What to See in England
By Gordon Home

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Ludlow and Its Castle

=How to get there.=–Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly. =Nearest Station.=–Ludlow. =Distance from London.=–162 miles. =Average Time.=–Varies between 4-1/2 to 7 hours.

                     1st       2nd       3rd
=Fares.=–Single  24s. 4d.  15s. 6d.  12s. 4-1/2d.
          Return  43s. 4d.  27s. 2d.  24s. 9d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"The Feathers Hotel,” “Angel Hotel,” etc. =Alternative Route.=–Train from Euston. L. and N.W. Railway.

Beautifully situated in a lovely valley surrounded by wooded hills, Ludlow presents a picture of an ancient but prosperous city. The town is placed at the meeting of two small rivers, the Teme and Corve, which flow into the Severn. On the top of a hill in the western part of the town is the old castle, which was a royal residence from early times. It was built at the time of the Conquest, and was the most important of all the castles that guarded the Welsh border. The eldest son of Edward IV. lived in the castle under the guardianship of his uncle, Lord Rivers, and he was proclaimed king there when only twelve years old. Prince Arthur, the first husband of Katharine of Aragon, and the eldest son of Henry VII., was also brought up and educated in the castle. In the Civil War the Parliamentary troops partially destroyed the castle, but it was not until the reign of George I. that the buildings were unroofed for the sake of their lead.

Sir Henry Sidney, the father of the famous Sir Philip Sidney, resided at Ludlow, being President of the Council of Wales. In the Great Hall, now roofless, Milton’s masque Comus was performed for the first time, and Samuel Butler is said to have written part of Hudibras in a little room over the entrance gateway.

The Parish Church, also situated at the top of the hill, is mainly a fifteenth-century building, although it contains some earlier work. The fine east window, occupying the whole breadth of the chancel, is filled with very old stained glass, depicting the life of St. Lawrence. There is a round church in the castle, said to be one of the earliest circular churches in England. The streets are full of picturesque old houses, the most celebrated being the “Feathers Inn,” a beautiful Jacobean house containing a coffee-room which has a most elaborately decorated plaster ceiling and fine oak-panelled walls. The appearance of the room is exceedingly rich. The Grammar School, founded by the Guild of Palmers, claims to be the oldest in England.

[Illustration: Valentine & Sons, Ltd. LUDLOW, SHOWING THE PARISH CHURCH.]

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Preface  •  Ham House and Petersham  •  Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle)  •  Harrow  •  Holwood House, Keston  •  Chigwell, Essex  •  Waltham Abbey and Cross  •  Downe  •  Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts  •  Epping Forest  •  Hampton Court  •  Rye House, Broxbourne  •  Hatfield House, Herts  •  Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta  •  The Oldest Brass in England  •  St. Albans  •  Stoke Poges Church, Bucks  •  Windsor  •  Jordans and William Penn  •  Knole House and Sevenoaks  •  Greenstead Church  •  Chalfont St. Giles  •  Westerham  •  Guildford, Surrey  •  Gad’s Hill  •  Ightham Mote, Kent  •  Penshurst  •  St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion  •  Rochester Cathedral  •  Tunbridge Wells  •  The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey  •  Eversley  •  Farnham, Surrey  •  Hindhead, Surrey  •  Shottermill  •  Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex  •  Chawton the Home of Jane Austen  •  Selborne  •  Elstow  •  Lewes, Sussex  •  Bodiam Castle, Sussex  •  Colchester, Essex  •  Layer Marney  •  Battle Abbey  •  Cambridge  •  Arundel Castle  •  Olney, Bucks  •  Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great  •  Canterbury and Its Cathedral  •  Reculvers  •  Oxford  •  Midhurst  •  Pevensey Castle  •  Savernake Forest  •  Ely Cathedral  •  St. Ives, Huntingdonshire  •  Winchelsea and Rye  •  Blenheim Palace  •  Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland  •  Peterborough  •  Southampton  •  Helmingham Hall  •  Stonehenge, Wiltshire  •  Netley Abbey  •  Salisbury and Its Cathedral  •  Sandwich, Kent  •  New Forest, Hampshire  •  Osborne House  •  Carisbrooke Castle  •  Lutterworth  •  Compton Wynyates  •  Kenilworth Castle  •  Belvoir Castle  •  Bath  •  Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers  •  Warwick  •  Gloucester and Its Cathedral  •  Norfolk Broads  •  Norwich Cathedral  •  Lichfield  •  Sherborne and Its Abbey Church  •  Newark  •  Wells and Its Cathedral  •  Stratford-On-Avon  •  Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk  •  Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire  •  Corfe Castle  •  Lincoln and Its Cathedral  •  Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson  •  Glastonbury Abbey  •  Walsingham, Norfolk  •  Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset  •  Newstead Abbey  •  The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances  •  Tintern Abbey  •  Chesterfield, Derbyshire  •  Dukeries  •  Haddon Hall, Derbyshire  •  The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor  •  Raglan Castle  •  Dovedale  •  Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire  •  Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop  •  Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire  •  Ludlow and Its Castle  •  Shrewsbury  •  Buxton and the Peak District  •  Tewkesbury  •  Exeter and Its Cathedral  •  Market Drayton, Salop  •  Chester  •  Exmoor  •  Knutsford  •  Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset  •  Cleeve Abbey, Somerset  •  Hawarden  •  York Minster  •  Coxwold, Yorkshire  •  Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey  •  Knaresborough, Dripping Well  •  Fountains Abbey  •  Ripon Cathedral  •  Dartmoor  •  Haworth  •  Rievaulx Abbey  •  Brixham, Devon  •  Conway Castle  •  The Doone Valley, Exmoor  •  Llandovery, South Wales  •  Dartmouth, Devon  •  Richmond, Yorkshire  •  Tintagel  •  Whitby  •  Carnarvon Castle  •  Plymouth  •  Durham and Its Cathedral  •  Raby Castle, Durham  •  Snowdon  •  Harlech Castle  •  Grasmere and Rydal Mount  •  The Lake District  •  St. Davids Cathedral  •  Furness Abbey, Lancashire  •  Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow  •  The Isle of Man  •  Brantwood  •  Fowey  •  Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall  •  The Lake District  •  Keswick  •  Alnwick Castle  •  Lanercost Priory, Cumberland  •  Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.]  •  St. Ives, Cornwall  •  Bamborough Castle, Northumberland

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What to see in England;: A guide to places of historic interest, natural beauty or literary association,
By Gordon Home
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