The castle, the palace of the Prince of Wales, in right of his principality, is now entirely in ruins, except Mortimer’s tower, which was repaired by Sir Henry Sidney, during his presidency: it is now inhabited by an old servant of Lord Powis’s, a very civil and intelligent man, who related, with the utmost concern, the sad vicissitudes this castle had experienced; he insisted on our entering the tower of his habitation, and ascending the crumbling stairs, for a full display of the various beauties in the vicinity of Ludlow, he expatiated much on a valuable diamond ring, which he had discovered himself, when attempting to drain a cellar; the inscription of Hebrew characters, round the gold, within the ring, was interpreted by the larned, “A good heart;” this, and several coins of silver and gold, which were found at the same time, are now in the possession of Lord Powis: near the same spot, a number of skeletons were likewise dug up. He next conducted us to a small room in this tower, to observe an old stone placed over the fire-place, with a cross; the letters W. S. and the date 1575, engraven on it.
Over the South-east gateway, leading into the interior of the castle, are the arms of Elizabeth, Queen of England, and beneath, those of the Sydney family, with the following inscription:
HOMINIBUS INGRATIS LOQUIMINI
LAPIDES—ANN, REGNI REGINÆ
ELIZABETHAE 23.—THE 28 YEAR
COPLET OF THE RESIDENCE
OF SYR HENRY SYDNEY KNIGHT
OF THE MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE
GARTER, 1581.
This castle, founded by Roger de Montgomery, on a rock, in the North-east angle of the town, supposed to be in the year 1112, was considerably enlarged by Sir Henry Sydney. Its ancient British name, Dinan Llys Tywysog, signifies the Prince’s Palace. The vicissitudes of war have frequently been exemplified in this castle; it has had its Lords and its Princes; it has been plundered, captured, dismantled, and repaired, in those periods of civil warfare, which this unfortunate country, in former times, continually experienced. Philips, in “ The History and Antiquities of Shrewsbury,” during those melancholy troubles, gives some account of this castle. Some historians affirm, that Edward V. and his brother, were born in Ludlow Castle; but others, not crediting this assertion, attribute their birth to Wigmore: certain, however, it is, that during their minority, they here held their court, under the tuition of Lord Anthony Woodville, and Lord Scales, till they were removed to London, and soon after smothered in the Tower, by the command of their cruel and ambitious uncle, the Duke of Gloucester. Here, likewise, Prince Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII. celebrated his marriage with the virtuous Catharine of Arragon; and in 1502, he here paid the debt of nature, and was buried in the cathedral church of Worcester.
The account of the representation, at Ludlow, of Milton’s celebrated Mask of Comus, is thus mentioned in the Life of that poet, prefixed to Newton’s edition: “It was in the year 1634, that his Mask was presented at Ludlow Castle. There was formerly a president of Wales, and a sort of a court kept at Ludlow, which has since been abolished; and the president, at that time, was the Earl of Bridgwater, before whom Milton’s Mask was presented, on Michaelmas night; and the principal parts, those of the Two Brothers, were performed by his Lordship’s sons, the Lord Brackly, and Mr. Thomas Egerton; and that of the Lady, by his Lordship’s daughter, the Lady Alice Egerton.”
In the first year of William and Mary, the presidency was dissolved by act of parliament, “being a great grievance to the subject, and a means to introduce an arbitrary power, especially in the late reign, when a new convert family were at the head of it.”
The church next demanded our attention, the only one belonging to this town. The time of the foundation of this ancient and elegant structure cannot now be strictly ascertained: it is situated on an eminence, in the centre of the town. The square tower is lofty, and of very light architecture, but the upper part suffered much, by the all-destroying hand of Oliver Cromwell. The highly-finished statues round the battlements, are much mutilated, and many entirely destroyed. On entering the church, six light Gothic fluted arches on each side, with four similar ones of larger dimensions, supporting the tower, are strikingly grand. Under the organ-loft, we passed into the chancel, now only made use of, for the administration of the sacrament. This is a most elegant building, with thirteen stalls on each side, similar, in stile, to the generality of cathedrals; the seats of the stalls, all of which turn back, exhibit specimens of curious workmanship, with strange devices, and ridiculous conceits. Some of the glass painted windows are still in good preservation; the large one, over the altar-piece, represents the History of St. Lawrence, to whom this church is dedicated, in fifty-four compartments. The other windows of the chancel are much mutilated, collected from different parts of the church, and several panes broken, by the unmeaning idleness of boys;—regardless of these valuable relicks of antiquity.—In the side of the wall, near the altar, are two stone stalls, with a piscina opposite.
In this chancel is a handsome monument, erected to the memory of Robert Townsend, and his wife, with several figures of their sons and daughters carved round the bottom: over them are the arms of their family and connexions: it bears the date of 1581.
A modern monument to Theophilus Solway, Esq.
An ancient one to Ambrosia Sydney, who died at Ludlow Castle. This lady was daughter to Sir Henry Sidney, who attained the important situation of the Presidency of Wales, in the year 1564. He died at Bewdley, 1584, and left this singular injunction to his executors: “that his heart should be buried at Shrewsbury, his bowels at Bewdley, and his body at Ludlow, in the tomb of his favourite daughter Ambrosia:” this order was punctually executed; and the leaden urn, containing his heart, was six inches deep, and five inches in diameter at the top, with this inscription carved three times round it: