Ludlow Castle

This article is about the castle in Shropshire. For house in Delhi, see Ludlow Castle, Delhi.

Ludlow Castle
Ludlow in Shropshire, England
Ludlow Castle from the south-east
Location in Shropshire
Coordinates	52°22′02″N 2°43′25″W (grid reference SO5086874594)
Current owner	The Trustees of the Powis Castle Estate on behalf of the family of the Earl of Powis
Open to the public	Yes

Ludlow Castle is a partly ruined uninhabited medieval building in the town of the same name in the English county of Shropshire. It stands on a high point overlooking the River Teme. The castle is owned by The Trustees of the Powis Castle Estate on behalf of the family of the Earl of Powis, and is open to the public. In the Middle Ages it was an important strategic stronghold for control of the Welsh Borders, and at times the seat of English government in Wales. Now open to the public, the castle is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Early history: 11th and 12th centuries

Walter de Lacy arrived in England in 1066 as part of William FitzOsbern's household. FitzOsbern was made Earl of Hereford and tasked with settling the area; at the same time, several castles were founded in the west of the county, securing its border with Wales. Walter de Lacy may have been the earl's second in command, and was rewarded with 163 manors in seven counties (91 in Herefordshire alone), altogether worth £423 a year according to the Domesday Survey. Walter de Lacy probably began building a castle within the manor of Stanton Lacy in 1085. Walter de Lacy also owned the castles of Ewyas Harold and Weobley, both also in Herefordshire, but Ludlow was the most important.

On his death, Walter was succeeded by Roger de Lacy, his son. In 1096, Roger was stripped of his lands after rebelling against his king and they were instead given to Hugh, his brother. Hugh died childless sometime before 1115, and his property was taken into royal possession. Roger de Lacy's son, Gilbert, laid claim to the barony but was ignored. Roger and Hugh had a sister, Agnes, and King Henry I chose to give the property to her daughter, Sybil. The king made her marry Pain fitzJohn, and the land was probably a reward for fitzJohn's loyal service. The barony given to Pain was probably worth about 20% less than Hugh's as the king had withheld about 20 manors. As with the de Lacys before, Pain probably used Ludlow as caput baroniae, the "head" or chief possession of his barony. The number of Welsh raids into England increased after King Henry died in 1135, and while fighting a raiding party in 1137 Pain fitzJohn took a spear to the head and died.

The chapel, the round tower on the right, dates from the 12th century. On the left is the Great Chamber.

Following Henry's death, Stephen of Blois, grandson of William the Conqueror, seized the throne though it had been promised to the Empress Matilda, Henry's daughter. Gilbert de Lacy came to England to appeal to Stephen, pressing his claim to the barony. In December 1137, Stephen issued a charter confirming that the property would remain with Sybil until she married Roger fitzMiles, which had been arranged while Pain was still alive. It is likely that with peaceful means of taking the barony closed to him, de Lacy took Ludlow Castle himself the following spring. At the same time, Geoffrey Talbot, de Lacy's ally and Sybil's half brother, took the castle of Hereford and Weobley. Ludlow Castle is first referred to by chroniclers in 1138 but was at that time a more basic castle type. During the civil wars of the reign of King Stephen, the king himself besieged the castle and rescued his ally Prince Henry of Scotland.

Hugh de Lacy succeeded his brother to the barony in 1162 after his brother died. Hugh took part in the Norman Invasion of Ireland and in 1172 was made lord of Meath in Ireland; he spent much time away from Ludlow, and when he was reconfirmed as Lord of Meath in 1177 Henry II took the castle from him, possibly to ensure that Hugh stay loyal while in Ireland. The king put Ludlow Castle in the custody of Thurstan fitzSimon, who cared for it until 1190. When Hugh de Lacy died in Ireland in 1186, his oldest son, Walter, was still under age, so the castle remained in custodianship and the barony was taken into royal care. Richard I confiscated all of Walter de Lacy's property in 1194 because the latter had ravaged Prince John's lands in Ireland. At the time John was in open rebellion against his brother, the king, and Walter had assumed that his actions would be looked on favourably by Richard. Walter de Lacy tried to buy back his land for 1,000 marks, but the offer was rejected; in 1198 he agreed to pay the vast sum of 3,100 marks. The following year the two daughters Josce de Dinan had with Sybil de Lacy petitioned the king regarding the ownership of the town and castle of Ludlow but were turned down.

The gatehouse to the inner bailey, next to the keep

13th to 15th centuries

Walter de Lacy returned to Ireland in 1201, and the following year all of his property was again taken into royal custody to assure his loyalty and placedunder control of William de Braose, and Walter's father-in-law, a favourite of the king. In 1205 or 1206 Walter de Lacy's lands were returned to him and a fine of 400 marks levied against him for possession of Ludlow Castle. Walter's activities in Ireland in 1207 led to William de Braose taking Ludlow Castle on behalf of King John. Relations between William de Braose and the king broke down, so that in 1208 William was using Weobley Castle to attack the king's property in Herefordshire. He fled to Ireland, seeking safety with Walter de Lacy; John pursued him and punished the pair. Walter de Lacy, his brother Hugh, and William de Braose failed to appease the king and fled to France. As a result all the de Lacy property was taken into the possession of the monarchy. In 1213 Walter de Lacy wrote to John asking to return to England, and by 1214 all of his property except for the borough and castle of Ludlow had been returned to him.

In 1224, King Henry III, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton as mediator, met with Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, the Welsh prince and leader, at Ludlow to sign a treaty. Early in the 14th century, the castle was enlarged into a magnificent palace for Roger Mortimer, then the most powerful man in England.

In 1402, Edmund Mortimer, himself born at Ludlow Castle, set out from the castle with a large army to seek battle with the forces of Owain Glyndwr. Mortimer met them in the valley of the River Lugg at the Battle of Bryn Glas, where he was defeated and captured. He eventually allied himself to the Welsh rebel's cause to the extent of marrying one of Glyndwr's daughters, with whom he had four children before starvation and death at the siege of Harlech Castle in 1409.

Plantagenet, Tudor and Elizabethan background

The interior of Ludlow Castle

Later, in the 15th century under the ownership of Richard, Duke of York, the castle was a major base in the Wars of the Roses and was taken by the Lancastrians in 1459 but back in York hands in 1461. Ludlow afterwards became a royal palace. In 1472 Edward IV sent his son the Prince of Wales and his brother (later the ‘Princes in the Tower’ of Shakespeare fame), to live at the castle, which was also the seat of Government for Wales and the Border Counties.

In 1501 Prince Arthur, (son of Henry VII and brother to Henry VIII) with his bride Catherine of Aragon, lived here for a short time before his early death of an infection from which his wife recovered, and was buried in Worcester Cathedral. Mary Tudor, daughter of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, heir to the throne of England as the couple's only issue, spent three winters at Ludlow between 1525 and 1528, along with her entourage of servants, advisors, and guardians.

Elizabeth I appointed Sir Henry Sidney as President of the Council of the Marches to Ludlow Castle. Sir Henry extended the castle by building family apartments between the Great Hall and Mortimer's Tower and used the former royal apartments as a guest wing. The ruins of the Sidney apartments directly face the round Norman chapel. Sir Henry Sidney's daughters included poet Mary Sidney. They were tutored at Ludlow Castle in classics, Calvinism, Hebrew, music, archery, hunting and needlework while their elder brother, poet Philip Sidney boarded with George Leigh MP in Shrewsbury while attending Shrewsbury School. Their sister Ambrosia Sidney died at Ludlow Castle and the family subsequently erected her tomb and memorial in St Laurence Church, Ludlow. Following Ambrosia's death, Elizabeth I wrote to Sir Henry and his wife, Mary Dudley summoning Mary Sidney their last remaining daughter to Court to escape the infected 'air' in Ludlow Castle. In 1577, her uncle Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, arranged Mary's marriage to William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. The 2nd Earl of Pembroke succeeded Sir Henry Sidney nine years later as President of the Council of the Marches, in 1586.

The Civil War and subsequent decline

Portrait by anonymous artist, October 1812

In the English Civil War between 1642 to 1648 Ludlow was a Royalist stronghold and was besieged by Parliamentarian forces but negotiated a surrender, avoiding damage and slighting. In 1669 the seat of administration for the Marches and Wales and the Council of the Marches was centralised in London during the reign of William and Mary. The legal and administrative community moved with it. In 1689 the Royal Welch Fusiliers were founded at the Castle by Lord Herbert of Chirbury but soon after it was abandoned and gradually fell into decay. In 1811 the ruins were purchased from the crown by the 2nd Earl of Powis, in the ownership of whose family it remains.

Description of the castle

The castle forms a large rectangular enceinte, with the town and principal entry on the east side, and the west side overlooking the river. The northwest corner is enclosed by another enceinte wall forming the inner ward and the heart of the castle. Entry is gained by a bridge to the right of the rectangular keep. The inner ward contains the residential buildings that formed the castle's principal accommodation. These buildings feature large windows that overlook the courtyard. The castle’s long history is reflected in its varied architecture; comprising Norman, Medieval and Tudor styles.

The interior of Ludlow Castle's Romanesque chapel

The castle is a Scheduled Monument, a "nationally important" historic building and archaeological site which has been given protection against unauthorised change. It is also a Grade I listed building, and recognised as an internationally important structure.

The circular chapel is located in the inner ward is very unusual, perhaps unique in Britain. An example of Romanesque architecture, the chapel has been dated to the 12th century based on its style. Little is known of the structure until the 16th century because it is almost undocumented, but it seems to have survived up to that point mostly intact. Though the roof no longer survives, the circular nave survives to its full height and is 8.3 metres (27 ft) wide. A square presbytery, 3.8 by 3.8 metres (12 by 12 ft) was attached, and beyond that a chancel.

Events

Milton’s masque Comus was first performed in the Great Hall in 1634 and the tradition of a performance is continued each June and July when a Shakespearean play is performed in the open air within the Inner Bailey, as part of the successful Ludlow Festival [1]. The Castle hosts other events throughout the year, such as the Ludlow and the Marches Food and Drink Festival [2] which takes place in the Castle precincts each September.

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Coplestone-Crow, Bruce (2000), "From Foundation to the Anarchy", in Ron Shoesmith & Andy Johnson, Ludlow Castle: Its History & Buildings, Logaston Press, pp. 21–34, ISBN 1-873827-51-2 
• Coplestone-Crow, Bruce (2000), "The End of the Anarchy to the de Genevilles", in Ron Shoesmith & Andy Johnson, Ludlow Castle: Its History & Buildings, Logaston Press, pp. 35–44, ISBN 1-873827-51-2 
• Coppack, Glyn (2000), "The Round Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene", in Ron Shoesmith & Andy Johnson, Ludlow Castle: Its History & Buildings, Logaston Press, pp. 145–154, ISBN 1-873827-51-2 

Further reading

• McNeill, Tom (1992), English Heritage Book of Castles, London: English Heritage and B. T. Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-7025-9 
• Renn, Derek (1987), "'Chastel de Dynan': the first phases of Ludlow", in John R. Kenyon and Richard Avent, Castles in Wales and the Marches: essays in honour of D. J. Cathcart King, University of Wales Press, pp. 55–74, ISBN 0-7083-0948-8 

External links

• Bibliography of sources related to Ludlow Castle
• Ludlow Castle official information site
• Ludlow Castle on Castlewales.com