By Ines Keane
Start with the number. Wikipedia says Ludlow has nearly 500 listed buildings, in a town of just over ten thousand people. That is a lot of protected brick and timber for one small hill in Shropshire, and it is why the place is worth a slow walk before anything else.
Where it sits
Ludlow is a market town in south Shropshire, on the River Teme.
Streets and buildings
The tourism site Ludlow.org.uk lists St Laurence’s Church among the town’s landmarks, along with Broad Street, Broadgate, the Buttercross and Ludford Bridge.
The castle
The castle’s own website describes a partly ruined, uninhabited medieval fortress above the River Teme, Grade I listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It says the de Lacy family held the lordship until the end of the thirteenth century and that Walter de Lacy’s sons, Roger and then Hugh, built the earliest surviving parts.
The castle site singles out the Round Chapel of St Mary Magdalene in the Inner Bailey, a Norman building it calls a rare surviving church with a round nave. Its rectangular chancel survives only as a footprint in the grass. The castle site says the Round Chapel was repaired and re-roofed in 2019.
The castle’s site dates the council that governed Wales and the border counties from Ludlow to 1473, and says it ended in 1689. It adds that for over a century Ludlow was regarded as the capital of Wales.
Winter in the town
Ludlow Castle and the town hold seasonal events around Christmas, and what runs changes from year to year. Check the castle’s own website (ludlowcastle.com) and the visitor information centre before you plan a December trip.
Dates in order
- 1473: the council established, according to the castle’s site.
- 1689: the council abolished, according to the castle’s site.
- 2019: the Round Chapel repaired and re-roofed, according to the castle’s site.
What kind of sources these are
The castle’s own website, which is the owner’s account of itself, and the town’s tourism site, which is promotional. We have left out hours, entry details, transport and market days.
What we left out
We left out the town’s food festival, its royal history and its restaurant remarks, since none is about a made object. We named no shop, maker or café.
Quick answers
Where is Ludlow? In south Shropshire, on the River Teme.
Who built Ludlow Castle? The castle’s own website says Walter de Lacy’s sons, Roger and then Hugh, built the earliest surviving parts.
What is the Round Chapel? The castle’s website describes the Norman chapel of St Mary Magdalene in the Inner Bailey as a rare surviving church with a round nave.
Related on this site: melton-mowbray-pork-pie-protected-name, kendal-mint-cake-three-makers, british-pewter-marks-unmarked-lead
Roam first. Shop later.