldwell , in

Norwich Cathedral . 8 ’ ( ) Three groups of Prince of Wales feathers , of a type ma rarely met with . This y probably have marked the seat of one of the young heirs apparent , who resided a t

. Ludlow Perhaps the Tudor rose , above mentioned , marked that of Prince Arthur , and it is quite possible that several of the later carvings may have indicat ed th e seat s

- of important people , as the hart gorged, the swan , and a ll mermaid , are badges of great families .

(9) A fox in mitre , hood , and cope , preaching to a number of geese from a pulpit . Mutilated This has been supposed to be a satirical attack on the clergy but it is more probably another incident from the before - mentioned fable of Reynard the Fox , which was very popular in the l Midd e Ages ; on the left are a man , woman , and hare , n mutilated , but probably representing another fable . O the right conventional foliage . 1 0 ( ) Hunted stag , on each side hounds in pursuit : 1 1 ( ) A crowned head , with flowing hair and beard conventional foliage at sides . ( 1 2 ) An archa ngel blowing a trumpet ; conventional foliage . 1 ( 3) Hawks on a lure , and lures on each side . 1 ( 4) Blank .

Sh e i s u n th e me i witho t clothi g , as that was d mva l me thod of e e en n s u e e r pr s ti g a o l aft r d ath . E H R 36 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IG BOU HOOD .

1 o 5 ) Tudor r ses groupe d . 1 ( 6) Blank .

E - TH LAD Y CHAPEL .

I t will be noticed th at th e chancel is not parallel to th e nave , but this is not due to the accidental cause it has been attributed to , being intended to symbolise the leaning of ’ our Saviour s head upon the Cross . Very likely the position of the two chapels was intended to follow the a n rrangement of the rood , St . J ohn and the Virgi on each side of the crucifix . They are placed in the angle formed - by the chancel and transepts , and are both large lean to c hambers with good Perpendicular roofs , divided from the c a hancel by the stall wainscoting , and from the tr nsepts by rich screens . That of the chapel on the south (The Lady) h as several light shafts , each with plain bases and capitals , rising from a thick beam , and supporting a number of con verging ribs , which meet in carved bosses and carry the loft

a . bove The three openings are treated like windows , with t racery in four principal lights and six smaller ones . A rich but mutilated fringe of perforated carving completes Of t he whole . J ust within the chapel is another piece old woodwork , one of the original benches , and opposite to it

t he . old Norman font , large , plain , and cylindrical The b r latter was restored to the Church by Sir Gil ert Scott , afte

- having served for many years as a water trough . In the a a upper lights of the e st window is a qu ntity of old glass , e xtremely good in colour , representing on a background of

- v i &c. . ne leaves , , a number of crowned heads There are t ablets of moderate age on the walls and piers . and the

- pavement has many gravestones . Those in the south east c d orner are the earliest in the building , being mostly foliate c rosses , which have been discovered in various parts of the

c . hurch In the south wall , above them , is a fine piscina of s imilar date (Early English) , and near it another opening , probably the original piscina niche , the first having be en l i nserted later . On the back of the sta ls dividing the chapel from the chancel is a copy of the Ten Command

m o . ents , painted on b ards in old English characters It has ’ V III S b een erroneously described as a reredos of Henry . t l m ime , but is real y the tables of the Com andments ’ w 1 60 C m hich , in 5 , were required by the Queen s om issioners THE PA RISH CHU RCH . 37

- N F THE LA H A L H T AN T L D L W H H . SCREE O DY C PE , SOU T R SEP , U O C URC

l to be set up in the east end of the chancel , to be not on y ed ifica ti on m read for , but also to give some co ely ornament and demonstration that the same wa s a place of religion ” and prayer .

’

H H PE . ST . JO N S C A L

The screen of the chapel on the north is more elaborately wrought and highly finished than the other . The open ings are eight in number and much smaller , beginning E RH 38 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IGHBOU OOD . about breast -high above twice as many tracery panels and a e row of p rforated quatrefoils , each opening having a s l ingle mullion , and the head fi led with intricate tracery . Above them the co rnice arches over with considerable n proj ection i side the chapel , and supports a loft . There are some quaint old benches with poppy - heads w ithin the chapel , and one wall is wainscoted with the d rapery panelling . Another portion of the wooden fittings r w emains in the arched canopy , ith angels carved on its bosses , over the east window , intended as a kind of bal d m achino for the altar . In the pave ent are many grave l-d efined stones , one of which , near the door , has the wel m atrix of a brass effigy . There is also the matrix of a small brass built into the north wall .

The glass in this chapel is of great interest , especially t hat in the east window , depicting in eight groups the “ : Legend of the Ring . Briefly , the story is this King Edward the Confessor having no coin to relieve an old man who asked his alms , gave him a valuable ring . Some time a f ter , the same ring was given to some pilgrims in the Holy

Land by an old man , who told them he was John the B re - aptist , and who charged them to deliver it to King

Edward as a token that his death would shortly ensue . l The pilgrims , on their return , fulfi led their errand to the l king , and have always been stated to be men of Lud ow . The topmost light on the left shows the pilgrims setting s ail for Palestine ( 2 ) the k ing giving the ring to the. old n man ; (3) St . John as an old man givi g the ring to the p ilgr ims ; (4) the pilgrims returning the ring to Edward ; ( 5 ) the pilgrims going to church in a procession of eccle sia sti cs 6 ; ( ) the pilgrims again before Edward , receiving some gift (7) reception of th e pilgrims on their retur n to

Ludlow (8) a gathering to celebrate their return . At the enetra i eri bottom is a fragment of an inscription , f f eceront i , which may be taken to confirm the connection of t he i window with the gu ld , or , at any rate , to show that it w a s not given by an individual . A few years ago the old glass occupied only the two centre lights , and it has been , t i ogether w th that in the other three windows , which was Th e in . also a damaged and chaotic condition , restored l h atter are rich and harmonious in colour , and depict t at on the left , Our Lord , with SS . Catherine , Christopher , and o l thers the other two , the Twelve Apost es , with portions f ’ o the Apostles Creed .

W E 4 0 LUDLO TOWN AND N IG HBOU RHOOD .

h " t is , is en tered from it by a pointed arch , and was pro bably the residence of a chantry priest it has one window ,

- and in it is a fine old iron bound chest . The arch in north . m wall of chancel is described later with the monu ents , but the piscina and sedilia opposite to it should not be forgotten . n They are late , like their surroundi gs , and have flat , ' - d square topped canopies ; the details , however , are very goo and should be examined . The reredos , which covers the al east w l below the window , was discovered before the restoration , in a mutilated condition , and was restored

. . . . . w . . h o under the direction of Mr R K Penson , R I , F S A has kindly furnished me with details which enabled me to i i a make a fairly complete analys s of the whole , wh ch is deeply interesting work of ancient art . A very short r account of it must suffice here . The whole of the uppe

sma ll u . row , which contains a great number of fig res in tabernacle work , is original , also that below , which has not

- much proj ection , including the door head , with the knight All n r and dragon in combat . the detached figures u de canopies are modern , from drawings by Overbeck , and the proj ecting canopies in the lower row are conj ectural from m the re ains of the old ones , which had been cut down to

- one level , as also had the five bas reliefs over the altar , t which were r e produced on the original lines . They represen the Nativity , Baptism , Crucifixion , Resurrection , and

Ascension , of Our Lord . Portions of the colour and gilding

. l original In the south wall , near the piscina , is a smal doorway leading to a chamber at the back , which is lighted by the exquisite little thirteenth century window before o f mentioned . Many explanations of various degrees l probabi ity have been given for its presence here , but the most likely are that it was a convenient place in which to r keep the church treasures , or through which lepers and othe outcasts might receive communion . In the tower is a fine

1 2 . peal of eight bells , but none are older than 73

E MON UM NTS .

One would expect to find a church of such importance a m rich in medi eval to bs , but though there are records which speak of several , they have nearly all disappeared . We m was have to reme ber , however , that the parish church t not the only large church in the town . It is probable tha “ H R THE PA RIS H C U CH . 4 1 great people of the place were interred as was the practice o in early times , in the churches of the m nastic bodies all

- the more so , as there are so few pre Reformation tombs in m the church . With the exception of two atrices of brasses ’ flori a ted in St . John s Chapel and some fragments of

- crosses in the Lady Chapel , there is but one Gothic tomb

remaining , a group of two large and three small recesses ,

- with cusped and crocketed arches , in the north west corner i m of the north aisle , wh ch tradition connects with the na e n of Prince Arthur , son of Henry VI I . As it is well know that he died at Ludlow Castle , that when his body was em m bal ed and carried in great state to Worcester , the bowels ’ a nd were buried in St . Lawrence s Church , and as the style ma decoration of the tomb are in accord with this date , it y well be that the tradition is correct . In each of the two

- larger recesses is a square altar like tomb , the face highly - m enriched with Gothic tracery panels , the eastern ost having m th e also a large Tudor rose , which orna ent is prominent in ’ decoration of Prince Arthur s tomb in Worcester Cathedral . The smaller recesses are separated by semi - detached but tresses , and each contains a seat . I t is possible that a . - a nd chantry chapel existed here , enclosed by screen work , ofli ci a tin that the seats were intended for g priests , and that a piscina was included in the damaged eastern portion .

There is no inscription , except those on later slabs which have been used to repair the top , but perhaps the western m Cokki s most tomb is that entioned by Leland as to one , ” m . a gentle an servitor to Prince Arthur . On this tomb is placed every Sunday , for distribution to twelve poor widows “ a dole of bread , which was founded by Thomas Lane , ” 1 6 6 fo r Gent , Alderman of this Corporation , in 7 , who C the Maintenance of that haritable Gift , for ever , Devised ’ ” a Parcel of Land in St . John s . The other monuments are not earlier than the reign o f

Elizabeth , but as they follow one another in close succes f a n sion , and most of them contain large figures , they a ford interesting and instructive series for the study of costume th e during that and the two following reigns . One of - - e oldest is a large altar tomb of free stone , under an elaborat - e Gothic arch at the far end of the chancel . I t has life siz effi ies l e g of a knight and lady on the top , three smal on s of daughters on each end , and six sons along the front . The head of the knight rests on a large clasped book , on each H 4 2 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N EIG BOU RHOOD .

side of which is a gauntlet , and another book in the folded l- h ands . On the head is the black skul cap of a Chief

J ustice . His armour is entirely plate , and early Eliza bethan in character the hinges and other details are very th e clearly shown , and sword in a singular position under

the body . The lady wears the French Hood , or Paris H ” ead , a kind of close linen cap with a lappet hanging d own from the back . The gown is fastened by a sash at h e f the waist , and is t rown open b low to display a stif

petticoat embroidered with a diapered pattern . The l u f sleeves are puffed and slashed , and have sma l r fs at the w rists . Her feet rest on three dogs , and those of the m knight on a stag . The s all figures on the front are a ttired in the civilian costume of the same period . They w ear long open cloaks , showing the doublet buttoned

- d . own the front , trunk hose stockings , and long shoes T here have been painted inscriptions under each group , but t h e lower ones have become undecipherable through damp . B y very close scrutiny it can be made out that they are the n ames of the children , with the people they married , as

Amye was maride to Raffe Dutton , Esquire . It is a pity that the early historians of Ludlow did not copy them : as well as the upper one , which can be read as follows i Bod es Townesh end Heare l eth the y of Syr Robart , l Knight , Chief J ustes of the Counse l in the marches of " his w ff u Valles and Chester , and Dame Alice y , Da ghter , He res Pov e and one of the y of Robert y , Esquire , who had between them twoo X I I children— VI sonnes and VI d aughters lawfully begot . e The general design of the arch is Late Perp ndicular , but a dditions have been made to bring it more into harmony

viz . with the Renaissance character of the tomb , the flat e Townesh end ntablature at the top , the arms in the recess , a nd al the family badges , the sc lop and pomegranate , as c usps to the arch . Previous to the Reformation this r ecess would be used for the reception of the Easter Sepul th e chre , a moveable structure representing Holy Sepulchre m set up j ust before Easter , when certain rites in com em oration Oi the Burial and Resurrection of our Lord were

observed with great ceremony . th e On the south side of chancel , under the second window al - counting from the east , is a small tar tomb of plain tcla ssic Character , and above (ingeniously combined with the THE PA RISH CHU RCH . 43

fifteenth century panel -work of the wall) are several coats : of arms disposed in hatchments , and this inscription t b e Ambrozi a iii Heare lyeth the bod y of Sidney , j daughter

N N N T B W H H . AS T S LCH A D T W SH E D , L DL C C E ER EPU RE , O OM U O UR W EI H 44 LUDLO TOWN AND N G BOU RHOOD .

Henr e t h e of the Right Honourable Syr y Sydney , Knight of m ost noble order of the Garter , Lord President of the

&c. L a d e w e f Counsell of Walles , , and of the y Mary his y , daughter to the famous Duke of Northumberland wh o

2 2nd 1 . dyed in Ludlow Castell ye of Februarie , 5 74 The Ch u rch a rd e poet y , writing in the reign of Elizabeth , of this m : to b , says So to the same a closet fayre is wrought where lords may sit in stately solemne wise . This was probably a canopied oak pew , such as were frequently

m . erected in churches at that ti e , for the use of great families and of which a good example exists in the chancel at

Stokesay . In the next bay towards the west is a large tomb of alabaster , with a mural arch above embellished with scrolls an d pinnacles , and surmounted by a figure of Time , with a

- effi i es. scythe and hour gl a ss . There are two large g The : m w male clad in civilian costume na ely , a long go n with n sleeves reaching nearly to the ground , and hangi g down In from the shoulders as mere ornamental strips , with holes the upper part for the arms . Underneath it a doublet and

- trunk hose . The female figure shows some changes in costume since the date of the Townesh end figure . The hair is brushed back from the temples , and the Paris hood has the lappet thrown forward over the top of the head The ornament in front of the skirts Is scroll work instead of a diapered pattern . On the face of the tomb are figures of

- the sons in civilian dress , with short cloaks and long waisted doublets and on the two ends the daughters . The names are painted above them , but a mistake has been made by putting J ames over a daughter and Mary over a son . The s n original iron rail are still round the tomb , with pe nons at the corners , perforated with the initials of the deceased . Above is this inscription : Heare lye the bodi es of Ed Es Chi effe mund Walter , q , J ustice of three shiers in South ’ C l in Wales , and one of his Maj estie s ouncil the Marches of a nd Ha ckelvi t Wales , of Mary his wife , daughter of Thomas , of Eyton , Esquire , who had issue three sonnes , named m J ames , John , and Edward , and two daughters , na ed h Mary and Dorothy . He was buried the 29t day of J an

n B ni . arie , Anno , A very picturesque group on the Opposite wall is the Wa t ies s memorial of the family , with two quaint figure under a plain lintel supported on Corinthian pilasters , and H THE PA RISH CHU RC . 45

m a carved head in the centre . The ale figure wears a ff black cap with ornamented border , large ru , and long red

gown . The lady has her head bare , ru ff at the neck , tight

s wi th . wid e leeved gown , over which a long mantle short : sleeves . Under them is the following This monument Wa ties Es u i er Ma t i es was erected by Edward , q , one of his Councell in Ordinary in the Principa lli ty and Marches of e Aeta tis su a e 0 Wales , in his lief time anno 7 , in memorial e wi efe d of him self Martha , his late decease , who was d Issa bell aughter to Sir Charles Foxe , knight , and dame , e e is wi ef . d h She departed this lief the secon day of October, 1 62 e 9 they had issue between them three sonnes , Charles , Timo thi e Edward , and , and foure daughters , Margaret , i ch Issa b ell 8: w , Margaret Anne , of all only two are nowe li vin e g , Margaret , the younger , who is married to Edward C Es u i er orbett , of Longnor , in the County of Salop , q , n A ne , who is married to Edward Foxe , of Ludford , in the ” County of H ereford . The next figure in order of date is that of Dame Margaret h Eure , at the end of the south transept . It s ows the c hanges in female dress which were introduced towards the

e nd Of the reign of Elizabeth . The hair is drawn away

from the forehead , and covered by a huge calash or hood , which falls a considerable distance down the back ; an e m nor ous ruff surrounds the neck , and the skirts of the r d ess proj ect abruptly at the hips , below the peaked

s . tomacher , being extended by the use of farthingales The

figure is of alabaster , and recl ines on the left elbow , instead o f being recumbent at full length or kneeling , as hitherto .

- I t does not now mark the burial place of the deceased , as

it was removed from the Chancel during the restoration . At the feet is a wooden half -effigy of a man in late armour m and a turban . The sa e figure occurs as part of the coat l e h . : t of arms above The inscription says Here y , ex ecti n e o full p g a j y Resurrection , the body of Dame Mary Ra l h . e Eure , late wife to Right Hon p Lord Eure , Baron of ri nci a li ti e Malton , Lord President of the p p and Marches of W 8: ales , Lieutenant of the same , and Daughter of Sir

D Sesse Y . J ohn awney , of y, in the County of orke , knight Sh e l fe 1 0th departed this mortal y the day of March , Anno 1 61 2 mt a tis su ae Domini , On the floor near the Eure monument is a slab of red s tone , with a border of white inlaid , inscribed and dated E H R 46 LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU HOOD .

1 fi a nd 1 6 7. In the centre an ef gy of white stone inlaid

w . incised with the figure of a lady , but very much worn do n ’ h Br d e The monument in St . John s Chapel to Sir Jo n y g man and his wife shows a good example of the female a costume prevalent during the reign of Charles I . It is

- r be effi i es. la ge white marble altar tomb , with two recum nt g Th e The male figure is clad in a square cap and long robe . female figure has the hair in ringlets , and over it a kerchief d edged with a deep border of lace , a rich collar of lace roun a nd the neck , full sleeves to the gown , pointed stomacher , a kind of sleeveless mantle formed in two pieces j oined at The the shoulder , and she holds a book in her right hand . original railings still divide the tomb from the rest of the : chapel . At the back of the tomb is the inscription ’ a r ze D ni Br d ema n Mili tis S c vm Memori Johannis y g , u i Serui entis ad legem et ca pi tali s J ustici a ri z Cestri m. Q m moevore o vi xisset maximo omniu bonorum (cum 7 anuos ) , d d id i t 1 6 Pla cid e re . Febru anno 37, pie q animam Deo ” be Francisa o r moest issima posu it . Which may m rendered , Sacred to the me ory of Sir J ohn Bridgman , -a t - Knight , Serj eant Law , and Chief Justice of Chester , who , to the very great grief of all good persons (when he had ul h is lived seventy years) , piously and peacef ly gave up i ca h th 1 6 . ra nc s is soul to God on the 5 of February , 37 F ,

- w . ever sorro ing wife , erected this monument m the In the chancel is a white marble mural to b , in classic style of the eighteenth century , with a highly finished u u fig re of a cherub seated on a collection of sk lls , bones , - m m hour glass , and other emblems , which com e orates Es of Theophilus Salwey , q , who was the eldest son Es Edward Salwey , q , a younger son of Maj or Richard ’ sa crific d a ll Salwey , who , in the last century , and every thi ng in his power in support of Public Liberty and in opposition to Arbitrary Power . The said Theophilus al S wey married Mary , the Daughter and Heiress of Robert Es Dennet , of Walthamstow , in the County of Essex , q , 28th Of 1 . 60 but left no issue by her Obiit the day April , 7 , ”

1 . ee : . a t . 6 Pro Rege S pe Pro Republica Semper

CHAPTER V .

THE TOWN .

” — — R emain s of th e Mon asteries Th e Colle ge Th e Grammar School — — — Barnaby H ou se Dinham Chape l Th e Town Wall Broa d Gate Gaol Bu tt er Cross Corporation Mace s Civic u n —D me e u e— m u e —Th e u eu m B ildi gs o stic Archit ct r Al sho s s M s .

THE remaining interest in the town itself is chiefly in the r th e elics which connect it with remote past , most of them r al m h emains of ecclesiastic ilitary , civic , or domestic arc i t ecture . C Of the ecclesiastical , the monastery of the armelites has alr eady been mentioned . The existing fragments are a

- few carved heads in the wall of the burial ground of St . ’ Leonard s Church , which now occupies the site , the old n all font therein , and an old arch in the la e c ed Linney , which ru ns from the lower end of Corve Street towards the — castle . This arch is of the transitional period from

Norman to Early English . Leland spoke of the bii ild ing

- as a fair and costly thing , without Corv gate by north , nearly at the end of the suburb . Laurence de Ludlow is ’

MS. said , in one of Stow s , to have been the founder , about The site was granted in the 2nd of Elizabeth to i R . Hackett and Thomas Trentham . There is an nventory of the goods temp . Henry VI I I . in the Chapter House ,

Westminster . The Carmelites , or White Friars , took the

first name from the place of their first residence , and the second from the colour of their habit . They were driven

1 0 8 . from Mount Carmel , in 9 , by the Saracens The Austin Fri a rs also possessed a large monastery on the slope below

on the site of the Cattle Market . The fou nd a tions were uncovered when the latter was made , and plans were taken of them but no visible traces exist except the

- fish . Go alford ponds , now empty Leland says Without

G ate stood the house of Austin Friars , who had seated themselves there before The Priory was granted to

Th e F u n e en u e i n t h e e n e word o d r was oft s d s s of patron . L u n e c e e en t h e fi u n e m t h a re c o u ld hardly hav b rst fo d r , fro e early

Chara ct er of t h e arch . ' a e f d 1 N ow spe lt G ld o r . THE TOWN .

m I st Geo . Cotton and Willia Man , in the year of Mary . These friars had a white garment and scapulary when in the house , over which , when in the choir or abroad , they wore a cowl or large hood . both black , and black leathern girdle . al There was also a Hospit of St . John the Baptist on the

- . m river side below Ludford Bridge The na e survives in St . ’ m u J ohn s Close , and the ruin of a fulling ill nder the top " side of the bridge is a relic of their property . Leland br d e says : On the North syde of the y g , in ripa sinistra

Teme , a Church of St . John standing without Broad Gate , m t m ’ so e i e a College with a Dean and fellows , of one Jordan s m foundation . This see s to be , says Tanner , the

Hospital for a Prior , Warden , or Master , which one , Peter

Undergod , in the latter end of the reign of John , built to the n honour of the Trinity , St . Mary , and St . Joh the Baptist ,

1 . valued at the dissolution at { 3 3s 3d . The Warden and brethren ought , as it is sayd , to discharge ye cure and say ’ divine service in ye king s chapell of Sa ynt Peter within ye ” Castell of Ludlow . The list of religious bodies of mediaeval Ludlow is com ’ et ed m pl with the Brotherhood of the Pal er s Guild . Their College is a plain modernised building at the west of the church having a Perpendicular oak gateway and some p a nelled rooms . At the back are some remains m of stone buildings , covering a considerable space , ost of which are not ea rlier than the fifteenth century ; but one now n large window , hidden by decayi g Sheds , at the back of Church Street . is a capital example of Early Decorated o f n m work , and great i terest as attesting the i portance and extent of the College . The old house adj oining on the north , known as the old rectory , has also been lately reno v a t ed m ; and , on the re oval of the plastering , it could be n seen that the door , though ancient and retai ing its Old

- iron work , was under and at one side of a much larger stone pointed arch , which can still be seen . The intervening space was filled up with stonework , and timber framing , and in the latter , at the top of the door , was a good window m with moulded oak ullions , now removed . There was n another window u covered in the lower part of the wall , m which presumably still re ains , and has an ogee head , shutter hinges , and other signs of being coeval with it .

Th e remains of this mill were swept away i n th e rece n t disastrou s flood H RH 5 0 LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIG BOU OOD .

These evidences of alteration in the Tudor period are most l in as l n t interesting , especia ly as this c e i lustrati g an impor in — dis ant episode the history of the town namely , the solution of the guild , and the application of its property through new channels to works of religion and education . m Doubtless , at this ti e the college buildings were altered to suit new requirements and we have in the Gothic masonry u and Tudor additions a record of this . It wo ld have been most interesting , as well as picturesque , if the ancient door and window had been retained , and I tried during the

al m . recent terations to save the , but without avail That - w part of the ground floor , lighted by the ogee headed indow , i was divided by heavy oak framework , w th pointed door ways of the same date . That this was an important edifice we know from the notes of Leland , who speaks of it and its owners thus This church hath beene muche advanced by a brotherhood therein founded , in the name of St . John the Evangelist . The Origi na ll thereof was (as the people say there) in the t me y of King Edward the Confessor , and it is constantly a fli rmed there that the Pilgrims that brought the Ringe from beyond the Sea as a token from St . John the Evange ow an L u dl e . list to K . Edward were the inhabit ts of This Fraternity hath a Guardian chosen annually a monge the

Burgesses , and to this College belonge now a ten Priests partly found by endowment of Landes , partly by Gather inge the Devotion of the People about there . And these Priests have a fayre house at the West end of the Pa roch e Ch u rch e Hos i t all 0 yard , and by it an p or almshouse for 3 m poore Folkes for the most part , and so etimes more , main t a ined partly by the Fraternity and partly by mony given ” for Obbi ts of men buried there in the Ch u rch e . When we turn to its early history for confirmation of this claim to date from the time of Edward the Confessor m i (which would assume a town here in Saxon ti es , wh ch

Mr . Eyton thinks probable) , we find it misty and confused , but still affording a distinct clue to such a society from a ll time not far short of that . The documents which sti exist would themselves fill a large volume . The earliest is date less and mutilated , but it has been demonstrated by

a s l as . laborious research to be ear y Henry I I I or J ohn , and in it there is evidence of the existence of a former guild . l I. In the early years of the reign of Edward , the gui d HE T TOWN . o l btained forma recognition , and in the Patent Rolls of

Edward I I I . is a mention of the application , and its being granted by Edward I . In these Letters Patent the guild is ” spoken of as having existed ab antiquo . Besides these f f acts in support of the claim , the name itself is di ficult to explain by any other theory , and is known to have dis t in ui sh ed m g the Fraternity from a very early ti e . In the w m 1 1 ill of Willia de la Vilde , 3 7, is the following passage fra terni t lu d lo e I tem lego ta i St . Andre de w quae voca tur ” pa lma rgylde. l n Not included in the genera Dissolution of He ry VI I I . , t i was in the reign of Edward VI . surrendered to the Crown on condition of being handed over to the Corporation for the same charitable ends to which it had been always a m pplied . The anuscripts relating to this transaction are preserved among the town records they extend over several c years , but eventually the fee farm of all su he burgages , m esu a es t enementes woo dd es ‘ g , lands , , , and all other heri d i ta ments what soe ever belonging to the gu yld e or fra terni ti e m L a d e of pal ers of our y in Ludlow , the b r th ern sisterne u ld e warden , y , and of the sayd g y being ’ ’ c Ki n e s h a nd es ontented to surrender unto the g maj estie s , b a liffes b ur essi s m were granted to the y , g , and com onal ” a lwa es find e tie , with the condition that they y in the s m sch ole a e towne , at their own charges , a free grammar , with a schoolmaster and an h u ssh er for the eru d ici on of x xx ii im youth in the Latine tonge , and also j poore and o o f p tent people , every one them to have a chamber and i ii S a lsoe h oneste rea ch e j a week , and on learned man to p G od d es ll m woord , which sha be na ed the preacher of the t L u d lowe h oneste m owne of , and on and discrete inister to assist the parson in the mi nistraci on of the devine sacra m l entes and service there , wich shall be cal ed the assistant ” to the parson .

T HE G RAMMAR S CHOOL .

1 2 In the fifth year of Edward V I . , 5 5 , a new charter was mm granted , which states that a Gra ar School had been m aintained by the Guild and provides , among other things , that the issues and profits of their premises should keep ” a nd T continue the said Grammar School . here is a par ti cula r l e of the Gui d estate attach d to the grant , which E H RH LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

T HE G H L F ILL T T L L W RAMMAR SC OO , ROM M S REE , UD O .

d 1 2 1 . 1 1 . gives the gross income as £ 35 § , but no means exist of identifying the actual propert y . The present m m inco e handso ely provides for a head master , second a m severa lexhibi t ions m ster , and writing aster , and there are of value , open to boys of the district . The building itself stands in the lower part of Mill Street , and is very interest m r ing . Its evident antiquity bears out the docu enta y evidence of its existence much earlier than the charter of ’ Edward V I . Except the one at King s Norton , part of which is believed to be fourteenth century . there are probably few other instances of a grammar school so old HE T TOWN . 5 3

e . ither in fabric or foundation The schoolroom , which faces the road , is a stone building with a large pointed d a n oor , d on its upper side two fourteenth century windows o f on two lights , having the heads cusped , and the lower side is a modern copy of them . In the roof are five large d m ormers , which give light to a dor itory , and on the garden two m side are ore fourteenth century windows , like those facing the street , but having only one light . Near them is another door Opposite and similar to the first . The lower part of the walls is panelled with J acobean oak , which is c arved above by the original maker and below by genera

- tions of mischievou s school boys . The turret and windows — under it are modern . There was a wooden bell turret in 1 800 the centre of the roof in , but it was destroyed , when the present was erected and the south end modernised .

BA R NAB Y HOUSE .

A little below the Grammar School , parallel to and j ust l within the old Town Wal , is a row of buildings of grey s m - tone , much ti e worn , and now divided into several tene m - m a nd ments . So e years ago it was used as a silk ill , gave m to the lane the name it still bears . But it has a uch more

c . onsiderable antiquity , as a close inspection will Show The side towards the lane bears evidence of having been m n uch altered , especially the wi dow openings , but there is — h igh up a long opening like a doorway now bricked u p with a shouldered arch in the head , which is thirteenth century . The end towards Mill Street was last used as a stable ; in it there is a large fireplace with moulded side

- stones and corbelled head . From the loft over this can be s een the fine timber framework of the roof , divided by large beams into compartments which are trefoiled in each end .

In the garden front the walls are very thick and solid , of limestone rubble , with large quoins of sandstone . There is

- here an Early English window , and near it a corbelled out m projection ; also a large door of the sa e period , with shouldered head . This edifice was no doubt part of one which was called m a Barnaby House , and in edi eval times served as a resting u m place for pilgrims , of which there were great n bers

passed through Ludlow on their way to the Well of St .

Winifred at Holywell , in Wales . EI H RH 5 4 LUDLOW TOWN AND N G BOU OOD .

H M H PE DIN A C A L .

m J ust within Dinha Gate stands a small chapel , now ivy b covered , and surmounted by a wooden turret , having een

- converted into a coach house . Scarcely anything is known of its history , and it is not easy to decide what was its plan or extent , as only the chancel remains , but it seems very th e likely that the nave extended over Town Gate , which

- . now was not an unusual arrangement The chancel arch ,

fitted with large doors , is the entrance , and is of simple and m very Early English character , with plain i posts and m l there is a si i ar one nearly as large in the north wall , but built up , as is a small doorway under it . This chancel was m vaulted with stone , and the ribs re ain entire , springing m m fro corbels in the four angles , only a short distance fro

. a re the floor , though the vault is lofty On the south side ffi o f several apertures , which it is di cult to understand one them has externally a Norman look . The recess of a large m a east window re ains with , perhaps , tracery , but there is stable built against it .

M I T RY AN D I I R M LI A C V C E AINS .

m th e The only ilitary remains , except the castle , are fortifica t i ons u nless u d Go a lford town , we include a b il ing in , which was reconstructed as a gaol from the ruins of an a l a ncient to wer in 1 75 4 . The Town W l can be traced m th e throughout its length , and will be best understood fro m e plan . In any places it is still of considerabl height and

o ne m . well preserved , though of the five gates only re ains In Frog Lane there is a considerable length of the town as lm ditch under the wall , cultivated a garden to an old a s

a t . e house the corner of Old Street At this point , Old Gat

m . crossed the street , and was entire within living me ory B ro a d Ga te m of , at the other end of Frog Lane , the na e m o m m h a s which no doubt co es fr its proxi ity to the moat , m en been ta pered with at various times , and both sides W crusted ith houses , but still shows considerable strength , m standing massive and gri across the street , whose great two breadth it reduces to a narrow arched passage . The semi - circular towers of stone with bricked -up loop - holes a r e med ize val probably late work , but the heavy pointed arch wi t he thin , with its portcullis groove and gate hinges , is of

6 E H R H 5 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IG BOU OOD .

become ruinous . The only remains of the earlier building are two ancient doors , which may have been part of the

Gate . Considering its ancient corporate history , the civic l buildings of Lud ow are disappointing . The best is the t no t Butter Cross , at the top of Broad S reet,which , though a bou t t wo i i more than centuries old , is a very quaint bu ld ng , and from some points qui te a picturesque one . It was no doubt built on the site of a more ancient Market Cross , t r such as still exis s at Cheddar and Salisbu y . A good feature is the clock turret , in which is a bell stated to have belonged to the Chapel of St . Leonard ; but there is no re - evidence of this , and if it did , it must have been cast , as the inscription is All Pra yse and Glory to God for ever ’

1 68 . more , 4 , and the bells at St Leonard s were (at any rate , originally) much older . The lower story forms a shelter for market people , and the upper has a Chamber used for Sunday School and similar purposes . In it the

Corporation , in accordance with an ancient custom , meet m on Sunday mornings , and arch , with the Mayor at their - w head , and preceded by two mace bearers in black go ns , into church and up the nave to the pew set apart for their f use . This procession has a very picturesque e fect , which is much enhanced by contrast with another one of surpliced choristers and clergy , which , starting from the far end of the m chancel at the same mo ent , streams slowly down the

m . choir , to the solemn acco paniment of the organ The ancient maces used in this ceremony are a part of the Corporation insignia , which , though not so old as that of some towns , is very handsome , and much of it the same 1 metal as is found recorded as far back as 5 94 , but melted

- down and re worked into other designs . Besides the three s maces , there are four silver tankard , two salvers , and two - m tobacco boxes of the same metal . The aces have large m crowns at the top and the town and royal ar s on a boss , h m a w ich is bracketed out fro the stem , round which in e ch case are three ornamental bands at intervals . The design f m and of the two smaller ones di fers fro the larger one , I2 m they are older , having the letters R for J a es II on the occasion of whose visit they were bought . The gr eat w . as mace , which is 3 ft . 45 in long , the gift of an ancesto r

' of the Salwey family . The inscription on the knob at the D D Arrni er bottom is , . . J ohanns Salway g unus ex alder l 1 6 2 manis vil ae de Ludlow 9 , Two of the tankards are THE TOWN . 5 7

L D L W T I N I N IGNI U O CORPORA O S A .

m m . rather s all , and are orna ented with the town arms They

m w 1 6 1 680. have assive lids , and ere acquired in 77 and h m i The larger ones ave ore ornamental l ds , and the lion couchant - guardant of the town arms forming part of the 8 . 1 1 hinge They were made in 7 , as also were the salvers ,

l . which are rather sha low , and have the Ludlow arms

The Market , or Corn Exchange , in the Castle Square , is W a Queen Anne building of red brick , not hat architects call

Queen Anne , but the actual work of that reign , and a very meagre and unprepossessing edifice , though not without " character .

- The Guildhall , a red brick building in Mill Street , is used as a Police Court , and for Quarter Sessions . I t was 1 68 erected in 7 , on the Site of a former one of that name , ’ belonging to the Palmers Guild .

T R T R DOM ES IC A CHITEC U E .

Domestic architecture is well represented , the best m th e exa ple being the celebrated F eathers Hotel , one of

n e e n n Si c tak dow . E H RH LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

finest houses of its type in the country . Its exterior no visitor will be likel y to miss , but parts of the interior are equally good , and he would do well , even if a teetotaller , In f - to visit them . the co fee room the ceiling is divided by m m moulded bea s into three co partments , which are most elaborately wrought and filled with intricate ornament . The carved oak mantel -piece is said to have come from the m castle , but whether or not , it har onizes admirably with the beautiful ceiling and rich panelling of its present

T H E F T H H L L L W T . EA ERS O E , UD O HE T TOWN . 5 9

m m quarters . I ts ost pro inent feature is the royal coat of arms , with the letters I . R . for J acobus Rex , with bold arches and pilasters flanked by grotesque figures on each side .

The adj oining room has good panelling , and the Foxe arms " e on a carved panel over the door . Externally the hous is a s triking group of overhanging gables of timber and plaster , the timbers disposed in various quaint patterns , e and richly carved . There is a tradition that the hous by ma s was built one J ones , which y account for the initial

- R . I . on the picturesque lock plate of the front door .

There are many houses of this kind in the town , though most of them are plastered over , and otherwise disfigured t a s and concealed . Perhaps the next bes is that known ’ the Reader s House , in the churchyard , chiefly of stone , with a proj ection of timber and plaster in the front t e Th e h m . face , and back and ends of the sa e material r p oj ection is treated with considerable elaboration , and m d the lower portion , which for s a porch , has much bol

' ca rvi ng j The inner and outer doors are also very good . o The row of h uses at the top of Broad Street , which proj ect over the footpath , is the old Butcher Row , and contains some good old work ; but the whole , with one exception , plastered over . There are some fine old houses in Church

Street , one of which has some good carved panelling and a bold inscription . In High Street is a fine and elaborate ceiling of the time of Queen Anne . In the Bull Ring a a nd barge board is carved to represent a hunting scene , there are one or two good houses there : one fine one in Th e Dinham , and a few at the lower end of Corve Street . statement is often made that the groups of houses which now stand in the midst of the Bull Ring are modern a nd m - additions , that when the old pasti e of bull baiting prevailed the whole area was Open . This is not the case , as the isolated houses are quite as Old as those round the sides , and in a walled town space would be too valuable to

- use for such a purpose . Certainly bull baiting has been practised as much since the erection of the houses as before .

Th e m a r e e n e we en e e e e e e ar s , a ch vro b t thr fox s h ads ras d F e m e ee e e H cke lu i t On e h a . ( ox ) , i pal d with thr hatch ts prop r ( ) ac e h e e i s n m h e - e sid of t shi ld a pa e l with a lat e e xa pl e of t wat er bou g t . In th e e n e a n t h e u e e m a re e abs c of y history of ho s , th se ar s of gr at

n e e nne n i t n n t h e . i t r st , as co cti g with two a cie t familie s of district ' See n 6 u e 2 . 1 ill stratio , pag 60 AN D E H RH LUDLOW TOWN N IG BOU OOD .

ALM SHOUSES .

- About half way down Old Street , at the corner of Frog

Lane , a very fine old house of timber and plaster , with a stone basement , is delightful both in form and colour . I t a n e 1 6 is almshouse for old women , and was found d in 74 b y one Thos . Lane , who had been a servant to Sir Job

Charlton . He left a sum of m oney in trust to the Charlton be family , with which the present house , which had en granted by the Corporation , and was already old , was repaired and furnished . At the beginning of the century it wa s known as the Workhouse , and behind it a small prison o r cell , as the House of Correction for securing vagrants ” a nd other petty delinquents . - o In the dining room is an old c at of arms , quartering

France and England , surrounded by the Garter , and having a s m supporters the Lion and Dragon . It is sur ounted by E R . a crown and the initials . I t is probably the coat of Elizabeth ; but as Sh e generally quartered Wales and

I reland , too , it might be that of Edward VI . , with whose a rms and supp orters it corresponds . r Near the modern church of St . Leonard , in Co ve Street , m is another al shouse , a long low building of stone , with m 1 . the Foxe arms , and date 5 93 Charles Foxe , of Bro

field , by his will of same date , left the land and chapel w hich he had purchased , and which were a part of the property of the White Friars— for the use of the occupants of four almshouses which he had begun to build there . He a lso provided a stipend for the curate of Ludford , to read

Divine Service every Wednesday and Friday , and every a nd Sunday and festival day in the year , he gave two l o l B romfield be ls , which he had in his s l ar at , to be hanged " up in the steeple of the chapel . In the middle of the last century the trust of this charity had descended to two infants , Henry and J ames Foxe , who were educated an d abroad , during their minority the charity was badly neglected , and the chapel allowed to get out of repair . In 1 6 n m 7 9, J ames Foxe , there bei g no issue of the fa ily of the i testator , and he l ving remote from the place , conveyed to 1 the Corporation the whole premises . In 75 9 the tiling w as taken off the roof , as it being in so ruinous a manner a s rendered it a great nuisance , and very unsafe to pas H e een n e th e m n B ro mfield P had b gra t d a or of riory . HE T TOWN . 61

sen ers . 1 g In 773 the roof of the church was taken down ,

1 8d . m 2 63 . and the ti ber sold for £ , and there are records m u of su s paid in that year during the process of destr ction , l - 5 5 . 1 0c . 7 , for four waggon load of stone tile and - 260 two waggon load of brick tile , laths , and two o th e dozen crests , and an ther for timber and iron bars from ” n chancel put i the charity school . One of the bells is W said , ithout known authority , to be now placed over the

Butter Cross . The walls of the chapel remained standing till the end of the century , the land being leased to Mr . 1 1 3 Acton for 99 years at a rent of £ 6 . From the above it almost seems as if the almshouse chapel was the church of the Carmelite Friary , but if only a subordinate chapel , the monastery must have been a very important st ructure . The chapel had a chancel and a al steeple , with room for sever bells , and must have been m m su m large , fro the quantity of tiles , and fro the obtained m m for the decayed roof ti bers , and it ust have stood near the street , as the loose tiles were dangerous to passengers . The conduct of the Corporation with respect to this — charity caused much dissat isfaction in the town their u having p lled down the chapel , which it was one of the obj ects of the charity to preserve and perpetuate , when the inha bitants were in want of church room and burial ground that the value of the materials was not accou nted ch a el ‘ la nd for , and the long lease of the p granted by the u com Corporation to one of their own body , were ca ses of plaint . On the expiration of this lease the modern church was erected .

THE E M US UM .

A group of buildings at the corner of Mill Street and the m Castle Square , called the Asse bly Rooms , contains a m n m large roo for balls and meetings , a readi g roo and entered from Mill Street— the Museum of the Ludlow

Natural History Society . It contains a very fine collection

- of Silurian fossils , a large and well preserved collection of m m birds , and many relics fro the castle , church , and onas t er m i es of the town . There are also a nu ber of the munici pal charters and records of the greatest interest . The documents of the Guild of Hammermen— the last of the — Ludlow trade guilds i n the original seventeenth century 62 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N EIGHBOU RHOOD .

oak chests , have recently been presented by the oldest i " surviv ng member of the guild , and are of great value in throwing light on the commercial history of the town . There is a very fine old iron -bound chest with rude Gothic ornament . Over the doorway is a relic of an extraordinary old custom which was kept up within living memory in the vi z l town . , the two ends , with large wooden bal s attached , i of a large rope , with which the follow ng ceremony was — On gone through Shrove Tuesday , the rope , which was

- three inches in circumference and thirty nine yards long , was given out at one of the windows of the Market H a ll at ’ four o clock , and two parties of townsmen , one representing

Castle Street and Broad Street Wards , and the other for

Old Street and Corve Street Wards , took the ends of it , and each tried to drag the other across the town , the Broad m Street party trying to dip their end in the Te e , and the

Corve Street theirs in the Corve .

d e m e Ol e . Mr. Tho as Cook , lat of Str t

’ A IN LAN H I T L RMS E S OSP A .

6 4 LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIG HBOU RHOOD .

n reign of J oh . In the Fitz Warine romance , written early h oce in the t irteenth century , is the passage This J de Dinan caused to be made below the town of Dyna n a m Temed e bridge of stone and li e , over the river of into the high road which goes through the March from Chester to

F B G B " LU D ORD RI D E FROM ELO V.

o ce Bristol . J was castellan of Ludlow in the reign of m Stephen . It is also entioned in other thirteenth centu ry m d docu ents . About the mid le of the sixteenth century Leland speaks of it thus There be three fayre arches m in this bridge over Te e , and a pretty chapel upon it of

St . Catherine . I t is about a hundred years since this stone bridge was erected Men passed afore by a ford a little f below the bridge . This need not a fect its claim to a ma greater age it y even be taken as confirmatory , because he evidently speaks of the first bridge there erected , and we know there was one there in the reign of John ; also be i f cause the bridge was one hundred years old then , it was LUDFORD . 65

probably three hundred , for the builders of it would be very unlikely to have used round arches at any time later than

that .

The chapel stood on the pier nearest to Broad Street ,

and was well preserved in 1 772 . In other respects the

bridge is untouched , except by the beautifying finger of

Time , and there are few things in this interesting county

more worthy of study by the traveller , the artist , or the " ae . arch ologist Close under it , on the upper side , is a

' ruined stone building , 1 through which the river flows , and which was the fulling mill given by Peter Undergod to the m above entioned hospital on its foundation by him , in the

reign of John .

In the deep recesses of the old bridge , safe from passing

. ll wheels , very delightful is the view looking up stream Ta m h trees al ost ide the rocky bank on the one hand , and on m l m Old the other , besides the fulln il , so e tanneries , and flou r - r a mill are supplied by a shattered old weir , ove m which the river foa s and boils , and below it , slides over

shallow Shelves of rocks and beds of loose stones . The quiet pool above shows with perfect reflection the steep f m grey sides of the white cli f , honeyco bed with quarries ,

and festooned with brown vegetation , except where , at one - l point , the tail water of some higher mil rushing in makes

a space of rippling light . Below bridge , the View is quite th e different , but hardly less lovely river widens out into

- a large pool , closed in on the right by a tree covered bank , al - on which is a fine h f timber house , and supported by a V - flour- shaped weir to supply mills on either side . Both m l i ls are ancient , built with all kinds of materials , and over n ha g the water in the most picturesque fashion , adding greatly to the beauty of the scene ; between them a dis tant reach of river flowing through banks cov ered with

trees .

R LUDFO D VILLAGE.

Ludford is the name of the village on the opposite bank l of the stream , and is doubtless so ca led from the ancient Since th e above was written th e disastrou s flood of 1 8 8 6 has h e m e th e l e n f t e , ne e n e da ag d ow r portio o bridg c ssitati g r pairs , which e u n u n e een e en e h e , l t u e n i n a hav fort at y b xt d d to pp r portio , n em m e i t e new one att pt to ak look lik a . e b th e fl 1 This was sw pt away y ood . E H RH LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

T E T T H W H I CL I F A I H EME FROM E T F Q U RR ES . ford which existed j ust below the two mills at the bottom of Old Street , before the bridge was built . It now lies away from the main road , and is a quaint and interesting u nook , and well worth lingering over . Passn thro gh the i i ron gate nto the churchyard , its principal features are well - l m seen , church , manor house , a mshouses , and ill all ancient . d i ts On ascen ing the path , the first view of the church , with - n - ivy covered walls , quai t barge boards , and magnificent l- i churchyard trees , and the wel grouped gables and ch mneys of Ludford House beyond , is very striking , and raises hopes which a closer inspection hardly sustains . For the windows ll are fi ed with new glass in large sheets , and the entire south wall has been rebuilt . Originally Norman , it has under gone many alterations , and now consists of nave , tower ,

" an . chance , and north tr sept The Norman nave was a i plain , oblong , without tower or transept . Th s is shown i al by the orig n west wall , with its Norman window , and the

fifteenth century tower built against it . The windows of the nave are all modern , but the holy water stoup indicates

o o . the p sition of the old south do r , now gone The chancel arch is obtusely pointed above it two trefoil -headed R LUDFO D . 67

windows have been pierced . On the south side of the c hancel is a small fourteenth century window, with a piscina w proj ecting from its sill , hich Show it to have been cu t al from a Norman capit , with remains of sunk star moulding . The transept , or Foxe Chapel , opens m - out of the nave by a large se i circular arch , and out o f the cha ncel by a round -headed opening obliquely cut t hrough the wall . At the first glance these two arches a ppear to be Norman , but a closer examination shows that o nly the capitals of the larger one have any Norman c haracter . The responds and arch mouldings are of the semi -octagon type common in the fifteenth and Sixteenth c m enturies . I t would see that the statement on the brass t o William Foxe is correct , that he was founder of this h ile a d e nin Ch urc e . 1 j y g unto this He died in 5 5 4 , and it seems likely that he re - used the fourteenth century window n ow al m in the east w l , and two Nor an capitals found in the course of his alterations . All the other features of the ” m ile , viz . , two s all windows , and the large one on the n orth with square head , and three lights crossed by a tran

som . , would agree with the above date Above the latter , o n m : the outside , are these ar s on a stone shield quarterly ’ I st th and 4 argent , a chevron between three foxes heads ,

e . rased gules , for Foxe Second quarterly first and fourth m : m on a bend , three dolphins e bowed or which ar s also

- a ppear on the drip stone terminations . m The brass above mentioned is the earliest to b . It is a large blue slab , now upright against the wall between the t wo effi ies m arches , with engraved g to Willia Foxe and his w ife , an inscription , and two groups of sons and daughters , a nd at the corners four coats of arms . The knight is clad t in plate armour of the early part of the sixteenth cen ury , but with collar and apron of chain mail . The wife has the k m - -fit ti n ennel or pedi ental head dress , and tight g gown ; s m m uspended fro the waist by a chain is the po ander box . The inscription is Here u nd erneth e this stone lyeth ye Bod e W ll a m L u d lowe n Co unt e y of y y Foxe of , y the y of S Es u i er ffou nd er a d e ni n vnto alop , q , and of thys Ile j y g this Chu rche W ll a m reed ef ed m , and which y y y the Al es Howse of Se nt b e in w ff y Gyles y g decayed , and also Jane , hys y , L u d lowe Daughter and heyre of Richard Downe , of , afor s W ll a m Decess d XXIIIlrd l" eyd which y y y the daye of Apri , Anno d ni and the seyd J ane d ecessyd 68 E H RH LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IG BOU OOD .

d h i day A . ” le on whose sou s J hu have Mercy . This tomb is an interesting illustration of the Roman Catholic revival in the

. i e reign of Mary It was probably erected by the w fe , whos executors neglected to fill in the date of her death . The next is a quai nt altar-tomb against the east wall of ” ul the ile , with two blank shields , and a rectang ar piece n d of white stone i laid in the upper slab , which is supporte on eight plain columns . Round its margin is the following Expecting a j oyfull resurrection heare lyeth the bodies o f Edwa rd e L u d ford e Es Foxe , of , q , who died the and

J ane his wife , who deceased the v e been erected in their lifetime , the dates have ne er b en the filled in , but it is plainly a work of the earlier part of seventeenth century . In the north - west corner is an altar - tomb flanked with m - fi ob Ionic colu ns , on which is a full length ef gy of Sir J

- Charlton , in the scarlet robe and black skull cap of a j udge . On a mural continuation of the tomb is a long Latin i h him C scription , which speaks of as Chief Justice of hester , the Speaker of the House of Commons , and J ustice of ’

1 6 . a a King s Bench , and as dying in 97 Near the l st is m mural monu ent , with a good bust and an extremely quaint to inscription in English , but too long for quotation ,

1 6 8 . so Dorothy , wife of Sir J ob , who died 5 There is al another mural monument to his second wife . There are a old m d number of fine tiles in this chapel , but it is ostly pave

- with grave stones .

R H E LUDFO D OUS .

w The earlier history of Ludford House is not very ell. n : know , but it is recorded that a house stood here as early th as the twelfth century . In the reign of William e m Conqueror , the anor belonged to Osborn Fitz Richard , ’ r lord of Richard s castle . In the reign of J ohn , Pete

. is Undergod founded the Hospital of St J ohn the Bapt t , r before mentioned , and gave to it all his lands in Ludfo d

At the dissolution , the manor , being seized by the Crown , . was was granted to John , Earl of Warwick , of whom it u l b p rchased by Wil iam Foxe . It is stated to have een 1 60 i bought in 7 by Sir J ob Charlton , of Wh tton Court

’

VVri h t s H Lu 1 8 2 . g istory of dlow , 5 R LUDFO D . 69

u t b this must be an error , as the date of his death on his t 1 6 . omb is 97, and the apparent date of the second Foxe 1 60 tomb is later than 7 ; moreover , Edward Foxe of 1 Ludford was Sheriff of Shropshire in 608 . This Sir Job m h al m see s to ave been of a convivi disposition , the fa e of h i s entertainments being widespread . Among other great m people , King J a es I I . enj oyed his hospitality at Ludford . 1 2 L echmere In 73 , Edmund , of Hanley Castle , Worcester Oi shire , married the daughter Sir Blundell Charlton , through L echmere whom Ludford has descended to John M . Parkin

Es . son , q , its present owner

The house is very large , built round a quadrangle , and as is chiefly timber and pl ter of the Tudor period , but some n of it , notably that side facing the churchyard , is built upo a first storey of great thickness . Probably when William

Foxe bought the manor , the hospital had here buildings of greater or less importance which he incorporated in the Tu d ori zin m one we see at the present day , g at the sa e time the existing windows . This is conj ectural , of course , but nothing seems so well to explain the extraordinary mass of masonry and timber known as Ludford House . The s ide towards the road , in which is the principal entrance under a pointed arch , is chiefly rubble masonry , and rather h eavy and gloomy . In the other portions there is more variety , and the side next the churchyard is exceedingly n picturesque , with several bold proj ectio s and fine groups of chimneys in one of the former , a room over the porch is the Oratory , a place for prayer and meditation , from i - wh ch is a secret passage believed to lead to the river side . m The interior has been odernised in parts , but there are many

fine panelled rooms and much old furniture . The family portraits include a beautiful picture of Sir Job Charlton , w hich has recently been copied for the House of Commons , m by J . Bridge , of Shrewsbury , and some fine exa ples of

Vandyke , Sir P . Lely, and Reynolds . There is a curious d a n . finely preserved portrait of Richard II I , and some very fine Rembrandts and other old masters .

Looking from the east end of the church , the visitor will see below him a scene of unusual beauty . On his left a

- yew tree of great size , and partly hidden by its branches

m . the ancient al shouse of St Giles , referred to on the tomb m of Willia Foxe , its long roof picturesquely broken by three stone gables in front (the centre one containing an empty 7o LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIG HBOU RHOOD .

N T L F H H . PORC A D ORA ORY , UD ORD OUSE

i n n niche) , and has many qua ntly desig ed chim eys in the m e rear . Beyond it is a fine old ti ber and plaster hous , formerly the Bell Inn , when the main road passed round that way . Two or three thatched cottages , and the ancient garden - n wall of Ludford House , half smothered in climbi g plants and Ti tt erstone ll wild pink , bound the view on the right , and hi

- towering over the house tops completes the scene . The inscription on the Foxe brass given above shows was m that there an al shouse here at an early period , as it

72 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N EIGHBO URHOOD .

WHITCLIFF.

n - th e From Dinham on the orth west , to Ludford on n south side of the tow , the river Teme , reinforced by the C orve , runs under a high bank of limestone , which , with l great rocky wa ls in some places , steep slopes of bracken fern in others , now interrupted with crags and ragged i l brushwood , and now channelled w th smooth va leys of

- green turf , supports a large space of open green sward and

T H E T N W HIT CL IFF EME U DER .

shady grove . This space , backed by woods and fenced by s fir- l belt of trees , has been for ages the pub ic recreation dl — ground of the people of Lu ow ever since , in fact , it was i a g ven them (together with a great de l more , since sold) by

J ourdan de Ludford , in the thirteenth century . From it not only the town and castle , but very beautiful views of

. s great extent and variety are visible Stretton Hill , Corve D i ale , and Wenlock Edge are seen over the nterrupted reaches of the Teme to the north . E astward the grey wall of Ti tterstone is an effective background to the towers of dl the castle and church , and the various ranges of goo y mansions a nd irregularly bui lt houses below them ; while, m down the river , Caynham Ca p stands forth from the o i i n surrounding w ods , a dark mass aga nst d sta t streaks of r g ey receding ranges . Opposite the castle the trenches can sti ll be seen which were thrown up in the Parliamentary R LUDFO D . 73

mm siege . From the Ludford end of the co on a rocky path ’ leads down to the water s edge and a fine reach of river, calm and quiet between foaming weirs , lies beside it as it B continues to Dinham ridge . Here other paths converge from the higher parts of the common , coming down the l steep little va leys on the hillside , which are rather curiously

&c. named , as Thankful Gutter , Hornbeam Gutter , , the latter from the trees (Hop Hornbeams) which line it

Gutter being the local name for a small valley .

TH E B L L INN A L L W . U Y RD , UD O N N N T H LG T ORMA FO , O A E .

CHAPTER VI I .

TR SURROUNDING D I S ICT .

As a centre for rural drives and rambles , this district is i m hardly to be surpassed . Without the w ld and gloo y m i grandeur of Wales and Cu berland , it has enough of h lly and rugged character to redeem it from the too luxu rian t tameness of purely lowland scenery , and can even claim a m Ti tterstone very considerable mountain , as all who cli b w l i l testify . Indeed , one of its greatest charms is the continual variety of its scenery . Not only in verdant m w l eadows , rich ith weed and flower , and by the side of stil i h pools or qu et reaches of stream , not only t rough waving a corn and deep gr ss , can the explorer rove ; but in the - i gloom of thick woods , and between high over hang ng m the crags , under which the water rushes and raves a ong - stones , and on the breezy height of wild , wind beaten heath mm - and co on , or knee deep in bracken and gorse on the Ti tterstone - steep volcanic sides of itself , boulder strewn

and crowned with crags . Then what d istrict can compare with the Welsh Border " m ’ for picturesque buildings Fro the peasant s cottage , whose grey and mossy thatch overhangs the patched a nd SURROUNDIN G DISTRICT . 75

- m weather stained walls , the huge oven and bulging chi ney suggestive of the warm ingle - nook within ; to the many m m gabled ho estead , of ore important proportions and greater elaboration of wall and chimney , carved barge board and moulded beam or to the grey walls and high peaked roofs of the old Abbey Farm , where the fat monastic n glebe is still richer than its neighbours , with its ricks sta d ing among ruined walls and arches , and its sheltered m orchards , where the gnarled and ossy fruit trees yet yi eld abundant harvests to generations their planters little dreamed of . Not less are the stately homes of England repre m sented here , both modern ansions , standing out from m - m m park and lawn , and antique anor houses , ore in har ony u r m with the glorio s su roundings , their groups of chi neys and high parapets rising among trees more ancient than m themselves . Fro still older dwellings the stateliness has m m departed , and naked and gri are the walls of any a baronial fortress in this once turbulent land .

Nor should the traveller despise the lowly village church , for if he care ever so little for antiquity , there is still a field teeming with interest in the ancient parish churches of a m district like this , despite the devastations of ti e and the havoc of so - called restorations a name (to quote the “ L o fti e m Rev . W . J . ) that covers ore sins than charity itself .

To see a piece of country thoroughly , there is nothing like n walking , but this bei g out of the question for the longer distances , I purpose to show how they can be explored most readily in a series of drives and Short railway excursions . CHAPTER VII I .

’ T R H R E WALK o IC A D S CASTL .

’ — — — — H u ck s Barn Overton S u nny G u tter Moor Par k Hay e — — — ’ Woods B a tch co t t Th e Castle Mou nd a nd R u in s Clark s — — — Accou n t Chu rch Boney W ell Cou rt Hou se a nd D ove

cot .

i In starting to walk southwards , it is very des rable to note t B m hat the road which crosses Ludford ridge , and now akes r d a straight course , cut th ough the rock , towards Ashfor , n has not been corrected in the present Ord ance Map , though it was changed more than twenty years ago . If we pass through a gate j ust beyond the first cottage , which is nl the o y one in sight , a footpath leads through fields at the ’ m d back of Huck s Barn (an ancient farmhouse odernise , from which there are magnificent views of the country towards the Clee Hills) , and keeps for some distance the th e course of former main road . About half a mile from ’ Huck s Barn it passes through a corner of the ground s of — ma ni fi Overton Lodge (Roland G . Venables , Esq . ) where g cent trees abound , and the large white house is seen through m — the to the right and down a rocky lane to the left , past

Overton Cottage (Alfred Salwey , into the main road again . The walk so far has been through scenery of con si d era ble al beauty, though of the ordinary pastor character , but the high fence of Overton Cottage is no sooner p assed n than a cha ge is manifest . We are then at the mouth of the Comus and ravine celebrated by its connection with , known locally as Sunny Gutter . The road is without fence s on that side , and the wood , breast high in fern and bramble , - and come right down to the wheel tracks , hang over the road to j oin the grand old beeches of Moor Park on th e o d opp site side , which overshadow a pretty little mo ern s Queen Anne lodge . The wood on the upper side of the n road extend for a very great distance , and are i habited

l . by numbers of deer , which roam about in a wi d state A good pedestrian would fin d it a great treat to walk from here to Mary Knowl , and so down the Wigmore road to l Th e m Lud ow . scenery thus explored is of the ost romantic u and delightful kind , but it is a fatig ing piece of work , and ’ To I H R E WALK R C A D S CASTL . 77

the path not always easy to trace . It may be much shortened by taking a path on the right some half mile up , ’ which , entering a lane , passes into the footpath near Huck s r Ba n . But instead of going through the gate into the lane , the path may be followed where it winds again to the left , and zigzags through the woods for about a mile and a half , rej oining the road above Whi tcliff by a path called Morti ’ mer s Walk . ’ m th e Continuing the walk to Richard s Castle , we cli b steep pitch between the park palings on one side and the unfenced woods and thickets on the other , noticing , some - n n half mile up , a narrow cart track i to the woods , wor u into deep r ts by the timber wains , which , unlikely as it seems , leads to a large house (Hay Park) , grandly situated n in a large deer park on the upper slopes of the V i na ll.

By the roadside is a weird and lonely pool , whose waters “ of inky blackness have gained it the name of the Black h Pool . Of course it is haunted and there are people w o l wh o wi l describe the ghostly visits of one of the Salweys , m n lived any years ago at the neighbouri g Moor Park , l which has now passed out of the family , though they stil f own large estates here , and have done so since the fi teenth century . The pool once passed , the woods give place to

fields and lanes , and the park has a stone wall instead of - Th e the grey deer fence overhung with dense foliage . road now descends a steepish bank , but if we get over a i off st le on the left , we can cut a corner , and enj oy a grand view over the park towards the Clee hills , the chief point al in which is the H l , standing in a fine situation among huge masses of trees . A few years ago it was an old e mansion , and was then altered and enlarged by the lat

Maj or Foster , whose widow generally resides there . As we field - i n follow the path , a quaint white house on the knoll front is the residence of the Ven . Archdeacon Maddison , ’ a ll rector of Richard s Castle . I t appears to be of the last - century , with some older out buildings , but its strong m position , and the re ains of a moat on one side , suggest a greater antiquity . This , with a few houses by the wayside , B a t ch co tt is the hamlet of , placed at the foot of another of V i nna ll f the lateral gorges of the , which again a fords a stroll of the rarest beauty and almost endless variety ; s Hanway Common forming one side , and the Haye Wood l m and a sma ler com on the other bank . 8 E H RH 7 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IG BOU OOD .

’ I H T L H H R C ARD S CAS E C URC .

’ H R R IC A D S CASTLE .

Opposite the old smithy , two lanes diverge to the north

w . est The nearer one leads between high banks , notable ‘ f r n a rl i n o e m u . spring for flowers , y a ile to the ch rch Occasional peeps on the right give the valley and woods m below Haye Park , and on the left a ore extensive and distant View , bounded only by the blue horizon . In this m - and the neighbouring lanes are nu bers of fine yew trees , w m u hich attain great size in the li estone which here abo nds , though there is but one in the churchyard , and that of moderate growth .

The lane , though ascending always . has not prepared us i n the least for the grand and elevated site on which we

find the church , and some old houses near it , to be situated t for , standing in the churchyard , the height is such hat l Leominster Priory , Orleton spire , and even the Ma vern

l . Hil s , can readily be seen to the south and eastward m This place takes its na e from Richard Scrob , or Fitz

Scrob , a Norman at the court of Edward the Confessor , ’ W hose presence was the cause of Earl Godwin s rebellion . hi s Of castle (of which very little remains , and that nearly hidden in trees and rank undergrowth , at the west end of the churchyard) our greatest authority , Mr . Clark , says

8o LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIG HBOU RHOOD . point of the high land above the meeting of the two valleys n a large and lofty mou d has been piled up , the base of 00 al which is about 3 feet above the v ley , and the summit ” a sixty feet higher . Lel nd says The keep , walls and towers of it stand , but going to ruin . There is a poor house of timber in the castle garth for a farmer . It belongeth

’ H I H T L H H PORC , R C ARD S CAS E C URC .

now to the King , of late to Lord Vaux , after to Pope .

There is a park impaled . m The Church of St . Bartholo ew is large and most inter esting , having nave , south aisle , transept , porch , and

. th e nort h chancel , all ancient and beautiful There is on f al - u h side of the nave a sm l blocked p Norman window , w ich is the earliest feature , though the wall is probably Norman

- too , and there are some half buried apertures , which seem to indicate the existence of a crypt under the chancel , which , if there , is also probably Norman . The only Early English work is the priest ’ s door and one of the above apertures , which appears to be the head of a door , the rest r of the building being fourteenth centu y . To the early part of this period belongs the aisle , with its fine east l -flowers a window covered with ba l , which lso appear on the capitals of the nave arcade . This aisle and the transept have their roofs and gables of the original pitch , and are both very picturesque . ’ T H R E WALK o RIC A D S CASTL .

’

h . The transept , w ich is called St John s aisle , contains some very beautiful fourteenth century glass in the upper lights , and a broken canopy in the wall with ornament of the same date . In front of it is a late seventeenth century ewed canopied pew of good design , and the whole church is p with oak , in which are many fragments of carving . Near the font (modern) is an immense coffi n -lid of the thirteenth

- century , with an unusually bold and well preserved foliated cross sculptured on it . m The tower is separated fro the rest of the church , and stands at the eastern edge of the hill , a few paces from the chancel . It had a wooden spire , which was burnt , and is r m now covered with a py a idal slate roof . There are several small loop -holes and three belfry windows with plain tracery . The nearness of the castle makes it appear unlikely to have been detached for defensive purposes , and no doubt the bells would be better heard in the village m below than if it stood in the ore usual position . At

Berkeley , Gloucestershire , the tower is detached from the church so that it should not be used in attacks on the castle . mm The co union plate is old , and was given by different m me bers of the Salwey family . It is of silver , and consists

’ TH E T H AN - T I H A TL COUR OUSE D DOVE CO E , R C RD S CAS E . 8 2 UD L LOW TOWN AND N EIGHBOU RHOOD .

a of three patens (two of them are large , and h ve the “ l is u a Sa wey arms and th inscription , In us m Ecclesi de Ri ch a rd i b Rectoris Castro ex dono J o is Salwey , Arm .

A . D . a nd a small one uninscribed , a chalice a fla on n a g , havi g e ch the Salwey arms and the inscription , Ex dono Richard Salwey Arm ; in usum Paroch de C Richa rd i Hereford ice astro in com , In th e bottom of the gorge below the castle is the cele bra ted i Boney Well , a copious spring , in wh ch in spring and autumn small bones are found . This phenomenon has

C . On been remarked for ages , and was noticed by amden i a l , the s ope . here a body of Royal sts under Sir Thom s d erf rd l Sun o C . , strong , were defeated by olone Birch A town is said to have stood here which held a charter for h a fair from King Jo n . All the houses near the church are ll more or less ancient , but they were more beautiful ti a few a o years g , when sweeping changes were made , which , with an epidemic of iron roofs which broke out recently , have d n made sad havoc with this parish . Descen i g , however , a ll the precipitous lane which goes due e st to the vi age , we pass some very good ones . One , near the bottom , has an

- immense pigeon house with a very fine gabled roof . This is the Court House it has also a rich piece of half - timber work , some fine panelled rooms , and a large portion of the moat remaining . In a field nearly opposite is a very perfect and extremely c urious moated area . A few more ’ twists in the lane bring us to Richard s Castle village , i m where there are two nns , one ancient , and fro which we can return along the Leominster Road , past a new - B a t ch cott m school house to , whence the sa e route is retraced to Ludlow . CHAPTER IX .

TO R M E HR H OAKLY P R . WALK B O FI LD , T OUG A K

’ e e—P H n—Oa kl P —B romfield Vi ws , of Castl rior s alto y ark e—P — e— u t Bridg riory Villag B way .

Starting through Dinham and crossing the New Bridge , we take the lane to the right , and if we still keep to the fin e right , where it divides at the quarry , we get views of the

whi c / on . castle , h this side stands on the edge of the rock m A ile or more of pleasant lane , bounded by hedgerows , over which we get pe eps of Bringewood on one side and the ’ Clees two on the other , brings us to Prior s Halton , a small m cluster of old houses , one of the displaying unusual timber

- work in its gable end, and , j ust beyond , to the lodge gate of

I OAKL Y K DRU D OAKS , PAR . H R 84 LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIG BO U HOOD .

Oa kl . s y Park Shortly after entering , the road descend a

wooded slope , on which is a large oak , which , being uprooted b y the wind some years since , was turned completely over , and stands on its head with roots in the air . As we proceed through the park the scenery is varied and beautiful ; on ’ the left the park trees stretch away for miles to j oin th e woods on Bringewood Chase to the right we get glimpses through venerable oaks of the red brick walls and gardens of the Hall . The latter , the residence of Lady Mary Windsor W m t Clive , is a Georgian building ithout uch beauty or interes that Is not derived from i ts charming situation on the ridge m n overlooking the Teme Valley , and co mandi g distant m e views of Ludlow . Shortly after passing it , we e erg through the side wicket in the lodge - gate into the road near r fi m the Teme Bridge at B om eld . Fro the upper side of the bridge is a charming view of still and peaceful landscape i m the r ver , fringed with alders and dammed up by the ill l weir below , flows a most without visible current between

m . the park and open eadows Below bridge , the scene is more li vei y ; the still pool at our feet divides to supply mills on either side , and beyond the foaming weir , the river ,

t m . winding hrough a wooded glade , is lost a ong the trees m Old - To the left the ossy wheel of the saw mill , overhung m - e with great trees , beyond it a ti ber yard and cultivat d th e ground , and , showing pale against dark firs , the grey - m old Priory Church , with its ivy antled ruin . Passing d m m over the bridge , in the lane beyon , ade more gloo y m by the shadow of tall Scotch firs , is the assive gate house of . the Priory . Let us pass into the churchyard , was - a nd which also the burial ground of the monks , recall what is known of its history . No chartulary m remains , but that a monastery existed on this spot fro a remote period , before Ludlow itself was founded , m i n is certain , and that it was of considerable i portance m Saxon ti es is shown by the entry in Domesday Book , a n t Ma r i under the head Quod tenet Ecclesia S c ze a . The

B ru nf . eld e . same church holds , and there it is built It is

05 . worth 5 annually to the canons , and Nigel , the physician , w has 1 65 . annually from this manor . There ere in King ’ m Edward s ti e twenty hides , and twelve canons of the same i church had the whole . Then follows an interest ng passage in the history Of the Priory One of them (the S i rtes h e canons) , p by name , had alone ten hides , but when To R M E HR H OAKL Y R WALK B O FI LD , T OUG PA K . was banished from England King Edward gave these ten Wima rch hides to Robert Fitz , as to a canon but Robert -i n - gave the land to a certain son law of his , which thing when the other canons had shown the king , forthwith he ordered that the land should revert to the church , only delaying till at the time of the then approaching Christmas he Should be able to order Robert to provide other land hi -i n- m for s son law . But the king hi self died during those very festal days , and from that time till now the church

B F TH E ROM I ELD PRIORY FROM RIVER .

hath lost the land . This land Robert now holds under

Earl Roger it is waste , and was found waste . an m This Nigel was physici to Roger , Earl of Montgo ery , and Spi rtes is known to have lived in the reigns of the i Danish kings Harold Harefoot and Hard canute , and to have been banished by Edward the Confessor . Robert Wima rch Fitz , to whom was given the land of the banished S i rtes p , is believed to have been Robert the Deacon , or a Norman ecclesiastic , whose daughter was married to 86 W E H RH LUDLOW TO N AND N IG BOU OOD .

" - - Richard Scrob , who would in that case be the son ih la w mentioned as receiving the land . In the reign of Henry I . C l e C the establishment was a o lege of S cular anons , but that it soon after became a regular priory is shown by the Bromfield i mention of Osbert , Prior of , as w tness to a deed

1 8 . 1 . o e in 4 It was greatly enriched by Henry I I , in wh s reign ( 1 1 5 5 ) the canons subj ected themselves to the Bene d i ctine Lla nton monastery of y Secunda , near Gloucester ,

and so continued till the dissolution . The habit of Bene d ictine monks seems to have va ried more than that of other orders , but was generally a white tunic with a black scapular th . 20 I. over it , and a large oval hood In the of Edward , m the prior clai ed free warren in the manor , by charter of Henry I I which comprised a grant of Infangthef and one Henry de la Chapelle , being guilty of theft , was tried ’ in 1 2 1 and hanged by the prior . Pope Nicholas Taxation 9

8d . h e gives £23 65 . as the annual value ; at t dissolution i 8 1 5 . d . it was £7 9 4 In the fourth of Ph lip and Mary , the i i manor was granted to Charles Foxe , whose estate , nclud ng Oa kl y Park , passed by marriage to Matthew Herbert , whose descendant , the Earl of Powis , devised it to Henry

l . Clive , in whose family it sti l continues

Looking round the churchyard , we see that the situation i i of the monastery was delightful . Occupy ng a long pen n s Onn sula , nearly i olated by the confluence of the y and the

Teme , its position must have been strong as well as secluded , n m l especially when the tria gle was co pleted by a high wa l , - in which stood the present Gate house . The refectory fi would be parallel to the church the farm , domestic of ces , l and mi l , would occupy the Slope , with Cloisters between the m south side of the church and the Te e , and between the west - th e . end and Gate house , the principal courtyard The m church remains nearly entire , and is fro this side a fine obj ect , with its tower of three stages in the earliest phase of i - w Early English , and the h gh pitched gable of the nave ith good Decorated window . If we enter through the fine arch in the north wall of the m is tower , the lower story of which for s a porch , before us n u the correspondi g arch , with nook shafts and rich mo ld n ings , which admits to the nave . The first obj ect of i terest m is the font , which is a plain exa ple of the same early period as the greater part of the church . On the south is the coat

' e n me R a e Richard t h e Scrob gav th e a to ichard s C stl .

H RH 88 LUDLOW TOWN A N D N EIG BO U OOD .

i h and a Perpendicular window inserted , show ng t at the chancel of the Priory church was destroyed when the latter was converted into use for the parish ; and going round to o In the north side , a good N rman arch of several orders the ll wa of the nave , showing the existence of a chapel or continuation of the aisle . As the east walls of the nave and e aisle have good Perp ndicular windows , they were proba r bly brought from the destroyed po tions , and not designed

- at the time of the alteration . A plain trefoil headed piscina of large size was also brought from the old chancel , and re -fixed in the built -u p chancel arch instead -oi the south wall , as customary . This shows the alteration to C i i have been made in atholic t mes . With the except on of a corbel table with a number of grotesque heads , under the l eaves of the aisle , the above Norman arches are the on y ’ and remains of the monastery of Henry I s time , of the Saxon one which preceded it there are no traces . Most of what remains must have been built at the time when the monastery flourished under the patronage of Henry II . , of which period the belfry windows , two pointed lights recessed under a pointed arch , are an example . There are no monuments of any age , but in the south wall is a fine arched recess , with rich mouldings and cusps , which was no doubt intended for the tomb of a prior or benefactor .

Under it has been cut the Foxe arms , with the letters

C . F . E . F .

- The Gate house is a building of two stories , the lower of solid Early English masonry , with a wide and heavy arch m through the centre , flanked by assive buttresses , and the

- upper of timber , now restored and used as a school room .

- Except two small loop holes , the windows have been modernised . The village is scattered along the main road to Shrews n bury and its adj acent lanes . Where it crosses the On y on a bridge of three arches is a row of Lombardy poplars of k a gigantic growth . They are nown far and ne r as the

Twelve Apostles , though now reduced to eight by the romfield terrific gales of recent years . B contains a number of picturesque thatched cottages , and is altogether a very i charming place , ch efly on account of its wealth of timber i and and the l vely varied character of its two rivers . One can return to Ludlow by rail by taking the road which turns Onn east from the y bridge , past a very quaint thatched 8 To R M IE HR H OAKL Y R . WALK B O F LD , T OUG PA K 9

th e cottage , where the key of church is kept ; it is not al much more than half a mile to the station . One can so m return to Ludlow by the main road (three iles) , which is n comparatively uninteresti g , or by a footpath between it field - m and the river , which is gained by a gate so e hundred yards along the main road , and is moderately easy to find . - Bu a rw . About half way through the fields is y (C W . Wi cksted - u , an old farm house , beautif lly situated m among fine trees on the river bank . I t is said , with so e m probability , to have been the Ho e Farm of the castle .

A carving over the porch , representing a portcullis (the badge of the House of Tudor) under an arch with grotesque

figures , seems to confirm this , but the building is now under i h going extensive alterations . The path another field or two passes into a lane , which j oins the road near the

Corve Bridge at Ludlow .

GAT W B FI L I T E A E AY , ROM E D PR ORY , FROM H RO D . CHAPTER X .

TO R E HR H H R WALK O L TON , T OUG AS FO D ,

ER ETC . WOOFF TON , — — — — Ov erton Lodge Ashford H all Mi ll Ashford Carbone ll Ash e — W fl — m n— — —ford Bowdl r oo er to n Co berto Orle ton Co u rt Chu rch .

i Leav ng the town by Ludford Bridge , past the old manor house of Ludford , and following the Leominster road , ' i which is here cut deeply into the l mestone , we arrive in a short mile at Overton turnpike , where the road divides , and keep straight ahead for Ashford , past Overton Lodge

- B . (Richard etton , Esq ) Another mile of level turn pike

road , through pretty cultivated country , with some fine ’ n m peeps out to the left towards Cay ham Ca p , Tinker s ll Ti tte t rs one . Hi , and , lies before us Ashford Hall , on the a e a right before we reach the vill ge , a G orgian brick m nsion , has some fine timber in the grounds (Capt . Joynson) . m Turning to the left , the Teme is passed on a odern bridge n a l of a si gle sp n , and j ust below it is Ashford Mil , where there was a mi ll at the time of the Domesday Survey . i This one , though not very old , is pretty from below , look ng ll up stream . Passing along the lane para el to the river , on a high bank to the left the little church of Ashford Carbonell lifts its quaint bell - cot above a dense mass of black yew trees . It is an old building , showing Norman workmanship in both nave and chancel . The nave has a south porch and dormer in the roof , and is lighted by a single long lancet at the west end and a two -li ght fourteenth century window in w each side . There are two Norman doors , one ith the

- nail head moulding and a low Norman chancel arch . i h n The chancel has five w ndows , t ree fifteenth ce tury and - two square headed , one of which is in the east wall , and small Norman ones on the north . In it are a few late m r ural monuments . Du ing a recent restoration , on the l removal of the plaster from the east wa l , it was found that the fifteenth century window mentioned above had viz replaced a curious group of openings of Norman date , a l u n vesica over two sma l , ro nd headed lights , an arra gement The w of extreme rarity . latter windo has been removed to

2 E H RH 9 LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

and Hereford Railway and the Tenbury line . There are several places worth seeing near here , such as ’ in B rimfield &c. , Richard s Castle , , but a walking excursion

n e. Orleton is about a convenient dista c To reach it , turn al to the right past the station , ong the road which crosses the railway . For more than a mile there is not a house in sight if any exist , they are hidden among the trees . Then

a pretty cottage or two , and the entrance to Comberton ll al - ms vi age , which , with the pool and h f timber far , is a

. l capital subj ect for a Sketch Indeed , the whole vi lage is al - very picturesque . About h f way up the road a narrow lane turns southwards between two farmhouses . This is the nearest way to Orleton in fact , the shingle spire of the l church is visible at once . This vil age is a good specimen of those for which Herefordshire is so famous , and its m orchards , cottages , and far s could not easily be matched is in any district . Orleton Court a very large and interest li ing house of timber and pla ster . In the panel ng of one of I the rooms , said to have been occupied by Charles . , is an n Honner souffer d old i scription , Him in Hart that e on

H H A A T L T N . C URC Y RD CROSS , OR E O H H R ER ETC . WALK THROUG AS FO D , WOOFF TON , 93

the Crosse for Thee , and worship Him . During alterations

- a cannon ball was discovered lodged in the wall . The church is very interesting , and the north side very pic tu resqu e . The base of the tower , west door therein , an d

A H N A H T . PULPI T ND C A CEL RC , ORLE ON H RH 94 L UDLOW TOWN AN D N EIG BOU OOD .

’ priests door in chancel are Norman , remainder of the n E cha cel arly English , with six good lancets , and niche for h figure in east wall . The font as nine large figures under

Norman arches . Note the fine old chest hewn out of a r u solid t nk , also the heads of King Edward and Queen

Eleanor to right and left of chancel arch . There are remains of good stained glass coeval with the tracery in the

Geometrical Decorated windows on the north of the nave .

There is a very fine Elizabethan carved pulpit , and on the north side of church an ancient timber porch nearly buried and in ivy , on the south a churchyard cross , with part of the head gone , but unusually well preserved . In the east face as of the b e of this cross , and of others in the neighbourhood , is a small pointed niche in which it is suppose d the Paschal light was burned at Easter .

For those whose powers of endurance are great enough , there is a delightful wa lk from here through the villa ge of ’ Richard s Castle to Ludlow , but those who have well explored the route described above will probably prefer to retrace it as far as Woofferton Station , and take the train back .

T G AT L IN TH LL T A COT A E E A S RKES .

E H RH 96 LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BO U OOD .

coppices , in another mile it j oins the turnpike road at a ” Th e e picturesque house , formerly an inn called S rpent , possibly in allusion to some old legend of a local serpent or dragon . By turning to the left here we can return to

Ludlow by Caynham Camp , or through Ashford by turning to the right .

~ FI L T NT N . RE P ACE , S EVE O CHAPTER XII .

R E HR H M RE E TW R E D IV T OUG WIG O , L IN A DIN ,

ETC . DOWNTON ,

— — Whi tcli ff Woods Mary Knowl Comu s Valle y ( S u nny G u tter) — — Pip e Aston Elton Lein thall S tarkes Wigmore — — — — Ch u rch Castl e Th e Mortim ers Abbe y Lein twardine

— - - - D own to n o u th e R ock Lime stone Gorge D own ton e— u n un Castl Cl g ford .

E I u th L AV NG L dlow by the Broad Gate , and turning to e mm a u right , i edi tely after crossing L dford Bridge , the road ascends between rocky banks to the undulating sward on Wh itcliff m m m s , fro which we get a ost co plete and triking

View of the town and surrounding landscape . At the point where the road turns into the wood a pause should b e made to enj oy the glimpse of castle towers and walls now m dl - Visible above the solid masses of id e distant foliage .

- After a two mile tug up an ever ascending road , unfenced for the most part from the green vistas and leafy glades of the vast woods through which it lies , open fields appear , and the woods , getting thinner , recede , and show the buildings of Mary Knowl Farm , a little beyond which the l summit of the hil is reached .

Here all depends on the weather ; if the air is clear , a bills range after r nge of are visible , and in two directions the views are grand . Below the road is the deep ravine , called Sunny Gutter (the scene of the romantic inciden t m Camus which suggested to Milton his asque of ) , along the northern slope of which the road descends , till a narrow a m m p ss in the hills ad its us into the flat plain of Wig ore . At the foot of the hill is the d iminutive church of Pipe

Aston , which is worth inspection . Its best feature is a Norman north door with richly carved tympanum in its m centre is a la b holding a cross , within a circle supported an m by eagle and a winged ox the sy bols of St . John and

St . Luke . There are one or two Norman windows , a good

- roof , and small bell gable . Again following the road , we

- arrive , in another half mile of undulating country , at Elton , al where there is a Queen Anne mansion (S wey family) ,

th e . and church near it The latter has been restored , but 8 U E H RH 9 L DLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

N AN T AN I A T N ORM YMP UM , P PE S O .

- oak retains its Perpendicular rood screen of carved , and some seventeenth centu ry gravestones . Here we are at the edge of a level tract of country com letel in p y hemmed by hills , and variously known as al Wigmore Lake and Wigmore Hole , probably a re lake n at some remote period , before the Teme forced a cha nel for itself through the limestone rock at its north east m . r corner Still keeping the ain road , we shortly desc y the clump of Old yews which marks the little church of Leinthall Starkes from the neighbouring fields and hedge m . a se rows Although Nor an fabric , the church it lf is not - n very picturesque , but the yew trees are mag ificent . It - l has a double bell gable a nd Norman font . A ittle farther ’ — is the village a long street of straggling gable - ends and - m fruit tree hidden roofs . For nearly a ile its quai nt r cottages line the road , thereby ea ning for it the title of

Long Leinthall .

VVIGMORE .

th e l By this time we see , across misty hol ow , with its w illowy hedgerows and level fields , a pile of wooded hills l l n and in front of them a smal er detached hi l , crow ed with m m large trees and frag ents of ragged asonry , and on a

- ridge still lower , a dark and sturdy tower , ivy clad , and e - capp d with timber bell cot and straggling over the ridge ,

- and perched on its orchard covered slopes , are stone and - re thatch and tile roofed cottages and farms . It is Wigmo

00 1 LUDLOW TOWN AN D NEIGHBOURHOOD .

z we to on the north , and has been double its present Si e , as see by one of the arches communicating with the nave i i in being blocked up , and by the pisc na still show ng the outside wall . Two chantries are mentioned by Browne

Willis the other was no doubt at the east end of the ai sle .

Note the fine Perpendicular roof to the nave , and . the

- . O herring bone masonry in the north wall wing , doubt u i less , to the proximity of the abbey , the ch rch is ent rely m m devoid of onu ental interest . From the churchyard l s there is a de ightful View , and at its west end a lane lead e past some old thatched cottages to the castle , whos n massive ruins present but a shadow of its former gra deur , I though much that is interesting remains . ts double moat m i n is still to be seen , and beyond it the assive outer walls , - u which the gate house and entrance arch , nearly b ried in r ai few ivy , are conspicuous . To the left the uins cont n a m I windows te p . Edward . , and on the right is a round th e tower proj ecting into the ditch . Above these we see th e ruins of the keep on a high central mound , and beyond h n m illy cou try which formed the castle park . Fro the ruins an extensive vi ew is Obtained of the surrounding fin e varied landscape , with Wigmore Church and village a in th e obj ect middle distance ; beyond , the amphitheatre n d of hills towards Leomi ster to the left , the cultivate l Ambre V i nna lls plain shut in by Gatley Hil , Croft y , the , B rin e o a and g w od r nge .

THE M RTIMER M O FA ILY .

Wigmore is first mentioned by the Saxon Chronicle , t D . 2 1 h e which states that in A . 9 King Edward in Wi sin a mere t o Rogation Days commanded the burgh at , g ” be built . The same authority says that the Danes with a i n great army besieged it , but were repulsed the same year . ' It m al m n is na ed in Domesday , R ph de Morti er then holdi g m it . It is com only stated that he received it as a reward n h for tur ing out Edric , Earl of Shrewsbury , but thoug al th e R ph did put down Edric , there is no evidence that latter ever held the castle . as r i n t he It remained , with v t estates , for several centu ies m e Mortimer fa ily , whose ambition and intrigues mad ” more than one English monarch uneasy on his throne . In ’ o t th e Barons War , Roger , sixth Lord of Wigmore , to k par M RE E 01 WIG O ABB Y . 1

with Henry I I I . , and by stratagem delivered his son ,

Prince Edward , from Hereford Castle and brought him to 1 2 m Wigmore . In 3 7 another Roger Morti er received

. m Q ueen Isabella and her son , King Edward I I I , at Wig ore , where they were welcomed with magnificent festivities , a so likewise in his forests and his parks , and lso with ” great costs in tilts and other pastimes . This Roger , being blinded by pride , set no bounds to his ambition and osten im ” t a ti on his own son called h the King of Folly . He was at last surprised with the Queen in Nottingham Castle , a nd seized by the young king , then eighteen , whose “ Smi thfield a r . th utho ity he had usurped He was hanged in , e ” body remaining on the gibbet , says Stow , two days and ” 1 nights to be seen of the people . In 35 4 his grandson , m also na ed Roger , obtained a reversal of the attainder , and it was declared in Parliament that the Charges on which he had been condemned were false and the sentence unj ust . This Roger distinguished himself in command of the

English forces in Burgundy , where he died , leaving a son

Edmund , who married Lady Philippa Plantagenet , daughter of Lionel , Duke of Clarence , which union gave to d ecend a nts his their title to the English crown , afterwards 1 2 the cause of so much bloodshed . In 4 4 the male line of m m the Morti ers became extinct , and Wig ore passed to Y Richard Plantagenet , Duke of ork , who was beheaded after the battle of Wakefield . Edward IV . resided here Y when Duke of ork . In the war between King and Parlia w a s ment the castle burnt , and has gradually lapsed into

R WIGMO E ABBEY .

l Having thorough y examined the castle , church , and m i village , we take the road leading northwards , fro wh ch

we see , across the wide prospect ahead , the roof and build l ings of the abbey farm to our left is the Castle Hil , and ,

looking back , the old church shows grandly above the

o s . rchard Keeping the main road for a mile , we turn down a - lane to the right , and stop before an ordinary farm gate . O n either side of it are stone buildings with no great air of a ntiquity , but on entering we see that they have had a ncient doors and windows , and formed part of the outer c ourt of the abbey . To the right and left are sheds , and n - faci g us is the gate house to the second court , a stone R 1 02 LUDLOW TOW N AND N EIGHBOU HOOD .

GAT H T O W IG BB E OUSE MORE A EY . and timber building of singular design and extremely pic u - t uresq e . Beyond it is the abbey barn and pigeon house in a li ne with it to the left the g uest - house and fou ndations all of the church . This is that can be identified of the

Augu stinian monastery of St . J ames and St . Victor which

flourished here , but even this is of considerable interest , m and much ore might be brought to light by excavation . - r The gate house is a long building of two stories , the lowe m i half of stone , with a stone arch through the iddle reach ng m into the upper story , which is of ti ber , and proj ects on heavy oak brackets which rest on a beam supported on stone corbels . I t is now used as stabling , and a doorway

- has been cut in the outer wall . The guest house is a stone di c building with original roof , but the ad tion of an atti l h floor has destroyed its character . It retains a tal fourteent century window on the west and a large Perpendicular one in the east , the recess of which is covered with stone panel h as ling oi similar design to the tracery . The lower story Un some small chambers , now full of farm implements . u fort nately the Tudor farmhouse was burnt a few years ago ,

1 04 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N EIGHBOURHOOD .

m e three beca e b nefactors to the abbey , Sir Hugh com letin a t own p g the church his expense . The other documents which throw light on its history k relate chiefly to the steps ta en at its dissolution , and it seems certain that the main buildings were destroyed

1 . immediately after . In 5 74 a Dr Dee , the celebrated dabbler in witchcraft , writing to Lord Burghley , mentions “ having seen while at Wigmore Castle an heap of old m n papers and parch ents , Obligations , acquittances , accou ts , Wi r & c. as mo , in time p t belonging to the Abbey of g , and s o led there to lye rotting , p y , and tossed , in an old decayed ’ l s eci all chappel not committed to any man s p charge , but three quarters Of them as I understand to have byn taken away by diverse (eyth er taylors or others) in tymes past . The manor seems to have passed into the possession of the Cockera m family , and then to the Salweys , whose des d a nt al cen s . , Mr . Alfred S wey , still hold it i th e The men who establ shed abbey , and passed their u lives in this secluded spot , were canons reg lar of the order

. u B of St Aug stine , called lack Canons from their habit , a black cassock with a white rochet over it , and a black ru les cloak and hood over that . Though bound by the of w l their order , they ere not monks , and not necessari y even ’ priests , their rule being less strict than the monks , and they wore beards , while the monks were always shaved . They i n were great builders , and those early times Art , Agri l culture , and Medicine owed much to their di igent study .

E R E L INTWA DIN .

al Resuming our drive ong the lane , we presently pass the water -mill which the canons wandered so far to ob Old i tain , a pretty building , and parts of it perhaps orig nal . Furt her on at the cross roads is a quaint old farm called

Pa t oe . y , with some relics of the abbey built into its walls ma Here , by turning to the left , we y prolong our drive to i i n Leintward ne , wh ch is a good place for a halt , or , keepi g Criftonford straight on , and crossing the Teme at Bridge , r retu n through the gorge at Downton , which route is described on next page . Choosing Leintwardine now , we ll keep the narrow lane to the north , ti at the end of a couple th e of miles , turning suddenly into the main road , we get im i first gl pse of the village , wh ch is strikingly pretty . The - - - 1 0 DOWNTON ON THE ROCK . 5

a fter recei vin Teme , g the Clun , flows across flat meadows in the foreground , and is spanned by a picturesque bridge of several arches ; beyond it the village shows through large trees , and the tall square tower of the church above them .

If we have not already refreshed at Wigmore , there are two suitable inns here , one of which , the Swan , is an old L a nterd en m . house with so e fine carving and panelling , a s it is pronounced here , has a large church , with tall tower , having a quaint staircase turret , at the end of the south aisle ; large nave , clerestory , chancel , and chapel . There is a good Norman door and other ancient features , and

s m m . o e interesting tombs , but within uch is new This m village is a favourite headquarters for anglers , the strea s b eing preserved by a local association , and abounding in trout and grayling . A little to the west is Coxall Knowl , claimed by local savants as the site of the last battle fought by Caractacus against the Roman invader .

DOWNTON .

l Lud ow is about seven miles from here , and the return Mocktree j ourney may be taken by the main road by Hill , whence is a charming View of Leintwardine , but the

Downton route next described is far the most interesting . At the bottom of the village a narrow road starts nearly l east , afterwards following the slope of Totteridge Hil , and from it we get for nearly two miles delightful Views of the serpentine course of the river , which winds and twists in the vale below . In two sharp turns to the left we enter t h e narrow valley of Downton , at the mouth of which we et g a glimpse of Burrington , a pretty , but not an interesting village , the church and many of the houses having been entirely rebuilt . Here we regain the road which we left n nl n ear the abbey . The limestone gorge is o y beginni g to reveal itself when the lane bends between high banks , from which we emerge at the diminutive village of Downton -on

- the Rock , where are some good old houses , and a church now disused , a new one having been built by Mr . Knight , i . s about a mile away The old one , though dilapidated , l very interesting , having a sma l timber porch , good four t eenth Wi oa k century ndows , curious Norman font , and two

Norman doors . There is also a good Early Norman chan cel 1 06 U A E H UR L DLOW TOWN N D N IG BO HOOD .

arch , in the thickness of which is a staircase to the rood loft , which remains (a most unusual thing) , but the rich carving of the screen under it is sadly mutilated . The west wall contains no opening , and the solitary Early English a loop in the east has been built up , and on the w ll inside u are two elaborate seventeenth century mural mon ments . On one of them (to George Haughton) is the following l i s epitaph , to which the present state of the bui d ng give addition al pathos What h ere yo u see i s b u t a d u e respec t To h i m who nev e r d i d this place n egl e ct ’ e e h e d i d e e e L Twas h r ador y high st ord , Wh o to h i s sou l rich comfort d id afford ’ e e h e d i d e o a nd n e n Twas h r , with gr at j y co t t , R e e e hi s a nd men c iv holy word sacra t . n e en h e e e e e Si c , th , lov d this sacr d plac so w ll , ’ Ti s e mee t e e h i s n me u e v ry t y h r a Sho ld dw ll . ll Here we leave the carriage , which wi go on by the road and wait on the other side of Downton Castle , while we go back down the lane to a point where there is a gate into the

- wood , and follow the cart track , which descends steeply to a picturesque stone bridge with a wooden parapet . The r water is deep and calm between rocky banks , of a peculia di s green colour , and so clear that the trout can be seen th e porting themselves in its transparent depths . Crossing

- bridge , the path turns to the left along the river side . On the opposite bank is a pretty cottage , half hidden in the

- rank vegetation , with its strip of garden ground hardly distinguishable from the wooded bank which rises behind . h th e As we proceed , the open glade , through w ich river m a nd sweeps with foa ing current , soon narrows to a wild - e rock bound cleft , where the trees , springing from crevic and fissure , wreathe themselves into fantastic sprays and

m n al . asses , among which the sky is only seen at i terv s

Fairly within the gorge the bank on this side recedes , and th e e the trees are of large size , but on the Opposite side pal limestone rocks rise vertically from the water . Farther h as down there is a place where the timber been felled , and m there is an open space a ong the beeches , whose com Th e panions lie prone amid the flowers and brambles . l alm river is sti l now , and glides beneath the boughs ost noiselessly but through the leaves comes the di stant m u — urm r of a weir , as yet invisible faint at first , but grow in i old g louder at each step , t ll a turn in the path shows an

1 08 H LU DLOW TOWN AN D NEIG BOURHOOD .

h z w ich the ha el and bramble cling in ragged luxuriance .

For a long distance the woods approach the stream , often hanging over it , and the path continuing generally bes ide its edge , but sometimes mounting a slight eminence , gives great variety , and affords occasional peeps of fine reaches of river . In one place the rock closes in upon the water , so that a passage has had to be hewn through it , and the path m winds for a time through a ro antic cavern . Not far from here a rather good saw mill is passed on the other side the m C strea , and soon after the astle Bridge , a stone structure s of three arches , from which a pretty road wind up to the th e Castle . The latter was erected about middle of last i century by R chard Payne Knight , who paid great attention to domestic architecture and to lan dscape gardening of the m wilder and ore picturesque school , and to whose refined m r taste , and that of his fa ily , is owing the prese vation of the all park and river scenery in its natural beauty . Ascend Is r Incon ing the slope , we see the castle a ve y stately but ru ous i i g edifice , placed in a most charm ng s tuation , and comman ding views of extreme and varied loveliness . n find After passing along the su k fence into the road , we o the vehicle awaiting us , and , turning to the east , very s on l i enter the main road , and fo lowing it for nearly two m les i B rin ewood through some good scenery , of wh ch g is the B ro mfield w chief feature , enter the Village of , which , ith the

l u 8 . return route , wi l be fo nd on page 3

R ETC . CLUNGUNFO D ,

If the traveller prefers to continue north of Leintwardine , n n an i teresting piece of country may be seen , returni g di a through Stokesay , but this strict is e sily explored by roa dwa rd all rail vi a Craven Arms . B H is a curious stone an building near the Clun , and close at h d is Heath House , - i r an old red br ck mansion of the seventeenth centu y , with a an extraordinary stairc se of oak , hung with ancient tapestry . On the same estate , a little to the west , is Hop ton Castle , a small but nearly perfect Norman keep . There is another fine castle at Brampton Brian , a mile or two west of Leintwardine , which withstood a famous siege in

i l r u th e D n n W i s e m n Th s wa k th o gh ow to oods , by p r issio of A R n Kn Es es s . . u e n th e u on u J . Bo ghto ight , q , op to p blic T day a nd r F idays . 1 0 CLUNGUNFORD . 9

a nd the Parliamentary wars , and whose ruins are still large of great interest . A mile and a half to the north -west of Hopton Heath Beck a a nd station , j y Mill , on the Clun , is very picturesque , was a favourite subj ect with David Cox . Clungunford

. . . a nd House stands in a park j ust above (J C L Rocke , m d is modern . The Rocke Ar s in the village is a goo

al . little inn , and the place gener ly pretty and interesting m m h Just above the inn is a large half ti ber far house , wit m Ab co tt some fine groups of perforated chi neys , called - m m m l Manor house . I t has so e panelled roo s and orna enta ceilings within , and was long the residence of the Princes , to whom there are monu ments in the church . The latter stands j ust across the river , and is well worth visiting . Chi efl r m y thi teenth and fourteenth century , it has so e very

. m good windows , of the latter period One of the in the north -west angle of the chancel is an interesting instance ’ of the low side or leper s window , as to the use of which so many theories are held . Externally it is not now very m th e different fro the others , except in reaching lower down m s wall . Within , it has arrange ents for a seat , and hinge n - t o as if for a wooden shutter . On the orth side is a lean omm chantry of similar date . It c unicates with the chancel th e by two arches , one large and the other smaller . In wall under the east wall is an aumbry or locker . Two of m a m the bells are edi eval , having inscriptions and the sta p known as Royal Heads assigned to Edward I . and Queen In Eleanor . A little north of the church is a tumulus , m m which were found , so e years since , a nu ber of bronze spears and other implements of an unusual character . ll m f There is a picturesque vi age at Broo e , one and a hal Centra l miles north of Clungunford , and a station on the m m Wales Railway , fro which Craven Ar s is about three miles . The station is called Broome and Aston , from - on - Aston Clun , in the parish of Hopesay , a mile or so due north . The church at Hopesay is ancient and interesting , n and so is Sibdon Castle , in spite of the peculiar Georgia patchwork on the principal face . E CHAPT R XII I .

R I E HR H M RE To ME RE D V T OUG WIG O AY ST Y,

I ETC. K NGSLAND , — — — Wigmore H all D eerfold Fore st L ein thall Earles Croft — — — ’ Amb re y Gatl ey Park Aymes trey Mortimer s Cross — — — — Shobdon Co u rt Priory Villag e Ki ngsland Eyton — — — Y e—Lu n e u i e arpol cto Croft Castl Ch rch B rch r .

H 8 . T IS drive , as far as Wigmore , is described at page 9 n If from that point , i stead of turning north , we follow the principal street past the Castle Inn , and under the fine ' elms which line the park of Wigmore H all (Maj or General the Franklin) , we Shall presently emerge in front of latter i build ng , which is very agreeably situated on the slope , s with wood behind , and can be recognised as an old half n timber house , in spite of more modern plasteri gs and h i . add tions After passing two or t ree quaint cottages , we are in the open country , with the Wigmore hills receding m i n behind , and those of Ay estrey and Croft rising front . Deerfold al o d To our right is Forest , a tract of primev w o , i nteresting as the refuge of the Lollards in the time of m V . h Henry , and as containing a speci en of t at botanica l s— m rarity so venerated by the Druid the istletoe oak .

E H E R E AN D R AM B REY L INT ALL A L S C OFT .

A narrow lane to the left is the main approach to Leinthall all mal l m Earles or Little Leinth , a s l vil age at the botto of Ambre l . the val ey , between Gatley Hill and Croft y I ts numerous thatched cottages and barns are dotted among s the orchards , in true Hereford hire fashion , and its quaint i i . l ttle church , though pla n , is not uninteresting The bell c t al o is placed a little east of the gable , and is octagon in l . l shape , but covered with a conica roof The west wal is stone to the level of the eaves , and timber and plaster in squares above a gainst it is an open timber porch (a most unusual position) , and over it a window . The south wall is supported by two huge buttresses , and contains a Norman i m Amb re loop or two . From this v llage the ca p on Croft y

ma . y conveniently be Visited The lane starts due south ,

1 1 2 H LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIG BOURHOOD .

c th e side a pretty s ene . Here is a good inn , and houses are l a i scattered for some distance along the vi l ge street , wh ch u is only moderately pict resque , except where at the far end

the church shows its battlemented tower above the fence . The latter is a pleasing obj ect (though in a very low situa

tion) , and very interesting . Most of the nave , tower,

clerestory , and chancel are fifteenth century work , but the

interior is chiefly Decorated . There are four pillars on all each side , of very unusual design , a group of sm shafts l - t i h ha f detached from a larger one , and suppor ng t ree c pointed arches . There is a very handsome chan el screen —c r of the fifteenth century arved oak , ca ried partly on corbels and partly on wooden uprights— and similar screen work is continued round the east ends of the two aisles so n as to form chapels . In the cha cel are some good J acobean m m . to bs , and a carved oak pulpit of the sa e date It was not unusual on the Welsh border to build the church so as m to be available for defence in case of e ergency . Aymes

trey is a n interesting example of this . The doors are very m r met strong , and fastened by an arrange ent ra ely with ,

except in medi ae val castles . A square beam of wood is m drawn from a hole in the asonry of the j amb , to a corres

ponding hole on the opposite side . The base of the tower , h al l w ich is so the porch , is vaulted , and has a circu ar open i ls ing through the stonework for hoist ng bel , so that the

defenders could not be burnt out , and could take pot shots ki at any assailants who might be attac ng the door . The m i n roo above has narrow windows , very much splayed t ernall - n y, and with window seats on each side , formi g a

- kind of guard room . A very curious early fourteenth centu ry clock from this church is preserved in the South " Kensington Museum .

SHOBDON .

At the next turn several roads meet at a spot which has given the name to a world - renowned and san guinary — ’ battle Mortimer s Cross . Such a place was a favourite m spot in early ti es for erecting a wayside cross , and perhaps one of the Mortimers had done so at the cross roads nearer L eomins th e ll m to ter , where pi ar now stands to comme orate the great struggle between Yorkists and Lancastrian s .

n e th e e n e e e en th e u een e e Si c abov ot s w r tak , ch rch has b r stor d . H R R 1 1 S OBDON P IO Y . 3

- There is here a large inn , a water mill on the River Lugg , and an Old bridge of three arches over it but our way lies in the other direction , along the narrower road to the right , a nd in a short distance along a still narrower one , also to the right , which being rather elevated gives a good View over the flat country round Leominster . In less than a mile this lane brings us to a lodge gate in a fringe of trees , after p a ssing through which we descend a long slope in the Park s toward Shobdon Court , a brick and stone building in the

Louis Quatorze style (the seat of Lord Bateman) , standing among cedars of extraordinary size . Close to it is the u a nd - ch rch , the tower old ivy covered , and in the graveyard m a Nor an font , with good sculpture but the body of the 1 2 i s church was rebuilt in the Gothic style in 75 , and

- very ugly . To the north west of the church , on a grassy m e inence , are the remains of the one which was pulled m down , or , ore accurately , of Shobdon Priory , which were

- re erected here by the late Lord Bateman . There are five arches , one large and central , and two smaller on each side m which , though now placed in a group , ust have been f brought from di ferent parts of the original building . They are perhaps the finest examples of late Norman work

- that exist . The large arch has a number of nook shafts , m which are covered , as well as the capitals , with the ost m elaborate sculpture . Besides many of the richer ouldings met m with in Nor an work , figures , dragons , and intricate interlacing foliage are lavished on the surface decoration f with the richest e fect . The two nearest the centre form an m obtuse angle with it , and have solid ty pana carved with large figures ; that on the north representing the Deity within an aureole , and that on the south the entry of our

Saviour into J erusalem . The outermost arches are similarly treated to the central one . I t will be seen what a unique m m exa ple it presents of Nor an work , by the fact of it having been selected by the founder of the Architectural Depart ment in the Crystal Palace to represent the later Norma n m period in the fine series of architectural exa ples there . I t is a matter for congratulation that so perfect a cast is no t preserved , only for the sake of students , but on account of the corroding action of the weather on the original work . l i al . a rch zeo o c Mr Parker , the great g authority , says in his

Manual of Gothic , after speaking of certain of the above details Shobdon Church is altogether one of the richest ” examples of Norman sculpture in existence . 1 U H 1 4 L D LOW TOWN AND N EIGHBOUR OOD .

The only recorded history of Shobdon Priory is included in that accoun t of Wigmore Abbey written in Norman F and rench by one of the canons in the thirteenth century , copied in the Monastico n . The opening passages are much too long for quotation here , but they are devoted to i n an account of the very noble bachelor , worthy , val a t , ” l th e and bold Monsieur Hugh de Mortimer , who ived in Merli nd mo . reign of King Stephen and his steward , Oliver de l At that time there was in Shobdon no church , but on y l n o a chapel of St . J u ia a , and that was of wo d , and sub ” e d m l w j cte to the church of Ay estrey . Then fo lo s an th e i an d account of bu lding dedication of the new church , 1 1 1 th e which from internal evidence was in 4 , and instal lation therein of two monks from the Abbey of St . Victor “ m at Paris . He gave the in like manner his farm at L ed ecote u an d , with granges f ll of wheat , oxen , and sheep , ”

ca ru cs an . and pigs in great plenty , and two of l d Bishop Robert de Beton ( 1 1 31 to 1 1 48) at this time having quar relled with the Earl of Hereford and excommunicated him i ’ and the whole city , came to Shobdon at Ol ver s request ,

m . and lived a ong the canons On his departure , the canons , r o finding it ve y l nely , requested their Abbot to replace i re them with others knowing the Engl sh language , and turned to Paris . Their successors , however , had many e quarrels with Sir Hugh , and also returned to their abb y , and when he had fin ally made peace with th em an d con m fir ed their various grants , they discovered that the m i h m place was very far fro water , of wh ch t ey were uch in m want , and determined to remove thence to Ay estrey , in a u place they call Eye , close to the River L gg , and there th e laid foundation of the church , as people who proposed to fix there a lasting habitation . But it happened other h wise , for there arose at t at time a very great war between oce Sir Hugh de Mortimer and Sir J de Dinan , then lord of in Ludlow , and Sir Hugh was surprised and held prisoner m Ludlow Castle until ranso ed . About this time the canons m An were desirous of having an abbot over the , and one was a nd drew , from the same abbey of St . Victor , sent over i consecrated abbot by the bishop . Soon after , the fr ends of Sir Hugh Observed the church which the canons had m h erected at Ay estrey , and advised him not to suffer t at h work to be finished t ere at the entrance to his land , lest his enemies might come and have there a lodging -place and

1 1 6 LUDLOW TOWN AND NEIGHBOUR HOOD .

m each with varied tracery , an arrange ent very rarely found except in this county , where there are one or two other

- i nstances . A well preserved sanctus bell turret stand s on the east nave gable , and altogether this is a most remark l l able and beautifu building , and well worth carefu study . This place is also the farthest point we can extend th e w - drive to , consistent ith leisurely sight seeing both ways h s we may , t erefore , make a longer stay , and seek refre h ma n n B h . t e ment for and beast Two i ns , the ell and u l Corners , stand at the j nction of a sma ler road with the

- main Village street , and along this road , facing north east , m i th e we start for the return j ourney , ak ng straight for

River Lugg , and , in crossing it , leave the flat country al fin ly for the hills and dales by which Ludlow is environed . l J ust across the bridge , a lane goes due east for two mi es through some very broken and untouched country to

' m m o f Eyt on . The far s and houses of this parish are any the them very rustic and beautiful , but it lies too wide of n route to be undertaken now . Its little church has bee m n m r restored so e years since , but co tains , a ong othe m - ancient re ains , a fine rood screen of the fifteenth century and a good timber porch of slightly later date .

YARPOLE .

n On leavi g the Lugg bridge , the lane winds among ’ wooded hills to the t o p of a bank at a place called Basket s

Gate , where is a cottage so quaint in outline as to be worth n rememberi g . Descending as quickly into a crooked , shut l in little valley , the View of woody hi ls and green hollows is th e i soon lost , but presently regained with add tion on one of h the nearer ridges of a curious stumpy spire . Ruddy orc ards - Y r o are round us as we enter the old world village of a p le , of which the chief thoroughfare is enlivened by a small ,

m . o u r clear strea Down a side lane to the left , attention - r is at once drawn by the large yew trees of the chu chyard , b n and a singular detached belfry . The church itself has ee o i almost rebuilt , and is a neat edifice , c ntain ng little of in interest besides a font with shallow Norman arcad g . m But the detached belfry , which stands so e yards to the

' - i u . o north west , is very delightf l It has a lower story heavy masonry , with narrow loopholes the upper part , of

i : wood , w th the bells , is supported on a framing of large Y R BIR ER 1 1 A POLE AND CH . 7

b eams planted in the ground independent of the walls . Under the eaves of the upper part are a number of quatre foil openings on each Side . These detached towers are — b elieved to have been so placed for purposes of defence a t heory supported by their loopholed walls and the absence o f windows in the lower stories , also by their being most frequent on the Welsh Border . At the corner of the village s i treet is a small , ancient bu lding of stone , the original purpose of which it is difficult to determine . Local tradi t ion states it to have been a temporary resting - place for b odies on the way to the churchyard . It has a round al archway in both side W ls , and was more probably a gate house to a small monastery . Yarpole possesses a mill f more e ficient than picturesque , and a great many delight - m ful old houses . Turning north east fro the centre of the v - illage , we j oin the highway at four cross roads , with " m Bircher village to the left . Bircher Know , a clu p of t imber on a considerable mound , is passed at the point where we enter the main road from Leominster to Ludlow . B mm eyond here the road is bare and open , but co ands v iews of considerable variety and beauty to the east and north . Just off the road to the right is the large and pic t u res u e 2 q Village of Orleton , for account of which see page 9 . m all and I t will repay exploring , if ti e will ow , the next lane will take us to it . I t was the birthplace , in the thirteenth m century , of the great Adam de Orleton , who was so pro in n e t in political affairs at the beginning of the fourteenth . 1 1 1 0 He was Bishop of Hereford in 3 7, of Worcester in 33 , 1 and died Bishop of Winchester in 345 . To reach L u l w from Orleton the natives take the lane l m from the church end of the vil age , through Co berton and

Woofferton , which they call the lower road , but , though m uch more hilly , the upper one is shorter and far more beautiful . To reach it we take a side lane near the Boot

Inn , and crossing a little ford with footbridge , below the re- n - mill , enter the mai road at an inn with an old fashioned

S . ign , the Maidenhead , and turn to the north This road for s m l V inna ll o e miles runs paral el to the range of hills , and is ’ v ery pretty . Richard s Castle village is about two miles o n the way , but the best part of it lies away from the road . The church and some ruins of the castle have been already d escribed ; they stand about a mile away , at the top of a fi d very steep lane , and are nely situate . Unless very 1 1 8 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N EIG HBOU R HOOD .

i enthusiastic , we shall now keep the main road , leav ng m o them for a future exa ination . Nothing calling f r and B a t ch cott remark occurs between here , which , with the

6. rest of the route , is described at page 7

LUCTON .

a nd If too long , this drive can be very much shortened , ea stwa rd wh en some fine country explored , by turning at m ’ Morti er s Cross , instead of west towards Shobdon . In m the first mile Lucton , fa ous for its school , is passed .

Lucton Chapel is a handsome building , but quite new , with the exception of a fine Early English font and a monument to the founder of the school . It stands on the right hand , m at so e distance , and the school , a large , square Queen

Anne building , nearer to the road . The latter was founded 1 08 by J ohn Pierrepont , vintner and citizen of London , 7 , who , being unmarried , and having , with the blessing of Go d and the applause of men , gained a plentiful estate , retired to his native place to ded icate the greatest part of ” it to pious uses .

R C OFT .

On ou r left the whole slope of Croft Ambrey is occupied Kevill by the picturesque park of Croft Castle ( Rev . W . T . m m o f Davies) , which stands a ong avenues and clu ps m u n agnificent trees , and is from this Side a somewhat promising edifice . But following the road to the little o f village of Cock Gate , where there is a lodge at the corner in the park , an avenue a mile length (of oaks of gigantic girth for the first half , and the rest of venerable beeches) a re approaches it from a better point . From the park there s grand views of the neighbouring country , especially toward

m . Leo inster , whose Priory tower is a prominent landmark n Croft Castle is ancient , but has suffered alteration in moder i v - times . It is rectangular in shape , with an y covered ls round tower at each angle . The original curtain wal remain , but have been pierced with a number of modern n sash windows , especially on the south side , which has bee embellished with eighteenth century Gothic proj ections .

On the north are considerable Elizabethan addi tions . l Near it is the church , an interesting ittle building , chiefly

H 1 20 LU DLOW TOWN AN D N EIGHBO UR OOD . d escendants soon recovered possession , and continued at C roft till towards the middle of last century , when the Kevill- Es estate was bought by Somerset Davies , q , the father of the present owner .

From Cock Gate the road goes east towards Bircher , a small village of quaint farmhouses (one of which has an old - pigeon house) , at a point where the road makes a sudden

n . e a gle Here we turn to the left , and j oin the L ominster B and Ludlow main road near ircher Knowl , from which 1 point the route will be found described at page 1 7. CHAPTER XIV

EE R E HR H E T . R H To R D IV T OUG STOK S M ILBO OUG B OWN CL ,

T ER N E ETC . ITT STO , — — — — R ock Green D od mor e Middle ton Crow Leasowe Ascen t Ti — — u — of tt erstone Th e Moor S toke St . Milboro gh Cold V — — — — V esto n Brown Cl ee Bou ldon H e ath Chapel Pea t on — — Corfh a m Castle S u tton

E Gald eford L AVING the town by , the road begins a gradual h Ti tterstone rise towards the ills , of which is the principal

range , and is already conspicuous , standing purple and

- dark behind the nearer field covered heights . About half

a mile from the town , at a cluster of houses called Rock

Green , a footpath turns to the left between two cottages Do dmore - m and across a field or two to , a Tudor , half ti ber m- far house . It has much ancient character , and one room c n ontains a fireplace of carved oak . The cou try opens out i m mediately after passing Rock Green , and shortly after wards we turn to the left . at a point called Mount Flirt , where the road forks , and at the next fork pass under the

L ed w ch e . little Bitterley railway , and over the y Brook fi The railway is not for passenger traf c , but for bringing d l own the celebrated Dhu Stone from the hill . The vi lage l of Midd eton lies a few hundred yards to the left . In it are numerous old houses , and a small church , rebuilt in the m Nor an style , but whether a copy of the old one or a new f l b e design it is di ficult to say . On the high wooded hi l yond the village , Downton Hall , a fine mansion , the seat of

. Sir C H . Rouse Boughton , Bart . , is distinguishable through m a gap in the woods . The Clee Hill is fro this side a long m - rocky edge , cul inating to the north in a grand crater like m . m m ass Rather more than a ile fro Middleton , Crow u Leasowe , a pretty seventeenth century ho se , is passed on the left . A row of fine trees leads to it from the road , and in front of the house is an oak of gigantic girth , about the

. m largest in the district The chi neys , doorways , and gables of the house are elaborately ornamented with m oulded brick . Round Thorn is the next group of houses — in er ne on the left , and here making the ascent of Ti tt st o , If m a t — off the sum it is aimed is a good point to turn . E H R LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IG BOU HOOD .

D OD M O R E .

TITTERSTON E

The lane is narrow a nd crooked which leads from here to Clee Stanton , where there are one or two farms at the foot of the mountain , at which a vehicle can be put up

. n r while the hill is explored Very few fields then i te vene , and the open hillside is soon reached , covered with bracken and crowned with crags , like its bigger brothers in Wales for the basaltic rocks at this end , unlike the more southern portion , are untouched , except by the action of the ele ments , and the splintered and shapeless masses that have m m e toppled fro the upper ledges lie in a p of wreckage , m m which is far fro easy to cli b . On the apex itself a group ’ of huge blocks is tradi tionally known as the Giant s Cha ir the whole scene being weird and savage to a degree sug gesti ve of the goblins and malign ant spirits which were supposed to haunt this spot , which the foxes have now to themselves . I t is said that a rocking stone once existed m m i e T tt erston . here , and that fro it the na e of is derived

There is a bank surrounding the space on the summit , and m a number of s aller circles within , all having the appearance fi of artificial enclosures , though not suf ciently well pre al served to be explainable . Co was got here with other m minerals in the ti e of Leland , but in recent times the supply - e has run short , except on the north east and south slop s , wb u r Kno . and at y, where the pits are still worked

1 2 E H R H 4 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IG BOU OOD .

" further is the turning to Stoke St . Milborough , and Clee w Do nton is still higher up the main road . At the latter m place are so e good seventeenth century houses of stone , and wildish scenery . We now turn Off down the lan e to l Stoke , and dipping down into the valley , fo low its windings u by the brookside for more than a mile , and then t rn to l the left towards an old stone and timber mil , which we see th e to be ancient by the old dripstones , over which square grey tower of the church is conspicuous . The e l Villag is romantica ly situated , but except the church only moderately pretty . The latter has a fine Early English

tower , upon which a stage has been added in the fourteenth century . The arches within are very good instances of the e arliest phase of Early English , and there are many four nt t ee h century windows of good and unusual design . In front of the old timber porch is a slab with a geometrical cross partly incised and partly sculptured . By taking the steep lane which climbs the slope on the north of the church , and turning to the left at the top of the first bank , l the long ridge of Weston Hil is surmounted , and quite suddenly , without the slightest warning , on emerging m n fro the thick hedgerows which shut in the la e , a View of e xceeding grandeur bursts upon us . The wide vale of m B urf Corve is spread out before us , and fro Abdon on the right , across the whole range of Wenlock Edge to the l L on m nd Stretton Hil s and the g y , the view is without d u n limit , and only partially isappears as we descend the fenced road to Cold Weston . The little Church of that name lies across the fields a few yards , and is one of those rude Norman Chapels which are not uncommon in the w county . It has a good octagonal font , some windo s , and m a north door , which are Nor an but a number of modern lancets have been added . A mile or so farther , the views are still good , and to the right , indications that we are drawing near the village of Clee St . Margaret . At the corner of the road is a queer old house proj ecting over the path ; another has a stone sign announcing it to be the inn Leg of Mutton Inn , but it is an no longer beyond is a footbridge and mill where the road crosses the rocky bed of

Mil r h e M r w l n e L eomi n St . b u a t e u e e a d u g was da ght r of , fo d r of e P a nd n u e P en th e e K n e i s t r riory , gra dda ght r of da , gr at i g of M rc a , Sh e e en a nd was u e e e i n t h e e en was pr ior ss of W lock , b ri d th r s v th en u c t ry . E STOK AND COLD WESTON . 1 25

m the strea , and at the same point is a footpath to the - o r church , its wooden bell cot already showing over the - in chards . There is a quantity of Saxon herring bone work the chancel , and a few features which are possibly also pre : Norman , viz . south door , and oddly shaped and narrow ’ priests door very good little Early English chancel arch , with wooden doors , square hagioscopes on each side , carved m — a pulpit , and a nu ber of very good early benches thing very rarely seen also curious fourteenth century window without tracery , and plain circular font . Of the two peaks m n of Brown Clee , which rise a few iles to the east , Abdo

Bur f . is the principal , and feet above the sea There are evidences on the summits of what must have been pre m o f m historic fortifications , there being re ains a nu ber of - m 660 hut circles , and a huge vallu of stone , feet by Bu rf feet . Between Abdon and this village , and about a N ord - d efined mile to the east of the latter , is y Bank , a well m m m m . Ro an ca p , and one of the ost perfect re aining n l m A deep fosse e circles it , and there is a val u with a slope

m . of twelve feet . Fro here (Clee St Margaret) it will be best to turn north - west for about a mile to the village of ul n Bo don , where is the only inn of this i hospitable region . ma a nd m Horses y rest here , refresh ents be ordered , while

we explore the neighbourhood . A lane that winds up the hill to the north -west will conduct u s in about a mile to the

T H E H TH H L EA C APE . R 1 26 LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIGHBOU HOOD .

Heath Chapel . By the side of a small stream that rattles o down a deep and tortuous channel , between the ro ts of l the arge trees , the lane climbs steeply the greater part of w a y, and towards the top turns to the right towards the H eath House , which for some time has been visible through t h e d trees on the shoulder of the hill . A short istance past

t he . entrance to Heath House (Henry Downes , Esq ) the

Heath Chapel stands in a field to the left of the road . Here we have the rare opportunity of seeing an early N orman fabric , without the changes and incrustations w hich passing centuries have , very often to their improve

m . ent , added to nearly all our buildings of that period It is almost the unique instance of a church of that date retaining its primitive condition untouched . Externally the walls are relieved by flat buttresses at each angle and i n m dl - the id e of each wall face . The windows are all l sma l and plain , with the exception of a square hole cut in l the north wa l in the churchwarden era . The only door is - an d a large and fine one , with nook Shafts rich chevron

m . ouldings , and has its original ironwork and primitive lock m It ad its into the south side of the nave , which is filled Th e w m m . ith fine J acobean pews , ost of the carved pulpit a nd - m reading desk are of the sa e , and carved to match , m but the seats at the extre e west , and those at south side of the chancel , have much earlier decoration , and seem from the size and character of the timbers to have been

- portions of a fifteenth century rood loft . The chancel is

H E IN T ERIOR OF T H EATH CH APEL .

1 R 28 LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIGHBOU HOOD . on the summit some interesting evidences of an Anglo

- Saxon burial ground . Then Lower Hayton is passed , the only visible portion of a large and straggling community of l ’ a s cottagers , c led Hayton s Bent , which dot the hillside for a long distance . Still farther , nearly opposite Stanton i Lacy , is Hope Gutter , one of those beau tiful l ttle valleys so numerous in these parts , containing many picturesque w cottages . The road is then ithout great interest , except in point of distant scenery , which improves as Ludlow is approached and becomes a part of it .

Y SAX ON DOORW AY AT ST AN T ON LAC . CHAPTER XV .

R R E E D IVE THROUGH CO V DAL . — — Corve Bridge Sit e of Norman Chapel T u mu li o n Oldfie ld

— — - S tan ton Lacy Saxon Work Chu rchyard Tombs V il — — — - — lage Manor hou se Th e Lacys Cu lmington B lsi ch D —H — n —U e Milli ch e elb u r e & c. u o y olgat , M slow pp r p

PASSIN GE Lu dlowe b y - a t c out of Corve g , says Leland five I came straight to Corve Bridge , of fayre arches of ” i n d find stone . If we follow his footsteps to ay we shall a a s the bridge was rebuilt in the last century , and th t its rche

. e are now three , and anything but fair Descending Corv m m a t Street , which takes its na e fro the little river flowing

the bottom , and crossing the bridge , which was partly t built with stones from the old chapel of St . Leonard j us d e above , we have two miles of wi e and level highway befor — a us , planted with oaks on either side very pleasant run

. f for the cyclist , but a trifle monotonous More than hal of it has been traversed when Rye Fe"ton Farm is passed on i the right , j ust across the ra lway . Near it the site of a

Norman Chapel has lately been discovered , the traditional name of Chapel Field being thus explained . It seems to m have been a plain rectangular cha ber nearly thirtymfeet long , with a semicircular apse of another six feet . Nu er ous skeletons were unearthed , and some good tiles , but no gravestones or coffins . At the end of the second mile we r o ff tu n to the right , over the railway arch , and enter a ” large open space , called the Old Field , and now used as a racecourse . Taking the easternmost of the diverging l - u m tracts , we notice , in crossing , four we l marked t uli in a row close to the road . These have recently been examined For 1 88 . . te . (December , 4) by Mr C y In the first , which is large and detached from the others , was found an urn of elegant shape , with traces of ornament and filled with burnt lid bones , the rim having an internal ledge for a below it m a s all cist was found of flat stones . In the next was a l sma l quantity of bones and ashes , and in the end one a larger quantity and a bronze ornament . To the north ’ ” r west is a la ger mound , called Robin Hood s Butt , the tradi tion being that that popular hero discharged his bow E 1 30 LUDLOW TOWN AND N IGHBOU RHOOD .

from that spot at the tower of Ludlow Church , which is t li very Visible in the distance , and hat the arrow , fal ng short , l stuck in the gable of the north transept , where it sti l al m Fo rte a nd This was so exa ined by Mr . y, at a depth of ten feet a heap of burnt bones and charcoal was n l fou d , a bed of clay fol owed , and , two feet below , a layer of ashes . Among the bones , those of a child of ten or twelve

- years were identified , and a bronze spear head .

STANTON LACY .

th e th e Soon after reaching edge of the Old Field , i square grey tower of Stanton Lacy , though d stant still , is conspicuous in front of dark trees , all the more so as the country hereabouts is flat and wanting in special land Wh i tba tch n marks . For the same reason and other ri si g r u an g o nds become import t , and rival the distant Bringe

V innall l . wood and Hil s The road once regained , a short i e mile brings us to the lane , up wh ch the church is s en with w the Corve flo ing past it .

T B T H E LA T N T N L . OM S OF CYS , S A O ACY

Of churches with Saxon architectural features thi s m island can boast but few . They can al ost be counted on i . the fingers , yet Stanton Lacy is one of them The orig nal u as building appears to have been cr ciform in plan , they

See Th e real e xplanation of th e arrow has alr eady been give n . ( foot -n ot e o n pag e

E H RH 1 32 LUD LOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

a suitors , was staying at Stoke , when one of the latter , r off h Sh e Welsh prince , dete mined to carry her , w ich hear b ing of fled towards Wenlock , and , being closely pursued y him , had crossed the Corve where the church now stands . li t Fal ng on her knees , she prayed that the river migh become an impassable torrent and her prayer being heard f t and the pursuers ba fled , she built there a church abou D B 8 A . . 6 0 In Domesday ook Stanton is minutely described .

Roger de Lacy then held it his father , Walter , was one of n the heroes of the battle of Hasti gs . His brother Hugh e succeeded to the estates on his banishment in 1 095 . H

1 1 6 . H was succeeded by his nephew Gilbert , who died 3 is son Hugh (second) had from Henry I I . a charter con Ewi as was firming Stanton Lacy , Ludlow , and to him ;

1 1 8 . assassinated in I reland , 5 After being temporarily i n escheated , the estates were restored to Walter , his son , 1 1 8 m 9, who lost the in rebelling against King J ohn , but

m . 1 2 1 recovered the on paying a fine He died in 4 , leaving e a the two granddaught rs , M tilda and Mary , who divided m a nd estate . Matilda arried Peter de Geneva , , after , ville wh o Gen . Geoffrey de , both held Ludlow

M CUL INGTON .

Leaving by the lane through which we approached it , a nd and turning north , past a queer old thatched house ,

- through a tract of well timbered valley silvery with willows , r down which the Corve follows a tortuous channel , often nea m to the road , we pass on the left a fine old ti ber house , d called Langley , with a modern porch and a pool covere - m - with water lilies , and soon after a singular stu py looking object becomes discernible some distance ahead and slightly h to the right . Drawing nearer , it is seen to be a churc t a nd Spire of stone , with two thirds of its heigh missing ,

finished instead with a small one of wood . Turning up a of swampy lane and fording a large stream , the village

Culmington is entered . I t presents nothing more attractive than the church , which stands on the right behind a red brick farmhouse , which is older than it looks . The steeple , i which forms such a strange obj ect from a d stance , is an elegant and beautiful example of the Early English broach 1 5 i i rst. spire ; indeed , the church the best spec men of the F

i n . e Pointed style the district The tower is plain and squar , R E HR H R E E D IV T OUG CO V DAL . 1 33 w - ith small angle buttresses , and the spire starts flush with it from a row of plain corbels . The latter has a gabled w n - th e indow in each face u der a string course , and tower

N T H H CULMI G ON C URC .

h a s m some s all trefoiled openings , its weedy and untouched c ondition making it a very beautiful subj ect for pencil or c amera .

Entered through the tower , the church is a narrow oblong , undivided except by a fine Perpendicular carved screen . I t can be seen by close scrutiny that the latter is now east w of ard its original place , as the acutely pointed windows and string -course of the Early English chancel are continued w estward of it , and the old division is marked externally by a curious proj ection , with a small window and two interior 1 E H RH 34 LUDLOW TOWN AN D N IG BOU OOD .

h the doorways , now blocked up , whic was the staircase to rood loft . In one of the north windows of the chancel is a n and e quai t J acobean tomb , opposite a very fine doubl an d m p i scina square au bry . Further west is a wall recess i e with rich mould ngs and double row of ball flowers . Ther 1 is carving and the date 64 1 on some of the pews . A small m Early Norman door ad itting to the vestry , in which is a good register chest , is the oldest feature .

Passing through the village , we find it more interesting n u re - th e tha it promised ; and , t rning to the left , enter main road . We now leave the Corve to the right , and l m fo low the course of a s aller stream nearly due north .

Wenlock Edge now comes into evidence , and the country — generally is getting hilly and broken . Brown Clee not — ls brown but purple appears over lower hil on the right , Ti tterstone and , looking like a volcanic peak , reappears l Siefton above the nearer hil s while to the left is Forest , ’ with a tall tower upon its summit known as Flounder s

Folly . C ulmington Manor (the residence of E . Wood , a large brick house in the modern Gothic style , stands on a high bank at some distance . In about a mile and a half , l l ’ at a place ca led Ped ar s Rest , a lane on the right leads to Blsi ch - Corft on e , the original manor house of , a Villag o farther on . It is said to have been the home of John Talb t , r Earl of Shrewsbury , early in the fifteenth centu y , but

m . ost , at any rate , of the present house is Tudor I t is a h very large and straggling place of limestone rubble , wit all fine brick chimneys , but , unfortunately , the windows m 1 862 . were restored in There is a re nant of the moat , and on the same side a curious staircase turret with a n m e upper portion of ti ber and plaster . Inside is a staircas r of solid oak steps , some good panelling , ca ved fireplace , Co rfton and much fine old furniture . Village is prettily situated in a small dell to the right of the main road . I t possessed not a great while since— as there are people i t— a h n is living who were married in a cient chapel , which now a roofless shell , with a few shapeless doors and windows , but nothing to which a date could be assigned . Near to l m n the chapel yard , which is fu l of ricks , is the high ou d , i m m o r the d tch , and entrench ents of so e forgotten fort Corfton Co rfto n l castle . On the slope opposite is Ha l , a th e e modern building in the Gothic manner , lately residenc

1 6 U N D E H R 3 L DLOW TOWN A N IG BOU HOOD .

n in wall is a fine fourteenth century wi dow , and the south a n west angle small square openi g with a Sill , which looks ’ like a low side window . Near it , a pointed priests door and the al Norman window . In north w l of the nave is a great n - deal of herri g bone masonry and a small Norman window . n The main road has to be rej oi ed , and then one mile brings an d us to Munslow Aston , where there are an inn a few old houses . There was a church here at the time of the l Domesday survey . Aston Ha l is a large stone house with good chimneys and other J acobean features , but modern ised . Munslow , another mile beyond , is a very pleasant fi m in and attractive village , which was suf ciently i portant m the reign of Henry I . to give its na e to the d ivision of the inn county , or Hundred , in which it stands . A large at the al entrance is still c led The Hundred House , and for a moderate j ourney it will be convenient to rest there , and s B roncroft afterward cross the Corve to and Tugford , and l return on the east side of the va ley . But if time should allow , Shipton should be visited , though there is no longer m an inn there , and it can be reached within two iles by rail fin e from Longville station . At Shipton is a Elizabethan M tton m hall , for centuries the seat of the ancient y fa ily , and at Stanton Long and Holgate , on the way back , good churches . In the latter , a beautiful Norman font and very

fine Norman south door . On the same high mound on which the church stands stood the castle of Holgate , or Hel ot Hel o t g , built by g de Stanton , and made use of by in 1 1 0 . a Henry I . in 9 It was destroyed by the Roy lists 1 645

M UN SLOW .

In any case , Munslow Church is worth seeing , up a lane to the left , where it is very prettily situated on the slope of al a small v ley , looking across which its square fourteenth m century tower , with small and simple belfry lights , pyra id m roof , and no battlements , is seen a ong the rectory trees , with the ancient timber houses of the di strict dotted about . Seldom is a more rural and picturesque churchyard met i with . The tombstones , many carved with quaint dev ces , are clothed in luxuriant creeping growths ; one of them has placed over it as a canopy the ancient timber lych gate which has been removed from its original place by sawing

l . i s s n through the pi lars The church itself very intere ti g , R E HR H E D IV T OUG CORV DALE. 1 37

dl w . n and , out ar y at least , extremely beautiful Withi , much has been renewed , but many features remain ; for l example , a good incised slab (most unusua in this county) , a nd the curious Decorated windows in the north aisle , con an taining a qu tity of fine glass of slightly later date . On t he south side are two fine Decorated windows , one of them ’ o f similar design to one at Richard s Castle , and a very fine i timber porch of the same period , draped w th honeysuckle ,

- and opposite to it a quaint old sun dial . Millich o e At Upper p , two miles due north from Munslow , is a curious twelfth century house , now used for farm mm purposes . Its main walls are i ensely thick . The

- lower story is entered by a round headed doorway , slightly l ornamented , near which is a sma l window deeply splayed .

There is a fireplace , and in one angle a stone staircase w l orked in the thickness of the wal , which was defended by f I three di ferent doors . n the upper room are two curious w indows of Early English character , with seats in the ’ recesses . With the exception of the celebrated J ews

House at Lincoln , there is hardly another instance of a l d omestic bui ding of such early character . m After refresh ent at the Hundred House , we can return d own the other side the Dale by crossing at Beam Bridge m n towards Tugford , where there is a ill , and an interesti g c n hurch with tower , nave , and chancel of the fourtee th m c m m . entury , and so e good external ural arches for to bs

B eyond Tugford the route is given at page 1 27.

L N ~ IAL N L W O D SU D , MU S O . CHAPTER XVI .

R E HR H H R H M H D IV T OUG AS FO D , CAYN A , W ITTON ,

H TT R W I ON COU T . — — — Ashford Hou se Cayn ham Cou rt Camp- Chu rch VVh i t ton — — — — Cou rt Whitton Chapel Hope Ba got Bitterl ey Chu rch —H e n e H l y all .

THIS drive can be shortened by starting through Lo wer Gald eford l i , past the Cattle Market , and fol owing the d rect r road to Caynham ; but if time is not an obj ect , some ve y good country is to be seen by following the Leominster road as far as Ashford Hall (page 90) and turning over f the railway bridge . The river is then passed , and Ash ord Carbonell vill a ge (page At the top of the ascen t is a fine view in several directions a large white house ahead l is Ashford House (Miss Ha l) , where there is a fine avenue

a nd e ll e . of elms other large timb r , and a herd of fa ow de r

- At the cross road an old fashioned brick house , with very

l e e . picturesque outbuildings , was an inn ca led the S rp nt r Ti tt erstone From higher g ound still further , , always a beautiful , is a great addition to the landsc pe , towering above the minor heights of Caynham Camp an d Knowl i Hill . In the hollow is a stream of so me size flow ng through

fine trees , in crossing which an old mill can be seen , with

Caynham Court in the background . Caynham Camp can be visited by leaving the carriage at a wicket on the left , j ust after passing the lodge gates of the Court (Sir William

M . Curtis , and going up the field to a stile in an old i . l orchard By cl mbing straight up the hil , the first slight l entrenchment is gained , then the fosse , and a steep val um e twenty feet high encircles a large space , with an entranc r at the east , and now cultivated . The ea thworks them selves are densely covered with trees , but from the slopes below there is an unobstructed View of mag nificent extent . This interesting British camp was several times fortified in dl Ka insh a m clene the Mid e Ag es (Leland says , Castle , i i down , stood within two m les of Ludlow on a h ll top m l and was used as late as the ti e of Cromwe l , who ha d w stores here during the siege of Ludlow . Returning do n

R LU DLOW TOWN AND N EIGHBOU HOOD .

suspected . The house is built of small Elizabethan bricks w l n ith stone quoins , and encloses a sma l quadra gle , in which is a stone portion with two fourteenth century

W H I T T ON COURT . windows and some elaborate timber and plaster work . i n The nterior is exceedingly interesting , and contai s many WHITTON CHAPEL . 1 41

old rooms in good preservation , and a great deal of fine tapestry . Within the late brick porch , a fine fourteenth century stone arch leads to a large hall of the same date , across one end of which is a carved and panelled timber i screen of extraord nary massiveness , and a large fireplace between the windows above mentioned . On the walls are some very curious paintings . This beautiful old house , m which was in the Charlton fa ily for many generations , has been lately restored in the most conservative spirit , and retains , down to the smallest details , its ancient character . 1 1 1 1 6 1 The dates 6 and 2 occur on the brick portions . I t is now the residence of Miss Mills . About a quarter of a mile al to the south of the park gate , Whitton Chapel stands one

m . a ong the fields It has a square tower of great simplicity , m without battle ents and almost without windows , added about the fourteenth century , and the east window is similar in date . There is a south door with plain Norman m - arch and ty panum , round which is the nail head mould l ing . Returning to the park , we follow the wal in an easter l m al y direction to an old timber far house c led Hollings , and l then to the left , ti l the little church of Hope Bagot appears at the head of a small valley between the buttresses of i t T tters one . Passing the rustic old outbuildings of Hope

Court (Captain Giles) , a Georgian brick house , the church is reached by a footpath across an orchard . It is a small vi z edifice , with considerable Norman character , . , a very

fine chancel arch , with nook shafts and elaborate sunk star m m l orna ent , south door with plain tympanu , a smal

. d window or two , and large cylindrical font There is a goo early timber porch two single -light windows in the an ch cel are thirteenth , the other fourteenth century . Very interesting piscina and sedilia in the window sill ; good

J acobean carved pulpit , and a curious fourteenth century window in south wall of nave .

ER BITT LEY .

‘ From here the Knowb u ry buttress of the Clee Hill ca n

be crossed by going up the lane at the back of the church , n and windi g up the slope towards the new church , and across the network of fenceless roads an d small tracks on th e u al hill . After j oining the Cleob ry road , turn ong a a d lane near the hamlet of Farden , and past a farm c lle 1 E H RH 42 LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

Hillu enco tt pp , to Bitterley Court and church , standing near together on high ground , about a mile from the village ; the former a quaint house hiding all traces of antiquity under repeated coats of plaster . I t has long been the a residence of the Walcot family , and contains m ny literary as and tre ures interesting relics , including a pedigree of the t 1 1 6 1 Wa lco s from 3 to 643. The church is a Norman m fabric , very much altered in modern ti es however, some

H H BI TT L C URC YARD CROSS , ER EY . w indows , a very fine font , and plain south door of that date - n remain . There is also an iron bou d chest of the fourteenth W m e t century , in which ere found , so e years ago , a p w er m fla on . g , paten , and al s box The pulpit is J acobean , the lectern made from ancient woodwork , and the oldest

C HAPTER XVII .

R E R T E AILWAY XCU SION O STOK SAY . — — — — Ri ver Onny Onibu ry Craven Arms Newton Stokesay e—I H —Sto kesa u Castl ts istory y Ch rch .

FOR Stokesay we take tickets for Craven Arms station , r seven miles north , and leave the town at its no thern ex r mi m t e ty . For two iles the railway runs so low as to leave m very little of the country in View , and by the ti e any is

visible , the Old Field has been reached , near the first station , Bromfield , where there is no Sign of the village but the l l church tower and ta l poplars near it , three parts of a mi e

to the west . The river Onuy , sparkling over great beds of

- gravel , and swirling round deep pools and under tree roots ,

is always on our left till we reach Onibury , where we cross m it , and pass on along its other bank . Onibury is a s all al Village of h f a dozen farms , as many thatched cottages ,

m . and a s all church The latter has a plain square tower , m which can be seen fro the train , and a nave and chancel , chiefly fourteenth century , the best feature being a timber porch of the same date , which is not improved by a slate roof . A Saxon church was here at the time of the Domes day Survey .

R E C AV N A RM S .

Just before the train slackens to run into Craven Arms station we catch a fleeting glimpse of the obj ect of our j ourney , Stokesay Castle , and from a side which gives it to great advantage . Seen across a large , quiet pool , backed up with the steep grey sides of Norton Camp , and grouped - i with the grand elm trees and rustic old church , it is a th ng r to be remembered . The busy j unction at Craven A ms h a s m l ade its mark on the surrounding loca ity , without n adding to its beauty . The Village bei g entirely of recent r n growth , and not at all interesting , we avoid it by tu ni g at once through a wicket in the right -hand corner of the station yard , and follow a path at the back of the premises of the large Georgian hotel , from which it takes its name . A R To E 1 R ILWAY EXCU SION STOK SAY . 45

T his brings us to the main road , which runs parallel to the m railway . Newton , a s all Village to the left , was a fine old p lace full of good houses till the modern Craven Arms e ncroached upon it . Nothing calls for special attention on al the way , for though the hills are high and bold , and the c astle occupies high ground in the centre of the valley , the m road does not enable the to be seen to advantage , and is m rather prosaic in itself . Not a ile from the station , it c n rosses an iron bridge over the Onuy , and in the a gle of the

- r . oad is the parish school house Passing the latter , a lane

T N H H S TOKESAY CAS LE A D C URC . l eads up the bank to a group of trees , where there is a stile

i . nto the churchyard This side of the church is not striking , b u t on passing round its eastern end , he must be indeed a Goth who is not struck by the first View of the old manor r h ouse . For f om the deep moat which bounds the tangled g rass and grey tombstones of the churchyard there springs a strange u n- English looking pile of loopholed walls and

- h igh pitched overhanging roofs and gables . The long c entral ridge , picturesquely broken by the tall window E H RH LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

i gables of the great hall , leads the eye to the h gh battle mented tower at the far end , and the quaint timber gate house enriched with strange carved devices standing in the

outer wall .

E E STOK SAY CASTL .

A description of this place such as it deserves would require a volume to itself . The great and paramount i n ferest of the building is the fact of its thirteenth ' century

T T L TH E H H . S OKESAY CAS E , FROM C URC YARD

i character , and its perfect preservation , hav ng neither fallen into ruin nor suffered alteration or renewal in modern

R L UDL ow TOWN AND N EIGHBOU HOOD .

ro ecti on . a nd p j , that this upper story was rebuilt in timber and plaster work , and proj ected on brackets during altera tions in the six teenth century . At the other end of the

H a ll are some interesting rooms , with cellars or dungeons

F T H T A . DOORW AY O GREA ALL , S OKES Y

al under them . They are so accessible from the courtyard

- r by a shoulder headed door . Nea it an external staircase

- leads to the dining room through a similar door , and also R T E 1 RAILWAY EXCU SION o STOK SAY . 49 across a bridge and through a larger pointed door to the tower . The dining room , unlike the rest of the building , has its primitive character veiled by seventeenth century n panelling and other decoration of considerable rich ess , u partic larly the fireplace , which has the original stone arch surmounted by a gorgeous mass of carved wood , retaining m many traces of gold and colouring . Fro this room , which has eight windows , open others towards the tower , m which however , has no direct co munication with other parts of the building , being practically detached , so as to l m form an isolated strongho d for emergency . It has a ost ul singular design , resembling in plan a pair of irreg ar a oct gons , and has three stories , each designed to have m separate entrances . The base ent is entered from the

- south east corner of the courtyard , under a pointed arch , m and is a large cha ber following the outline of the tower , m and lighted by six lancet windows . It was for erly used as a blacksmith ’ s shop when the castle was in use as out m buildings by a neighbouring far er , and in consequence m took fire , and was in danger of co plete destruction as it f was , the partitions in the di ferent stories were burnt , so that their internal arrangement cannot now be seen . The m m second is a similar room to the base ent , si ilarly lighted , and the upper one is now in most respects the same but it had a few years ago a feature of its own which made it f quite di ferent . The tower then had a high roof which was open below into this room , and starting from below ul the battlements , and partaking of their irreg arity of plan , stood above them at its apex , and with its dark stone tiles showing between the battlements , and relieving them , alternately light and dark , added greatly to the beauty of f the di ferent views of the tower . This roof , which was in good repair , and was probably unique among the secular u m b ildings of the three kingdo s , has a short time since

for some inscrutable reason , been destroyed , and a

flat one of lead substituted at great expense . The internal effect of the alteration is to give a flat and comparatively low ceiling to the room , in place of the old lofty one . This m roo , like the others , was intended to be entered by a large door from the courtyard , but it is now blocked up , and a m late window inserted . This door and the one below ust have been approached from a staircase which stood near — t h e dining room as can be seen by the evidences on the E H RH LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD . — wall there by means of drawbridges ; so that the tower l m cou d be co pletely isolated at will . The three stages of the tower were also in communication by means of a narr ow al staircase in the thickness of the w l , which could readily l be stopped up , and which now is the on y means of access

G T H LL T . REA A , S OKESAY

to the upper room and the battlements . While the m pyra idal roof remained , the embrasures were accessible al from a narrow gangway round it . Between them the w l is pierced by very gr aceful loops or oilets for archers . A

flight of steps leads to a turret with similar openings .

In the courtyard is a deep well , which had some years ago a Gothic canopy of oak . Late in the sixteenth century

E R LUDLOW TOWN AND N IGHBOU HOOD .

Of - men for ten days , with a retinue thirty six horses , and in i proport on , showing that the place was then considerable , fi and probably its present size . This dif culty is obviated

N N G T E T RA CE A E S TOKESAY . by the evidence I have pointed out of an embattled wall having existed round the courtyard , one side of a loophole and - i a garde robe being still visible , wh ch was doubtless the wall mentioned in the licence . I think there can be no 1 RAILWAY EXCURSION To STOKESAY . 5 3

1 2 1 doubt that the tower is earlier than 9 . The last of the m i n 1 8 Ludlow fa ily held it 49 , and it then passed by the marriage of his daughter to a Vernon of Haddon , who lived here when Leland visited this district . He says Aboot L u dlo w L u dlo C V . miles owt of bet ixt and Bishop astle ; m L u dlo s Stoke Say belongeth someti e to the j , now to the

Vernons , builded like a castle . The Vernons lived here 1 60 till 7, when it was sold to Sir George and Sir Arthur

Mainwaring . Thirteen years later it was sold to Elizabeth l Craven and Sir Wil iam Craven , her son , in which family m it re ained till about twenty years since , when it passed to

All r ft E . . . c o s J D , q , who resides at Stokesay Court I t 1 was inhabited till 706.

T E Y H R H S OK SA C U C .

Unlike other buildings of the kind , Stokesay Castle has no chapel , owing , no doubt , to the nearness of the parish m church . The latter presents externally a Nor an building , re - ed ified m in the churchwarden era , but within has so e u n very interesting points . The south door , is plain and

m . touched Nor an The nave is filled with high oak pews , " many having carvings and quaint hinges , and in the chance is a fine J acobean canopied pew with arched openings . m m m There are a few mural onu ents of so e age , the best being in the outside of the chancel wall , having coats of

m 1 662 . ar s and an inscription to Alice Baugh , who died - m There is a very good Early English tower arch , but al ost i hidden by an old gallery , and there is a good carved cha r in the chancel . C HAPTER XVIII .

R E R To E R AND To AILWAY XCU SION T N BU Y , WALKS

R R ETC . BU FO D , — — — — Wooff erton Easton Cou rt Little H ere ford N u nu pto n U p — - - - — — to n Cou rt Middle ton o u th e Hill B ri mfi eld T enbu ry — — ’ — — — u m e u m K i o Ch rch To bs St . Micha l s B rford To bs n gh - - m t o n o u T e e .

A DAY may be well spent in a railway excursion to Tenbury l th u and its neighbourhood . The line fo lows e co rse of the s f Teme southward , about five miles , to Woo ferton (where u we leave the Shrewsbury and Hereford line for the Tenb ry) , i and then turns with i t towards the east . The scenery s m very varied , and soon re inds us that we are in Worcester th e r shire , most of valley being given up to che ry orchards

and hop yards . The trench on the left , which might be m l taken for an early entrench ent , is on y the bed of a disused

canal . Close to Easton Court station , which takes its name from a fine modern mansion on the high ground to Ta rra tt the left , the residence of Mrs . , is Little Hereford

Church , but it is not seen to advantage from the line , being m o really a ost interesting edifice , and , but for a slate r of , a nd quite picturesque . The tower nave are Early English

of an early type , the former having a fine west door , long

- loop like lancets , and double lancet belfry windows . I t m i seems , by the re a ns of corbels , to have had a parapet ,

but has now a pyramidal roof . There is a Norman window fine and a Norman font in the nave , which is entered by a l Early English south door , and there is a beautifu tower

arch of the same date . The nave is divided from the

- chancel by a thick wall , in which is a very low chancel arch , -u ll and above it a large built p window recess , the si of

whi ch has a proj ecting slab with a piscina at its south end . m o n A little ore to the south is a narr w doorway , gi vi g l access by a staircase in the thickness of the wa l , entered by

- a door under the chancel arch , to the rood loft . These are a n - very interesting evidences of altar in the rood loft ,

- when a roo d loft existed . They also Show that the former mall chancel was much s er and lower than the present one ,

1 6 E H RH 5 LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

- and tower arch are all Norman . The tower is the full w an d s of idth of the nave , very tall , hung with thick masse B ivy , the lower story lighted by Early English loops . oth this tower an d that of Little Hereford bear evi dence of having been built with a View to defence . Moor Abbey , a mile further south , is a large seventeenth century farm house , but with no monastic remains apparent . From Brimfield Hill , which is thinly wooded , are good views to dl l th e wards Lu ow , the Clee Hi ls being fine obj ects , and l B rimfield Stretton Hi ls generally visible . village is pretty , in spite of an air of commercial prosperity . The church is u ninteresting , having been entirely rebuilt in the last w century , ith perhaps the exception of the lower part of the

m . tower , which shows early asonry In the Vicarage garden is a fine Early English font . In the two and a half miles from Easton Co urt to Tenbury is nothing very noteworthy besides the tower of Burford C u h rch among the trees by the river .

E R T NBU Y .

R e On leaving Tenbury station for the town , the old os m and Crown Inn , co bining with the peep of church tower and houses across the river , is the first picturesque obj ect . a At this end of an old bridge is a handsome hotel , the Sw n a at the other end the town begins . It is a sm ll but lively as place on the right bank of the Teme , and , a town , has y considerable antiquit , but the evidences of it have been mostly swept away by the activity of th is and the preceding generation , so that an old street or two , the bridge , and portions of the church , are nearly all that remain . ul In spite of its new appearance , the church sho d not be i e i n effi s. neglected , as it contains several very interest g g i s In the north wall of the chancel , under an exqu ite four t eenth m - u century canopy , lies the s all , cross legged fig re of

- a knight in complete chain mail . His head rests on a

- m l lozenge shaped cushion , and has the hood of ai drawn is over it . He wears a hauberk of mail , over which a long surcoat fastened by a narrow strap at the waist , and nearly reaching the feet , which rest on a talbot . The sword is Th e suspended by a broad belt , and the shield is absent . hands are placed together on the breast , holding a heart n oi m n between them , and their coveri g _ ail ha gs down from E R H R H 1 T NBU Y C U C . 5 7

w . i s the rists This beautiful monument , except the face of the figure , in perfect preservation . It is about the oldest al fi a nd monument ef gy in the district , perhaps the only

H T B H T IN N . EAR S R E , E URY sculptured effigy in the kingdom which shows the mufflers m m or gloves of ail hanging loose fro the wrists , not , as l d s . genera ly represente , on the folded hand Probably it 1 8 AN D E H RH 5 LUDLOW TOWN N IG BOU OOD . does not mark the burial - place of the person commemora i ted , but was erected to contain the heart of some kn ght r who fell in the Crusades . It has been refe red to by Nash u and other writers as a child in armo r, but that is mani festly erroneous . In the south wall of the south aisle is a gigantic effigy of a knight somewhat similarly armed to the foregoing , but as h e l m lies in a recess in the wa l , which has at so e late period h a lf been plastered up , only the figure is Visible , and it cannot be properly studied . There is a large pointed Stu rme shield on the left arm , bearing the arms of the y : e m family gules , a ch vron between three ullets pierced , argent . The legs are crossed , the surcoat is shorter than l e in the smaller figure , and the mai has either never be n o ff indicated or has worn in the course of centuries . The Stu rme s u Stu rme y lived at S tton y , near here , and were a great family in these parts . At the east end of the south aisle is a very elaborate m r In to b , richly ca ved in alabaster , and perfect condition , Of i s i n on the top which a knight Elizabethan plate armour , i n and his wife the costume of the same period . Round the m l sides are the coats of the fa ily and their al iances , and on - m k i s the tilting hel of the night , on which h head rests , is m the fa ily crest an arm in armour , with the hand bare ’ holding a sword , which pierces a boar s head couped . On l m the wal is this inscription Here lieth Tho as Acton , of d e t ed . Sutton , Esquire , who at the age of seventy years p 2 1 6 this life J an . , 5 4 and Mary , his wife , daughter to Sir m L a co n 8 Tho as y , of Willey , Knight , being of the age of 5 28 1 6 n years , deceased April 5 4 , havi g issue in their life t me y two sons , Launcelot and Gabriel , who died before m h th ei re a nd the in t eir infancy , and J oyce , only daughter e beire , being then of the age of twelve years , was espous d m Ch a rlcot to Sir Tho as Lucy , of , Knight , which dame J oyce in dutiful remembrance of these her loving parents hath ”

1 8 1 . . . . . erected this monument , 5 T A M A The Sir Thomas Lucy here mentioned was the Squire of Ch a rlco te n whose enmity Shakespeare is supposed to have i curred , u and whom he afterwards satirised as J stice Shallow . m In 1 645 a maj or in the army of Charles I . ade notes of ’ the chu rch in passing with the king s troo ps through r m was Tenbu y , and fro these it is certain that there a great f deal of fine glass in the windows . It may have suf ered at

1 0 E H RH 6 LU DLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

a kirtle , over which is a long m ntle , fastened by a cord . The head rests on a cushion enriched with conventional a n foli g e in a beautiful pattern . O ly part of the Norman French inscription is visible : "I" Icy gist dame Elisa ’ m a Elm n rn a lle o Co ew . beth , fe e mon de y , q mort Elmon m Here lies Lady Elisabeth , wife to Sir de Co e i r wa lle . Ur d e en y , who died a fine sepulchral arch , - flower m riched with crockets and ball ouldings , in the north

ffi . wall of the chancel , is an alabaster e gy of a lady She is - and attired in a low necked kirtle and mantle , her hair long confined by a fillet , her head resting on two cushions n supported by angels , and her feet on a dog . The colouri g of the figure , with the following inscription , have been

B F IN LI Z B T H B T . OM O PR CESS E A E , URFORD restored Here lyeth the body of the Most Noble Eliza own beth , daughter of J ohn of Gaunt , Duke of Lancaster ,

. a Sister to King Henry IV , wife to John Holl nd , Earl of u u H ntingdon and D ke of Exeter, after was married to Sir Cornwa lle J ohn y , Knight of the Garter , and Lord Stanhope .

. 1 26. th e She died the fourth year of Henry VI , 4 In centre of the chancel is a wooden effigy of a knight in plate armour , his feet on a heraldic monster, and round the base M AT R R TO BS BU FO D . 1 61

: Ed mu nd u s Cornewa lle the following y , Thomae Corne wa lle Burford e e u itis fili us et y de , q aurati haeres , Obiit die a nu a rii m m u in entesimo J , anno do ini Millesi o Q g Octavo , ” t a u a e V i ce im a e tis s s o . 4 R Requiescat in Pace . In the recess of the south - east window of the chancel is

- an altar tomb , whose upper surface is a thick sheet of lead , on which is incised the figure of a lady under a Curious

- Gothic canopy . She wears the pedimental head dress a nd a flowing robe with ornamental girdle . A group of children is squeezed into the bottom corner . This tomb has evident l m y been executed by a aker of incised slabs , the whole treatment being different from that of a brass . I t is a l m together a ost interesting example , and probably unique . Round the margin is the inscription Here lythe Elys d eb roke d a wtu r d ebroke off bethe , unto Sr Walter Wehbe Kn th m an d fferres lay , yg of the oste noble ordre , lorde of Ch a rtela y whych e Elsbeth e was wyffe unto Sr Richard m r Corbet of Morton , Knight , and after was arried unto S m le ht on Kni th le wh ch e Tho as yg , g , of Stretton In dale y El sb eth d e ted y p . out of this transitory world e In the yere ” d mccccclvi . su . of owre lorde god a , whose soule j have On the north side is a large monument in the most um usual form of a triptych . The doors and framework externally are freely painted with representations of the

Apostles . Internally the principal group is painted upon

- boards , and consists of three figures , life Size , in Elizabethan Cornewa lle costume , Edmund y and his father and mother . m There is a representation of a corpse below , any coats of n arms , and a long i scription . Tradition tells wonderful stories of the size and strength of this Edmund ; he is depicted 7 feet 3 inches high . The painting of this tomb Sa la boss al n was the work of Melchior , so know as Gerardino

Milanese . I t is in perfect preservation , and of very great interest , as there are but two others in the kingdom . n m Rou d the walls are nu erous interesting monuments , al - Elizabethan and later , sever containing well preserved effi i es an d was g curious epitaphs , entering , as the fashion of the times , into the chief incidents of the lives of the de “ ceased . One records the burial of a lady who lived t o ” m i d ai s see seventeen score and ore ch l ren r ed from her body . di Under a pointed arch , with good moul ngs , in the

E u i ti s u n e n kni Kn q a rati i dicat d a ra k of ghthood . ight s e e e e u e e en w r so call d whos sp rs w r gold or gilt . R 1 62 LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIGHBOU HOOD .

. i south wall , are two circular cavities with loose lids Th s is one of the few remai ning instances of the med ie val c ustom

of enshrining the heart of a great personage , who happened

-

. di e th e . to abroad , in wall of a church This shrine con t a ined Co rnwa lle the heart of Sir Edmund y , Knight , who

died at Cologne in the fourteenth of Henry VI . The old c overs have been replaced with modern ones .

- - E KNIG HTON ON T M E.

- Five miles north east of Tenbury , in a picturesque and 11 - ou i neighbourhood , is the small chapel of Knighton t Teme , a very quaint building , con aining many points of i nterest . The tower is an oblong continuation the full n width of the church , divided from it by timber frami g , a nd carrying a wooden upper part and the bell- cages on a

framework of thi ck beams . There are several Norman f l eatures , as chancel arch with blind arcade , ta l and narrow

: south door with rich arcading above , and the fabric of nearly all the walls . In the tower are two elegant Early d English lancets and one in the north wall , also a goo Decorated window in the south of nave with the Sturmey a rms over .

NDI LA N T B D . PERPE CU R FO , URFOR

1 6 4 LUDLOW TOWN AND N EIGHBOU RHOOD . m n iddle of the town below us , across the flat plai , and over the rising grounds of Wh itb a tch as far as the slopes of

Wenlock Edge , and reaching far up into Corve Dale , east w s C h ard to the lee range , and spreading sout wards into the s great plain of Hereford hire , stretches a vast extent of Old

n . dl r Red Sa dstone I t overlies , south of Lu ow , the Uppe ’ n Silurian sandstone at Ti ker s Hill , and on the east the u m Carbonifero s Li estone rests upon its upper beds . Above Titt erstone in it , in the slopes of the Clee , rise successive n ll stages the Millstone Grit , the Coal Measures , and fi a y

a . the bas lt , which is spread over the summit R — i CAM B IAN . Recent nvestigations have shown the e xistence in the Church Stretton district of a mass of rocks i called Archaic , which are believed to be of much earl er d an ate than y yet studied , though their exact history does n ot seem to be very clearly ascertained . They are exposed C e e th e at ardington , Hop Bowdler , and elsewher , but e arliest rocks which lie within a convenient distance of m n Ludlow are the Ca bria , and the nearest places at which t hey can be studied are round the southern end of the — — L ongmynd accessible from Craven Arms station in which locality the Upper Llandovery conglomerate rests u m a nd nconfor ably on its lower slopes , may be traced from the eastern side at Little Stretton to Mi ndtown on the west . m The presence of this unconfor ity at its base , with other th e L on m nd indications , has led to conclusion that the g y m ridge was a high and steep island , rising fro a former ' - Aremcola di d ma S ilurian sea . The worm tracks , y , are

n . found at Little Stretton , but no other organic remai s — n LOWER SILU RIAN (Ordovician) . The Lower Siluria ma r y be seen near to Broome and Aston station , the fi st m m fro Craven Ar s on the Central Wales line , where there is al a section of Hoar Edge Grits . They so occur at Carwood l m . Hord es e and Broken Stones , a ile or two further north y Sandstones are exposed in the cuttings near Marsh Brook m and station , at Long Lane , two iles west of Craven Arms , , ma be one mile further north , the Cheney Longville Flags y the observ ed on the west of the village of that name . Also O nn - an y Shales in the river bed at the same place , where m y S hocros on i a fine fossils have been obtained , including p p g h o i t n sp a li s. Some of the characteristic fossils to be fou d in the above neighbourhoods are Near Marsh Brook , Gl tocri nus Tenta cli tes An li cus Pha co s ca no htha lmus yp , g , p p , E THE E H R 1 G OLOGY OF N IG BOU HOOD . 65

A sa hu s P ow si i Ca l mene Ca ra cta ci L i cha s la xa tus p y , y , , a n terna a homena r di s . a l t hi S tro S S . ex a nsa Ort s p g , , p , ' ’ F a lla lu l e m . e r z A ctom ce O. b O v s e ti l s M odi olo si s orbi cu , , p , p ' ’ B ellero hon bi loba tu s B u a t u Ia n s . s lc zn s &c. , p , , At Longville , Am i enna tus Homolonotus bi scula tu s i n ula termi . b L py ; , , g ’ a la ta Di sci na u n ta ta Orthi s a l e u n u ra n c t rna ta O. i s g , p , , g , ’ s i ri eroi des Tri nu cleu s conc ntri ca Re l u e S O . e s mo e n d s . p f , , p p ’ Iloena s D a i s i cl c s e v z C o toi d s Ca ra cta ci & c. Fragments of , y y , — At n ER . On LLANDOV Y the latter place , in the famous y s ection , the Llandovery can be traced between the Wenlock a nd upper beds of the Caradoc strata . The conglomerate can m be seen , as entioned above , at many points between Mind town Little Stretton and , and its relation noted to the

C n . ambrian , agai st which it lies unconformably At Long ' B a n h Iloenu s rri e si s I . T omsom &c. ville , , , are procurable in t h e n section exposed in the bed of the On y . The UPPER S I LU R IAN (Ordovician) is finely displayed in t h e parallel ridges north of Corve Dale , where the Wenlock s hale , forming the greater part of Wenlock Edge , is crowned on the crest by the harder Wenlock limestone . The w earing down of the Lower Ludlow shale has formed the v al alley between it and the par lel , but less continuous , r idge , which is capped with Aymestrey limestone , the Upper L udlow shale succeeding it on the Slope towards Corve m D ale . Si ilar features are traceable to the west and south w dl V innall est of Lu ow , where in the escarpments of the r ange the Wenlock limestone can be seen in quarries on the

e l . astern side , with the lower Lud ow overlying On the w n ester Side the Lower Ludlow shales , and farther west , a t nl Burrington , the We ock shales have been denuded , forming the valley of Wigmore Lake the hill above on the n - B ri n ewood orth west , g , being crowned with Aymestrey limestone . The Upper Ludlow is well exposed near the n town itself . In the rocks u der the Castle it is very access Homolonotu s Kni hti i ible , and g has been found . Near the L udford end of Wh i tcliff is a large quarry abounding in f ossil shells , and in the lane above , a long reach of the c an elebrated Fish Bone Bed is visible , from which m y f ragments of fossil fish have been unearthed . This bed o ccurs at Downton Castle , and there is a very fine exposure o f m it near Norton Ca p , the hill above Stokesay Castle ; a bove the bed is a layer of shale abounding in Pla tyschi sma ’ a nd M odi olo L n pszs oevi s. Nearly opposite Di ham Bridge E H 1 66 LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU RHOOD .

' Cer otzoca ri s the Aymestrey limestone is visible , and there Encr i nurus u ncta tus L i cha s B u ckla ndi i P roetus p , , and Stokesi i have been Obtai ned ; and at the northern end of Wh it cliff r is a fine Upper Ludlow qua ry , containing many u interesting fossils . Along the Wigmore road are a n mber m m i of s all quarries of Ay estrey and Lower Ludlow , wh ch latter is largely exposed in the Sunny Gutter below Mary an d in nl k Knowl , the roads about Burrington the We oc s - shale is easily accessible , al o in the river bed above there , Pha n i a u the where cops lo g c da tus is nu merous . Within Burrington end of the Downton gorge are high cli ffs o f n Aymestrey , and in one place a series from Dow ton sand

. Cas e stone to Lower Ludlow Lower down , near the tl

Bridge , the Ludlow Bone Bed is accessible in the river bank .

The Tin Mill Race and the banks near Forge Bridge , still l al i n lower , shou d so be v sited for fine sections of Downto sandstone . In the roads to the west of Ludlow masses of P enta merus

- Kni ghti i are common in the piles of road metal . These m Mocktree co e from the quarries at Leintwardine , where at r l m Hill is a g and section of Lower Lud ow and Ay estrey , i with vast quantities of this fossil in very perfect cond tion , m Prota ster L e tosoma a nd besides speci ens of the Star Fish , p ' ’ vermi ormi s Cera ti oca ri s Cri nozds Pter otus 81 0. e f , , , yg , Ther Pkra mocera s ventri cosu m a rcna tum com are also g , , and ’ ressu m Fa vori tes a lveola ms L i tni tes i a nteus Orthocer a s p , , g g , ’ sa turm i bex and M ocktreense C rtocera s extri ca tu m , , , y , L i n ula la ta Pha co s ca u da tu s Ca rdi ola stri a ta s g , p , , beside

many others of commoner occurrence . In quarries on ll l Church Hi , close to the village , the Lower Lud ow is very n f — En prolific in fossils of ma y di ferent kinds Star Fish , n i w : cri ites , Trilobites , of wh ch the follo ing are a few ’ P rota ster M i ltom L e tosoma vermi ormi s M 01 10 , p , and f , ' ra ta s chi mcera L ei ntwa rdi nensi s cla vi cula N i lssom g p , , and , ' Sca ka s i s L u densi s P a loeocoma M a rstom a nd Colvi ni p p , , S hoera ster omum Pter a s i s L u densi s L i muloi des o i atus p p , p , p , Pter otus uncta tus Pha co s Stokesi i Ca l mene tu bercu yg p , p , y

losa &c. &c. , , Several of the quarries are now filled up , i s i and the rock no longer accessible , but one rema ns near r l t o T i e n . pp Farm , and is still productive — s OL D RED SANDSTONE . The Transition bed between the Silu rian and Old Red Sandstone can be studied in al d sever places near the town . They are well expose at

E H RH 1 68 LUDLOW TOWN AND N IG BOU OOD .

a The above account is , from the nature of the work , very condensed one , and those who wish to follow up the subj ect will do well to obtain the Handbook to Shropshire Ad nitt . . D . Geology by the Rev J La Touche ( and Naunton , al Shrewsbury) , which de s with it in a masterly and ex h a ustive manner .

AM KN IGHTII PENT ERUS . ’ Woolle s Ludlow Publications y .

Thi rd Ed i ti on . Cr own 8 11 0 net . 5/ .

Lu dl ow Town a nd N ei h bo rh o g u o d .

O i e e e t h e R P By Mr . l v r Bak r , F llow of oyal Soci e ty of ai nt e r Etch ers (London ) Me mb er of t h e R oyal S ocie ty of Artists ' m n m - . u 0 u n i n a c si mi le ( Bir i gha ) With abo t 7 I ll stratio s f , u e t h e E n m n L n n prod c d by Typographic tchi g Co pa y , of o do , m O n e e b t h e fro rigi al Sk tch s y A u thor .

N ew Ed i ti on ( the Twelfth ) wi th Eleven a dd i ti ona l bea u ti fu l Illu stra ti o ns a nd P la n o f the Ca stle P ri ce 6d — ost- ree 8d . — . p f Cloth I/ post-free W l ’ L C o ol ey s Gu id e to u dl ow a stle a nd Ch u r ch .

Givi ng a Historical a nd D e scriptive Ske tch of t h e Ca stle a nd u t L en e Lu m E S . w . s Ch rch of a r c , dlow By Tho as Wright , q A i An n t e n en P S . s e u h M . A . . To which add d Acco t of A ci t n n i n h u n W h e n u me t e a d u t . Mo ts Ch rch , A alk Thro gh Tow O e E e s . By liv r Bak r , q

wn 8 o 2 6 P ri e ro v . c d . C pp. 3

Gu i d e t o Stokesa y Ca stl e . A B e m W F . H e t h e . A . S . A istorical Sk tch . y lat Tho as right , M . ,

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