The Ten Commandments Window

To the right of the altar is the only known example in England of a Ten Commandments window. Dating from the 15th century this window originally depicted all of the Ten Commandments. Unfortunately only the last six now remain. We don’t know what happened to the other four.

The Baldacchino

The unique Baldacchino in St John’s Chapel is a very rare survival in England of an “altar hood”, associated with Roman Catholicism. Its fine 16th century carving illustrates pomegranates. The pomegranate is the heraldic symbol of the House of Aragon and the carvings suggest a connection with Prince Arthur’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, resident together in Ludlow prior to the Prince’s death in April 1502.

Misericords

The misericords in the Chancel are considered to be one of the finest sets in England. The earliest of these date from 1425.
A feature of this collection is that a local craftsman was commissioned to carve a misericord to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Our Tower

The 15th century tower stands at 135 feet high and can be climbed via a spiral staircase to get a bird’s eye view of the mediaeval street pattern of the town below, and a spectacular 360’ view of the Shropshire countryside.

The East Window

The Great East window is the largest stained glass window in an English parish church devoted to a single saint, St Laurence and dates from the 15th century. It tells the story of the saint, a third century deacon of the church of Rome who defied the Roman  prefect when he was ordered to present the treasures of his church to the civil authorities. St Laurence infuriated the prefect by presenting his congregation which led to his demise – being tied to a grid-iron and burnt over an open fire.

Wall Paintings

A number of mediaeval wall painting fragments survive around the church, one of the most interesting of which is in St John’s Chapel to the right of the altar. It depicts a small lancet window and has remained intact because it was hidden for centuries behind a wall monument that was relocated in Victorian times.

The Organ

Our famous 18th century Snetzler organ was originally installed in 1764 over the rood screen but was moved to its present location in the North Transept in 1859.

Stained Glass

The Golden Window in St. John’s Chapel is regarded as the finest of the stained glass windows in the church, and is ranked as one of the greatest mediaeval stained glass windows in the country. Its name comes from the fact that it contains so much “Golden Glass” which was created by the use of silver nitrate which, when fired, turns into this wonderful golden colour.

The Comper Banner

The magnificent banner was designed by Sir Ninian Comper who was the last of the great gothic revival architects and was best kown for his interior decoration work. In fact the blue background is known as Comper Blue.

Bells and Carillon

We have thirteen bells in our bell chamber. Ten of these form a ten bell ring while three bells are hung ‘dead’ to make a thirteen bell carillon.

The Carillon is one of the last surviving working carillons in the United Kingdom and  has been in the tower since at least 1638. It can be heard every day at 8am, 12noon, 4pm, and 8pm. The barrel plays a different tune for each day of the week. After each tune has been played four times, the mechanism automatically indents to the next tune, ready for the next day.  So you can tell the day of the week from the tune that is being played!

The Ten Commandments Board

The Ten Commandments board is a further unique artefact in the church. It dates from 1561 and follows a command from Elizabeth 1 that all churches should display the Ten Commandments. The wording of the last commandment ”Thou shalt not desire thy neighbour’s house” is unique to Ludlow.

The Font

The font is perhaps the earliest artefact in the church and is thought to date from the 11th century. It is very simple in design but one story attached to it is that the indents on the rim of the bowl were caused by The Cromwellians during the civil war when they used the font to sharpen their swords.