The town is situated close to
Wales, and lies near the midpoint of the
England–Wales border; it is also very close to the county border between Shropshire and
Herefordshire (neighbouring
Ludford remained part of Herefordshire until 1895). This strategic location invested it with national importance in
medieval times, and thereafter with the town being the seat of the
Council of Wales and the Marches during its existence (1472 to 1689).
Medieval history , built in the late 11th century. above the west door of St Laurence's displays the Lords of Ludlow Castle and most notably four key royals associated with Ludlow during/after the
Wars of the Roses. The praying figures at the foot are (from left to right)
Richard, Duke of York, his son
Edward IV and his son
Edward V and grandson
Arthur, Prince of Wales. At the time of the
Domesday Book survey, the area was part of the large
Stanton parish and
manor, a possession of
Walter de Lacy. Neither Ludlow nor Dinham are mentioned in the Book, compiled in 1086, although the Book recorded manors and not settlements
per se. The Book does record a great number of households and taxable value for Stanton, perhaps suggesting that any early settlement by the nascent castle was being counted. Neighbouring places Ludford, the Sheet and Steventon do feature in the Book, as they were manors, proving that they were well-established places by the Norman conquest. The manor of Stanton came within the
hundred of
Culvestan, but during the reign of
Henry I this Saxon hundred was merged into the new
Munslow hundred. Walter's son
Roger de Lacy began the construction of
Ludlow Castle on the western
promontory of the hill about 1075, forming what is now the inner
bailey. Between about 1090 and 1120, the Chapel of
St. Mary Magdalene was built inside the walls, and by 1130 the Great Tower was added to form the
gatehouse. About 1170 the larger outer bailey was added to the castle. (The town walls however were not built until the mid-13th century.) The settlement of Dinham grew up alongside the development of the early castle in the late 11th century, with the northern part of this early settlement disturbed by the building of the outer bailey. Dinham had its own place of worship, the Chapel of St Thomas the Martyr, dedicated to
Thomas Becket sometime in 1177–1189 when the present chapel replaced an older (late 11th-century) church building. During the 12th century, the planned town of Ludlow was formed, in stages, the town providing a useful source of income for successive
Marcher Lords, based on rents, fines, and tolls. They developed the town on a regular grid pattern, although this was adapted somewhat to match the local
topography, from the late 11th century through the 12th century. The first laid street was along the ridge of the hilltop, what is now Castle Square, High Street and King Street. This formed a wide marketplace (later in-filled by buildings in places) running from the castle gates east across to St Laurence's and the Bull Ring, itself located on the ancient north–south road, now called Corve Street to the north and Old Street to the south. The wide Mill and Broad Streets were added later, as part of a southern grid plan of streets and
burgage plots filling the area bounded by Dinham, the new High Street market, Old Street and the Teme to the south.
St Laurence's Church, whose origins are late 11th century, was rebuilt and enlarged (with a bell tower) in 1199-1200
Ludlow Grammar School remained in existence until 1977, when it became Ludlow College. Ludlow Castle was an important border fortification along the
Welsh Marches, and one of the largest in the Norman/English ring of castles surrounding Wales. It played a significant role in local, regional and national conflicts such as the
Owain Glyndŵr rebellion, the
Wars of the Roses and the
English Civil War. The castle and its adjoining town grew in political importance and in the 15th century the castle became the seat of the
Council of Wales and the Marches. It was a temporary home to several holders of the title
Prince of Wales, including King
Edward V and
Arthur Tudor, who died there in 1502. The site features heavily in the folk-story of
Fulk FitzWarin, outlawed Lord of
Whittington, Shropshire and a possible inspiration for the
Robin Hood legend. Fulk is brought up in the castle of
Josce de Dinan, and fights for his master against Sir
Gilbert de Lacy – these battles are the source of the story of Marion de la Bruyere, the betrayed lover whose ghost is still said to be heard screaming as she plummets from the castle's turrets. The first recorded royal permission to maintain defensive town walls was given to the "men of Ludlow" in the
Patent Rolls of 1233. The entry is however incomplete and atypical and was not renewed in the usual way. A
murage grant was next made in 1260 and renewed regularly over the next two centuries. This time the grant was made by name to
Geoffrey de Genevile, Lord of Ludlow. From this and other surviving documents it seems that the town walls and gates were in place by 1270. They were constructed about the central part of the community with four main gates and three
postern gates. Because the walls were constructed after the development of the town's streets, the positions and names of the four main gates are based on the streets they crossed; the postern gates on the other hand are located by and named after old outlying districts. The 7 gates are (clockwise from the castle; postern gates in
italics)
Linney, Corve,
Galdeford, Old, Broad, Mill and
Dinham. An eighth unnamed 'portal' gate (smaller than a postern gate) existed in the wall just to the northwest of the castle, now in the gardens of Castle Walk House. The town walls are largely still in existence, although a section alongside the churchyard of St Lawrence's is, as of 2015, in need of repairs. The castle complex continued to expand (a Great Hall, kitchen and living quarters were added) and it gained a reputation as a fortified
palace. In 1306 it passed through marriage to the ambitious
Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March.
Queen Isabella and her son, the young
Edward III, were entertained at the castle in 1329.
Marcher town , one of Ludlow's more famous timber-framed buildings. The town prospered, with a population of about 1,725 by 1377, and sustained a population of about 2,000 for several centuries thereafter. It was a market town; market day was held on every Thursday throughout the 15th century. In particular, it served as a centre for the sale of
wool and cloth. In the mid sixteenth century the London merchant
Sir Rowland Hill gave the money for a new bridge over the Teme, and the annual St. Catherine's fair. There were
merchants of moderate wealth in the town and especially wool merchants, such as Laurence of Ludlow, who lived at nearby
Stokesay Castle. The collection and sale of wool and the manufacture of cloth continued to be the primary source of wealth until the 17th century. This prosperity is expressed in stone masonry, wood carvings and
stained-glass at
St. Laurence's
parish church; effectively a
wool church, it is the largest in
Shropshire and a member of the
Greater Churches Group. Despite the presence of some
Decorated work it is largely
Perpendicular in style. Its size and grandeur has given it the nickname "the
cathedral of the Marches", and from 1981 to 2020 there was a
suffragan Bishop of Ludlow. During the
Wars of the Roses, the castle—which he held through his Mortimer inheritance—was one of
Richard, Duke of York's main strongholds. The
Lancastrian forces captured Ludlow in 1459, at the
Rout of Ludford Bridge, but the
Yorkists won control of England in 1461. The castle became property of the Crown, passing to Richard's son,
Edward IV. The town rose in prominence under Edward's reign and was incorporated as a
borough, and began sending
representatives to Parliament. Edward set up the
Council of Wales and the Marches in 1472, headquartering it at Ludlow, and sent his son
Edward, Prince of Wales, to live there, as nominal (being only a young boy) head of the council. It was at Ludlow that the young prince heard the news of his father's death in 1483 and was himself proclaimed King Edward V of England. It was from Ludlow that Edward V was brought back to London with his young brother, both to be confined in the Tower of London when, after a short period of time, they were never seen again. has Norman origins and expanded throughout the Middle Ages, being a
wool church, becoming the largest parish church in Shropshire. Under
Henry VII the castle continued as the headquarters of the Council of Wales and served as the administration centre for
Wales and the counties along the border, known as the
Welsh Marches. During this period, when the town served as the effective capital of Wales, it was home to many messengers of the king, various clerks and lawyers for settling legal disputes. The town also provided a winter home for local
gentry, during which time they attended the council court sessions. Henry VII sent his heir
Prince Arthur to Ludlow, where he was joined briefly by his wife
Catherine of Aragon later to become wife to
Henry VIII. Ludlow Castle was therefore the site of perhaps the most controversial honeymoon in English history, when Catherine's claim that the marriage was never consummated became central to the dispute concerning Henry VIII and Catherine's annulment in 1531. Eventually, the council resumed and except for brief interludes, Ludlow continued to host the council until 1689, when it was abolished by
William III and
Mary II as part of the
Glorious Revolution. The castle then fell into decay. The structure was poorly maintained and the stone was
pillaged. In 1772 demolition was mooted, but it was instead decided to lease the buildings. Later still it was purchased by the
Earl of Powis, and together, he and his wife directed the transformation of the castle grounds. The
Royal Welch Fusiliers were formed by
Henry Herbert, 4th Baron Herbert of Chirbury at Ludlow in March 1689 to oppose
James II and to take part in the imminent war with France. The regiment continued to have ties with the town of Ludlow, and its successor battalion in The
Royal Welsh regiment was granted the freedom of the town in 2014.
18th and 19th centuries The town contained several
coaching inns,
public houses and
ale houses, leading to court records of some alcohol-induced violence and a certain reputation for excess. Several coaching inns were constructed to accommodate travellers by
stagecoach and
mail coach. The Angel on Broad Street was one such notable coaching inn, where several passenger and mail coaches departed and arrived on a regular basis every week, including the
Aurora coach which departed for London (taking 27 hours in 1822). The Angel was the last coaching inn in Ludlow to have such coach traffic, following the arrival of the railways in 1852. The Angel ceased trading in the early 1990s, though was revived in 2018 as a wine bar occupying a front part of the original establishment. A surviving medieval coaching inn today is the 15th century
Bull Hotel on the Bull Ring. Several other pubs and hotels in the town have historic pedigree, including the Rose and Crown where allegedly a pub has existed since 1102.
Glove manufacture was a major industry of the town, peaking in production in 1814. In 1802,
Horatio Nelson was awarded the freedom of the borough and stayed at The Angel coaching inn on Broad Street, together with his mistress
Emma and her husband Sir
William Hamilton. The honour was presented to him in a room at the inn, later to be known as the Nelson Room, and he addressed the crowds from one of the bay windows on the first floor. During the
Napoleonic Wars,
Lucien Bonaparte, younger brother of the French Emperor, and his family were imprisoned at Dinham House in 1811. In 1832 Thomas Lloyd, the Ludlow doctor and amateur geologist, met
Roderick Murchison at
Ludford Corner to study the rocks exposed along the
River Teme and on Whitcliffe, advancing Murchison's theory for a Silurian System that he was to publish in 1839. Immediately above the topmost layer of the marine rock sequence forming Murchison's
Silurian System was a thin layer of dark sand containing numerous remains of early fish, especially their scales, along with plant debris,
spores and
microscopic mites. In contrast to the underlying sediments of the
Ludlow Series which were deposited in a shallow warm sea some 400 million years ago, the Ludlow
Bone Bed represents terrestrial (land) conditions and thus a fundamental change in the landscape. At the time, this was believed to be the earliest occurrence of life on land. Murchison thus took the Ludlow Bone Bed as the base of his
Devonian System, although over a century later this boundary was to be moved a little higher, the overlying rocks being ascribed to the
Pridoli. The science of
geology has taken a number of local names from these studies and now applies them worldwide, in recognition of the importance of this area to scientific understanding, for example, Ludlow Series. The site is now an
SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and still attracts international studies. The
geological interval of time, the
Ludlow Epoch, is named after the town as part of the
Silurian Period.
Recent history By the late 20th century, the town had seen a growth in tourism, leading to the appearance of many
antique dealers, as well as
art dealers and independent bookshops (the latter now mostly gone). Bodenhams, a clothing retailer, has been trading from a 600-year-old timbered building since 1860 and is one of the oldest stores in Britain. Ludlow was described by
Country Life as "the most vibrant small town in England." A long battle of words between local activists (including many of the town's independent businesses) and
Tesco was eventually solved when the mega retailer obtained planning permission to build a supermarket on Corve Street, on the northern edge of the town centre, but only after agreeing to conform to the architectural demands of the local council. The building is designed to follow the outline of the hills in the background, with a curving roof. An
Aldi supermarket was subsequently constructed on a site over the road from Tesco. A development of 91 houses by South Shropshire Housing Association at Rocks Green won a Sustainable Housing award in 2009, and a
Sainsbury's supermarket at Rocks Green was opened in 2021. In 1983 a small computer magazine started publication in Ludlow by Roger Kean,
Oliver Frey and Franco Frey by
Newsfield Publications Ltd called
Crash. The magazine catered for the various owners of the
ZX Spectrum, and its sister magazine
Zzap!64 catered for
Commodore's rival machine
the C64. The magazine was extremely popular and became Britain's biggest-selling computer magazine in 1986 selling over 100,000 copies monthly. In 1991 Newsfield suffered financial difficulty and the magazines were sold and relaunched by
Europress. In 2004 funding was granted by Advantage West Midlands to build a new 'Eco-Park' on the outskirts of the town on the east side of the
A49 bypass, at the
Sheet Road roundabout, with space for traditional handcraft businesses, new environmentally friendly office buildings and a
park & ride facility. More construction work began in 2006 on the west side of the roundabout on a much-debated pasture land on the town's fringe known as the Foldgate. The land has now been turned over to commercial use with a
filling station,
Travelodge hotel and
chain pub/restaurant, opened in late 2008.
Ludlow Distillery was established in 2009, originally to produce brandy, and now also whisky and gin. ==Geography==