LUDLOW. 



^dwaid tlie coiife{ror ; whicli pilgrims the legend recites 

 were mm of Ludlow. The whole of this noble church is 

 ceiled w;th fine oak, and enibolliflicd with carving. It is 228 

 feet in length, and 7 ^ in breadth. In the chancel are many- 

 fine monuments of the lords prefidents of the council of 

 Wales, who refided in the neighbouring caftle. A variety 

 of tombs likewife appear in the church-yard, adjoining to 

 which Hands an alms-heufe, founded in 14^6, by Mr. .lohn 

 Hofier, merchant, for aged wii\ows and widowers, and re- 

 built by the corporation in 1758. Another alms-houfe, 

 fituated at the bottom of Corve llreet, was founded in the 

 year 1590. The grammar-fchool, ereiited by Edward IV. 

 in Mill-llreet, is a very excellent inftitution, where both the 

 ancient and modern languages are taught. Nearly in the 

 centre of tlie town, at the top of Broad ftivet, ftands the 

 crofs, a handfome ftone building, with rooms over it ufed as 

 a public fehool. The market-houfe, in CalUe-ftreet, is a 

 lariTe building ; beneath which is an area, lerving as a corn- 

 market, and the upper rooms, which are very extenfive, are 

 ufed for corporation meetings, balls, aflemblies, &c. The 

 guild-hall, where the quarter fcflions, &c. are held, is a neat, 

 commodious, modern ilrufture, and to the welt of the 

 church ibnds a range of buildings, called the College. 

 There is likewife aprifon, named Goalford's tower. 



But the objett of greatcll intereft in I.udlow, and that to 

 which it owes its celebrity and importance, is its caftle, 

 which ftands on a bold wooded rock at the north-weft angle 

 of the town. It was founded, according to the generally re- 

 ceived opinion, by Roger de Montgomery, about the year 

 1130, though fome writers maintain it to be of earlier ori- 

 gin. Much, however, was added by others at different pe- 

 riods, particularly by fir Henry Sidney. Robert de Be- 

 lefme, grandfon of the founder, having engaged in rebellion 

 againft Henry I. it was feized by that monarch. The 

 caftle, now made a princely refidence, was greatly aug- 

 mented in the ftrength of its fortifications, and fupplied 

 with a numerous garrifon. In the reign of king Stephen it 

 was befieged in confequencc of the governor, Gervas Paga- 

 nel, having been induced to efpoufe the caufe of the emprefs 

 Matilda. With refped to the event of the fiege, different 

 accounts are handed down to us by hiftorians, fome afterting 

 that the king fucceeded in reducing it, and others, that 

 finding it impregnable, he was compelled to abandon the at- 

 tempt. Speed fays, that the governor, repenting of his con- 

 duA in withdrawing from' his allegiance, propoled a capitu- 

 lation , highly advantageous to the garrifon, which was 

 joyfully accepted. Daring this fiege, Stephen gave a fig- 

 nal proof of his perfonal bravery, in refcuing prince Henry 

 of Scotland, who had advanced too near the walls, and had 

 been caught from his horfe by a grappling iron, faftened to 

 the end of a rope. In the troublefome reign of Henry III. 

 the ambitious Simon Montfort, earl of Leiccfter, feized upon 

 this caftle, in conjtBidtion with Llewellin. From this period 

 nothing remarkable happened till the time of Henry VI. 

 when it was held by Richard duke of York, who laid claim 

 to the crown. Having affembled an army of t«n thoufand 

 men in the Marches, he drew up a dfchiration of allegiance 

 to the king, pretending that this large army was only raifed 

 for the fecurity of the public peace. Time, however, dif- 

 clofed ihc perfidy of his views ; for no fooner was he informed 

 of the defeat of lord Audley at Bloreheath. but he threw 

 off the mdlk, avowed his pretenfions to the throne, and 

 appointed the caftle of Ludlow as a place of rendez- 

 vous for his adherents. Upon this, the king's forces 

 advanced to Ludford, a vill at a little diftance from hence. 

 The king's troops preparing for the attack, the duke's forces 



began to difband. Sir Andrew Trollop likewife went over 

 to the royal ftandard with a large boJv, whereupon the 

 duke and his two fons, with the earl of Warwick and other 

 chiefs, fled with precipitation. Edward, his eldeft fon, ob- 

 tained pofleffion of Ludlow in the courfe of the war, and 

 upon his accellion to the throne repaired it, and made it the 

 court of his fon the prince of Wales. Here the latter, 

 after his father's death, was proclaimed king before he re- 

 moved to London, at the inftigation of his uncle, Gloceftcr, 

 whofe barbarous uiurpaVion is not paralleled in the atuials of 

 England. Arthur, fon to Henry VII. fixed his refidence 

 at this caftle, and held a court here with vail fplendour and 

 magnificence after his marriage with Catharine of Arragon, 

 afterwards the wife of 'Henry VIII. At this time the 

 court of the Marches for the principality of Wales was 

 eftabliftied here, and continued for many ycar.^ with much 

 grandeur and lolemnity. The power of this court was very 

 extenfive, and conlilled of a lord-prefident, as many couniel- 

 lors as the prince plealed, a fecretary, an attorney, a folici- 

 tor, and four juftices for the counties of Wales. King 

 Charles I., when prince of Wales, vifited this caftle. It 

 war. next diftinguifiied by the reprefcntation of the cele- 

 brated Mafquc of Comus in 1634, during tlie prefidency 

 of John carl of Bridgewater. This exquifite effufion of 

 Milton's genius was founded on a real incident. The two 

 fons of tlte earl, and his daughter lady Alice, being on their 

 way from a houie belonging to their family in Hcrefordlhire 

 to Ludlow, 



" To attend their father's ftate 

 And new intrufted fceptie," 



were benighted in Haywood foreft, where the lady was loft 

 for a fliort time. The adventure being related to the earl 

 on their arrival at the caftle, Milton, at the requeft of his 

 friend Mr. Henry Lawes, v,lio taught mufic in the family, 

 wrote the Mafque. Lawes fet it to mufic, and performed 

 the charafter of the attendant fpirit ; the lady herfelf play- 

 ing the part wliicli ftie had already adcd in real life. The 

 patronage afforded to the mufe of Milton, at this period, 

 by the earl of Bridgewater, does great honour to that 

 nobleman. 



During the civil wars in the reign of Charles I. this 

 caftle was for fome time kept as a garrifon for the'king. In 

 1645, a fmall part of the royal army was defeated in this 

 neighbourhood, and on the 9th of ,Iunc, in the following 

 year, the fortrefs w?.s furrendered to parliament. After the 

 reftoration, the celebrated Samuel Butler, fecretary to the earl 

 of Carbery, then appointed lord prefident, wrote here a great 

 part of his incomparable poem of Hudibras. From this 

 period nothing remarkable happened till the reign of Wil- 

 liam and Mary, when the court of the Marches was dif- 

 folved by aft of parliament, being, as therein recited, " a 

 great grievance to the fubjeft." After this event the caftle 

 gi-adually fell into decay, and was defpoiled of its curious 

 and valuable ornaments. In the days of its profperity it ^ 

 feems to have been one of the moft extenfive and fuperb ba- 

 ronial fortreftijs in Europe. It commands grand and exten- 

 five profpefts, and is ilrongly environed by embattled walls 

 of great height and thicknefs, with towers placed at con- 

 venient diftances. That portion of it which lies neareft; 

 the town, was likewife defended by a deep ditch. The 

 whole was divided into two diftinft parts or courts, one of 

 which contained the palace and lodgings, and the other the 

 court of judicature and records, ftables, tardeii, and other 

 offices. Tlie former conftituted what was properly denomi- 

 nated the Caftle, and the latter was called the Green or Bar- 

 6 bican. 



