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Coordinates: 52°22′6″N 2°43′7″W / 52.36833°N 2.71861°W / 52.36833; -2.71861
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St Laurence's Church, Ludlow
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipLiberal Catholic
Websitewww.stlaurences.org.uk/home
History
DedicationSt. Laurence
Administration
ProvinceCanterbury
DioceseHereford
ParishLudlow
Clergy
RectorThe Venerable Colin Williams
Laity
Organist/Director of musicShaun Ward
Organist(s)Roger Judd

St Laurence's Church, Ludlow is an anglican parish church in Ludlow in southern Shropshire, England. The church was established as a Norman place of worship in association with the founding of Ludlow in the 11th century AD. It contains an extensive set of misericords in the choir stalls as well as fine stained glass windows. The tower is 42 meters in height and commands expansive views of the local area. The church was rebuilt in the year 1199 and has had several later additions and modifications.

History[edit]

The interior looking east towards the chancel

The first church on the site was built as part of a planned town and market at around the same time as the constuction of the Norman castle by Roger de Lacy in the 1070s or 80s, on land that was part of the manor of Stanton Lacy.[1] This first building was replaced by a larger church in 1199-1200. Traces of this late Norman building remain, including some extant foundations from the 11th century found beneath the south porch.[2].

In the Late Middle Ages considerable wealth accrued to the town based upon the wool trade.[3] The Council of Wales and the Marches was established at Ludlow Castle in 1472 by King Edward IV and the castle became the royal residence of the Prince of Wales. The council remained at Ludlow until its abolition following the Glorious Revolution of 1689, making the town the administrative capital of Wales and the borders and bringing trade wealth to the town.

Another source of income was the presence in the town of the Palmers Guild who were paid to say masses and prayers for deceased patrons. The guild, although without any historical connection, associated itself with the legend of Edward the Confessor and St John the Evangelist in which the pilgrims bringing St John's ring to the king were said to have come from Ludlow. 16th century antiquary John Leland visited the town in 1540 or soon after and reported that;

Thise churche hathe been muche avauncyd by a brothar-hode therein foundyd in the name of St. John the Evangeliste. The originall thereof was as the people saythere in the tyme of K.Edward the Confessor; and it is constantly afirmyd there that the pilgrimes, that browght the ringe from beyond the se as a token from St. John thevangeliste to Kynge Edward, were inhabitaunts of Ludlow.

He goes on to say that the guild had ten priests, financed partly by endowments of land and partly by donations, living in a house at the west end of the churchyard, with an adjoining almshouse for thirty or more poor people.[4] There were as many as ?? chantries for the guild's purposes within the church. Some chantry stalls survive in the chancel but others in the nave were removed following the reformation.cn. Chronicler and poet Thomas Churchyard visiting the town in 1547 recorded that church services were held three times a day, at 6 am, 9 am and 3 pm.(Lloyd 34)

The chancel

Correspondingly the church underwent several further additions in that era. The major works occurred between 1433 and 1471 with a virtual re-building of the nave, tower and chancel. |The Book of Llandaff records that the north aisle was rebuilt in 1305-8 and a faculty for reconstruction of the chancel was issed in 1433. The chancel roof can be dated from its heraldry to between 1445 and 1449. Boards for the choir stalls were purchased in 1447. A single fragment of the churchwardens' accounts for 1469-71 has survived and shows that bells were about to be hung in the crossing tower, with work by a mason from Gloucester still ongoing. The tower had been partially financed by bequests made in 1450 and 1466. A further bequest towards the vault of the steeple was made in 1500. These major rebuilding works created a church in largely Perpendicular style although with substantial Decorated elements.[5] The Saint John's Chapel on the north side was the chapel of the Palmers Guild, which thrived in the Late Middle Ages.

In 1616 Ludlow saw a major celebration to mark the appointment in London of Charles Stuart as Prince of Wales following the early death of his more popular brother Henry. Daniel Powell, son of Welsh historian David Powel, who was involved in the events, recorded how the town dignatories gathered at the church and with musicians and the church choir processed to the castle together with two hundred soldiers. Gathered on the castle green they collected the Councillors of the Marches and after firing shots into the air all processed back to the church where after prayers and singing of psalms a sermon lasting one and a half hours was given.(Lloyd 45)

Galleries 17 February 1616 petition the bishop. Granted two days later. North quickly built and paid for by selling seats. South soon following with space given to Hammermen's Guild in compensation for removing their previous pew to build the stairs. Four pews behind to the parish and remaining space at the back of the church given to the masters and scholars of the free school of Ludlow in perpetuity.[6]

19th century restoration[edit]

A structural survey in 1850 showed the structure of the church to be sound but with much deterioration of the fabric, especially the tracery of the windows. Damage could be made good by some replacement of stone. It recommended removal of the galleries.[7] The east window had already been repaired in the 1830s.[8] Many of the other windows were restored during the 1850s.

Architecture[edit]

The dominant exterior feature is the square bell tower, which houses the historic and famed bells of the church. The chancel contains the mediaeval choir stalls adorned with numerous misericords. Many of these fine wood carvings are of heraldry and others are genre scenes of common life. Typical sizes of the misericords and upper bench carvings are 25 centimeters wide by 12 centimeters high; the carvings have very deep relief (up to two centimetres). Some of the elements of the carving are repeated on roof adornments[9].

Below the chancel are the catacombs, holding an impressive set of church monuments, most of which contain the remains of people involved with Council of Wales and the Marches based at Ludlow Castle. As well as the large chancel east window, there are other notable windows within the chancel; the most remarkable one depicts the Ten Commandments, illustrating six of the commandments being broken.

The hexagonal south porch dates from the 14th century and serves as the main entrance to the church; this porch is one of only three of such a six-sided design in England.(Pevsner 356) The porch is also the town's war memorial with the roll of honour including 136 names from World War I, 42 from World War II and two from the Korean War.(lcc 214) The other interior chapels are St Catherine’s Chapel and the Lady Chapel, the latter of which has a large filled-in door that was once used for the Ludlow fire engine at an earlier era. Exterior features include a memorial plaque to the poet A. E. Housman and the Samuel Burgess Memorial Garden. Above the interior stone lantern there is s splendid vault.

Windows[edit]

The Lady Chapel with 14th century Jesse Window

St Laurence's Church has sixteen windows containing ancient stained glass including a rare 14th century Jesse Window in the Lady Chapel. The window of St Katherine's Chapel is was composed in 1904 from spare fragments of ancient glass preserved from 19th century restorations. One fragment is from a Coronation of the Virgin which has been compared with an example in the east window of Gloucester Cathedral. Other windows are of Victorian or 20th century glass.[10]

The Palmers' Window within St John's Chapel illustrates the legend of King Edward the Confessor and St John the Evangelist by eight panels and was inspired by the Ludlow Palmers’ 13th century pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

The large east window of the chancel underwent restoration in the year 1832; this window depicts the martyrdom of St Laurence. The most extensive modern repairs and rehabilitation occurred in the period 1859 to 1861, which consisted primarily of interior modifications.

Notable burials[edit]

The ashes of A. E. Housman are buried in the church grounds, with the stump of a cherry tree marking their location. Ambrosia Sidney, (1565-1574), sister of Sir Philip Sidney and Mary Sidney who died at Ludlow Castle, aged nine, is buried near the altar under an impressive memorial bearing the arms of Sir Henry Sidney, (1530-1586), President of the Council of Wales and the Marches. His heart was brought from Worcester where he died and buried in a small leaden urn in an oratory near his daughter's tomb. The rest of his remains were buried with his wife Mary Dudley at Penhurst, Kent.

Contents[edit]

Choir stalls and misericords[edit]

St Laurence's Church has twenty eight misericords in the choir stalls which are of a quality usually associated with great cathedrals such as Worcester or Gloucester. Carved on the underside of the hinged choir seats each misericord is fashioned from a piece of timber some 26 inches (660 mm)* long, 12 inches (300 mm)* deep and 6 inches (150 mm)* thick. Sixteen of the misericords are older than the rest dating from around 1425. Eight have an unusual carvers mark in the form of an uprooted plant and a distinctive profile to the moulding running round the edge of the corbel. The remainder were carved in matching style around 1447 which was when the Palmers Guild bought one hundred planks of oak from Bristol to refurbish the choir stalls.[11]

  • A drawer of ale
    A drawer of ale
  • Wrestlers
    Wrestlers
  • Detail of a Green Man
    Detail of a Green Man
  • A mermaid
    A mermaid

The misericords have a wide variety of themes. One shows a Green Man, another a mermaid. Many show scenes of town life including a wrestling match where two pairs of wrestlers are stripped to the waist while a horse is tied up on one side and a wool sack and a purse hang on the other. One shows a figure drawing ale from a cask and another shows a dishonest ale-wife being carried off to hell by demons, one of whom plays bagpipes. One complex carving shows a prosperous householder with tools of various trades in the centre while a seated woman holds a child on the left and a grave and burial implements are on the right. This has been interpreted as the Palmers Guild caring for spiritual needs from cradle to grave.

Ludlow then being a royal stronghold there is a royal influence shown in a number of misericords. An antelope, gorged and chained, was the badge of Henry VI in whose reign the misericords were carved. A Hart at Rest was the badge of Richard II and three ostrich feathers were then recognised as the badge of Richard's father the Black Prince. A swan represents the Bohun family and through Mary de Bohun's marriage to Henry IV passed to Henry V and Henry VI.[12]

The choir stalls were originally constructed at a number of dates in the 15th century. In 1447, after the chancel had been lengthened, the stalls were doubled in number to thirty two. The stalls were restored in the 19th century under the direction of George Gilbert Scott when canopies removed during the reformation were replaced. The poppyheads are finely carved with four being from 1447. Carved figures include a Pieta, one of only two known in Shropshire, and various saints. One group possibly represents a Boy Bishop and Lord of Misrule involved in new year celebrations.[12]

Above the porch on the first floor (second story in American parlance) is the Parvis room, which houses a small history museum pertinent to the church. At St. Catherine’s Chapel (the south transept) some floor-stones in the area honour recent congregation members. In the nave and aisle area, there are several noteworthy contents, including:

Organ[edit]

The organ in the north transept

Details of the organ from the National Pipe Organ Register

In the north transept is the John Snetzler organ. Through the generosity of Henry Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis, this organ was installed in 1764 at a cost of £1,000. Originally it was located in a gallery beneath the tower and had three manuals with 19 stops.[13]

In the 19th century, Gray and Davison restored the organ and enlarged it, at the same time moving it to its present position in the North Transept. By this time, a fourth manual had been added.

The organ was restored in the 1980s by Nicholson & Co (Worcester) Ltd.

In 2006, thanks largely to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, further work was carried out to clean the interior, improve the console, and to add a rank of pipes.

List of organists[edit]

Bells[edit]

The crossing tower holds a ring of ten bells. The oldest six bells were cast in 1732 by Abraham II Rudhall and range in size from 31.94 inches tuned to C# to 47.19 inches tuned to E. A 17.50 inch bell cast by Thomas II Mears was added in 1824 and two bells by Gillett & Johnston were added in 1935. The last three bells were cast by Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 2008. The ring was overhauled and tuned in 2009.[24]

Carillon[edit]

A carillon installed in the mid 19th century plays a different tune on each day of the week. The tunes, ranging from The Bluebells of Scotland to Metrical Psalm 113, are played four times a day at 8 am, 12pm, 4pm and 8pm. The chimes are mentioned in A Shropshire Lad by A E Houseman. [25]

Churchyard[edit]

In the 18th century the churchyard with its views northward to the Corve Valley, Stretton Hills and Wenlock Edge was a social meeting place for the town. The churchyard was then filled with stone memorials but the churchwardens' accounts show that trees were planted and trimmed to provide shelter and gravel put down. It was also necessary at times to pay for rubbish to be cleared and to take the residents of Hosier's Almshouses to court for emptying their chamberpots in the churchyard.(lcc 167)

Levelling of the churchyard was undertaken in 1930 when most of the gravestones were removed. A memorial to A E Houseman was placed on the north wall of the church in 1936 and another to sculptor Adrian Jones in 1938.(lcc 216)

The church today[edit]

Clergy Visitor numbers

The church is a member of the Greater Churches Group.

In February 2013 it was announced that plans to build a new cloister for improved access and facilities on the north side of the church have been dropped. Repairs to the roof and pinnacles will proceed and about £2.5 million will be spent on repairs to stonework and windows. The nave will be reorganised with moveable seating and a biomass boiler will be installed for heating.[26]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Leonard, John (2004). Churches of Shropshire & their Treasures. Almeley, Herefordshire: Logaston Press. pp. 282–6. ISBN 1-904396-19-4.
  2. ^ Lloyd, David Historic Ludlow: the Parish Church of Saint Laurence, a History and a Guide, Birmingham, England: SP Print, 1980
  3. ^ Lloyd, David (1984). Ludlow A Historic Town in Words and Pictures. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. p. 19. ISBN 0-85033-514-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Lloyd, David (1984). Ludlow A Historic Town in Words and Pictures. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. pp. 34–6. ISBN 0-85033-514-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006). The Buildings of England; Shropshire. London: Yale University Press. pp. 354–61. ISBN 0 300 12083. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Lloyd, Clark & Potter p.102
  7. ^ Lloyd, Clark & Potter p.197
  8. ^ Lloyd, Clark & Potter p.181
  9. ^ Architecture of St Laurence Church, Ludlow, England, Lumina Technologies, Aberdeen, Scotland, July, 2006
  10. ^ Ganderton, Edwin William; Lafond, Jean (1961). Ludlow Stained and Painted Glass. The Friends of the Church of St Laurence, Ludlow.
  11. ^ Lloyd, David Historic Ludlow: the Parish Church of Saint Laurence, a History and a Guide, Birmingham, England: SP Print, 1980 p. 42
  12. ^ a b Klein, Peter (1986). The Misericords & Choir Stalls of Ludlow Parish Church. Birmingham: Ludlow Parochial Church Council.
  13. ^ "Shropshire, Ludlow St Laurence". National Pipe Organ Register. 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  14. ^ List drawn from Francis, Richard (2007). The Organs and Organists of Ludlow Parish Church (second ed.). St Laurence's Parish Church. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Harper, Sally Music in Welsh Culture Before 1650. Aldershot: Ashgate ISBN 9780754652632; p. 358
  16. ^ Temperley, Nicholas The Music of the English Parish Church. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521220459; vol. 1, p. 349
  17. ^ Brown, James D. & Stratton, Stephen S. (1897) British Musical Biography. Birmingham: Stratton; p. 140
  18. ^ Cherubini, Luigi; Hamilton, James Alexander, trans. (1837) A Course of Counterpoint and Fugue. 2 vols. London: R. Cocks; page xx
  19. ^ Bagshaw, Samuel (1851) History, Gazetteer & Directory of Shropshire. Sheffield: S. Bagshaw; p. 606
  20. ^ Kelly's Directory of Shropshire, 1891, p. 348
  21. ^ Bird, Enid The Organists and Organs of the Welsh Cathedrals in the 20th Century. Wakefield: Enid Bird ISBN 0951655019
  22. ^ Thornsby, Frederick W., ed. (1921) Dictionary of Organs and Organists; 2nd ed. London: G. A. Mate
  23. ^ Who's Who in Music; First Post-war Edition: 1949/50. London: Shaw Publishing Co. Ltd. London
  24. ^ Andrew Higson (2009). "Ludlow S Laurence". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  25. ^ "New bells at St Laurence's ring the changes in Ludlow". BBC News. 30 November 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  26. ^ "St Laurence's church in Ludlow scales back redevelopment". BBC News. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Ganderton, Edwin William (1961). Ludlow Stained and Painted Glass. Friends of the Church of St. Lawrence, Ludlow. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Lloyd, David; Clark, Margaret; Potter, Chris (2010). St Laurence's Church, Ludlow The parish church and people, 1199-2009. Logaston Press. ISBN 978-1-906663-40-7.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Laurence, Ludlow.

{{Greater Churches}} 52°22′6″N 2°43′7″W / 52.36833°N 2.71861°W / 52.36833; -2.71861

{{:DEFAULTSORT:Ludlow, Saint Laurence Church}} [[:Category:1190s architecture]] [[:Category:1470s architecture]] [[:Category:Church of England churches in Shropshire]] [[:Category:Diocese of Hereford]] [[:Category:Buildings and structures in Ludlow]]

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