accommodation ludlow shropshire


St. Laurence's Church
accommodation ludlow shropshire

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old St Laurence's Church


You may find this interesting to read if you are planning to stay in our holiday cottages.

There is always a question of which came first, the church or the graveyard? Well at St. Laurence's Church in the centre of Ludlow town this enigma remains as unanswered as ever with enough documentary evidence for either theory to be right. The alleged remains of three Irish saints of the 6th century, and also then an extension of the church finding foundations of an earlier church all adds to the history and mystery. St. Laurence's church is one of the most magnificent parish churches in England, and has also been described as the "Cathedral in the Marches" in the book 'England's 1000 Best Churches' by Simon Jenkins. On approaching the town of Ludlow the skyline is dominated by St. Laurence's tower, but on walking through the town streets the church is not to be seen, a hidden jewel behind a row of shops. The ancient parish, in the diocese of Hereford was created out of the existing parish of Stanton some time in the 12th century. This Parish status allowed Ludlow to have a Rector -'governor or head priest', to be supported by various rights including glebe land and tithes, (a local 1/10th produce tax to the church), and allowed also for this Rector to have an assistant called a Vicar, (from the word vicarious a substitute), to whom the Rector paid a portion of the tithes collected. The original dedication of St. Laurence's was to "the Blessed Apostles Phillip and James and St. Laurence", and in Ludlow town to this day the annual May Fair is held by charter on the days around 1st May which was the festival of Philip and James. Then in the mid 13th century the dedication was only to St. Laurence. Over the centuries the fabric of the church has been built, rebuilt, added to and repaired on what appears to be a stone mason's heaven of a building site. A vast amount of stone that was used is all from no further than a couple of miles away from the church site, and the work was done mostly by local stone masons. Even in those days consultants were brought in, and for such an important job as the building of the tower the masons from Gloucester were brought to Ludlow to give advice. In the middle ages the churchyard was a busy place, being used for dancing and games on 'Holy Days' and to accommodate stalls and booths on fairs, as well as for the burial of parishioners. There were no grave stones in the churchyards then as they only became fashionable in the 17th and 18th centuries. To day the gravestones have been taken up in the churchyard the area now being grassed, as a garden of rest. During the years of Ludlow's booming wool and cloth industry money was poured into the buildings and furnishings of St. Laurence's both through endowments directly to the church and also from the Palmers Guild, as a form of heavenly insurance from the local wealthy, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries when money was lavished into the decorative architecture. To day we can only stand and wonder at the beauty of such a building when it is after all only stone, wood and stained glass, but when you add the hidden ingredients of skilful dedication and a perfect knowledge of construction through eight centuries you are left with a truly magnificent place of worship in the heart of Ludlow Town.