Client:- Shropshire Council
Project:- Ludlow & Galdeford
Aerial reconstruction illustration of Georgian Ludlow & Galdeford . Again this project involved considerable research and much consultation with historians & archaeologists. Every building within the town walls was painstakingly reconstructed.
Ludlow is one the jewels of the Welsh Marches. A “march” is the name the Normans used to describe a boundary or frontier area. After he invaded England in 1066, William the Conqueror created Marcher Lords to help him defend his border with Wales. In due course, a line of fortifications was established along the English/Welsh border, with work starting on Ludlow Castle in 1085, under the command of Roger de Lacy.
Ludlow Castle is situated on an excellent defensive site in a bend of the River Teme just south of where it is joined by the River Corve. Ludlow was planned by the Normans and the rectangular street plan can still be seen in the medieval heart of the town.
Town walls were built between 1233 and 1304, with seven gates, one of which, Broadgate at the bottom of Broad Street, still survives.
By the 16th century the town had become the administrative headquarters of the Council of the Marches of Wales. This was founded by Edward IV and administered the whole of Wales and five adjacent English Counties.
When the Council of the Marches was dissolved in 1689 the castle became derelict but the town continued to prosper and many of Ludlow’s finest buildings date from this period between 1700 and 1740. In Victorian times the town was less prosperous and fewer new buildings were built; this has meant that its character has been largely preserved.
