History – Page 20 – TRAVEL WORDS

Misericords of St Laurence – Part II

The Parish Church in Ludlow is famous for its 15th century misericords in the chancel stalls. These ignored carvings are found underneath choir stall seats and are mostly found in areas of the country whose wealth came from the medieval wool trade. The largest collection is housed at Salisbury Cathedral (106) compared to Hereford Cathedral (40) and the 28 intricately carved designs here in Ludlow.

Finally I have managed to get some decent photos of them all, so let me introduce you to them:

North Side 6 – 10

N6: The Antelope, gorged (the neck encircled by a coronet or collar) and chained is the personal badge of Henry VI in whose reign the misericords were carved. The grotesque masks either side are usually regarded as pagan imagery so an odd choice to accompany the Antelope. Leafed faces are often associated with the Green Man present at May Day celebrations. In a Christian context they are more likely to be a reminder against loose morals and sin.

N7: A bishop supported on either side by a mitre. Possibly a portrait of Thomas Spofford (1422-1448) during whose time the chancel was enlarged and whose name appears in the great east window.

N8: The three ostrich feathers have been the personal badge of the Prince of Wales since the mid sixteenth century. At the time of this carving it was the badge of the Black Prince, Edward of Woodstock who died in 1376 before he could succeed to the throne. He was father of Richard II (N10)

N9: Here we have an ass preaching at the pulpit to a congregation of birds, geese and other farmyard animals. On the left two figures are whispering to one another having spotted the deception. The moral is about the gullible and foolish listening to false doctrine, a warning against the followers of Wycliffe, the Lollards.(John Wycliffe was concerned about the wealth of the clergy in the Middle Ages and not liked by the Church)

N10: The Hart at Rest is the badge of Richard II who was deposed by the first of the Lancastrian kings, Henry IV. The Yorkists regarded Richard as the last true legitimate monarch. In the heraldic version the Hart was white. The hounds on either side gave the idea of the chase.

Source of text: Historic Ludlow ” The Misericords and Choir Stalls” by Peter Klein (1986)

Misericords of St Laurence – Part I

Finally I have managed to get some decent photos of them all, so let me introduce you to them:

North Side 1 – 5

N1: There are several interpretations of this one. A scold wearing an outrageous horned head-dress or hennin being ridiculed, though the woman does not wear the scold’s bridle so it may represent street entertainment. It may also be a warning against misplaced vanity.

N2: The central corbel is the form of a Harpy, a young woman’s head being given the body and wings of a bat. Her supporters are bats – creatures of darkness and symbolic evil. This could be a cautionary tale about women using their charms to tempt a man aka Adam and Eve.

N3: This is Ludlow’s most famous one and shows a dishonest alewife who has given short measure and has been thrown over the shoulder of the devil. A demon, Tutivillus on the left reads a long list of her misdemeanours. Another devil plays the bagpipes to serenade her journey to the gaping mouth of Hell shown on the right.

N4: My favourite. A mermaid holds a mirror in one hand and a now missing comb in her left. Two dolphins add to the theme. Yet another anti-feminine theme, the mermaid or siren being symbolic of the woman luring men away from the path of salvation.

N5: A scene of domestic discord involving three male figures. The one on the right is trying to restrain the other two, whilst a cauldron bubbles away on the hearth. The kite-shaped leaf on the right is typically found on the Ludlow misericords and a stylised foliage often used in court manuscripts. The whole of the carving represents one of the seven sins – Anger.

Source of text: Historic Ludlow ” The Misericords and Choir Stalls” by Peter Klein (1986)

The Parish Church of St Laurence, Ludlow

Ludlow’s church can be seen from miles around due to its large tower. The original church was started in 1199 and added to in the fourteenth century with a decorated hexagonal porch. The chancel and the nave were built in the perpendicular style in the early 15th century. It was one of only 18 churches given a five-star rating in England’s Thousand Greatest Churches by Simon Jenkins (1999) and is described as the “Cathedral of the Marches”

An important body in the town was the Palmers’ Guild which began around 1250 as a mutual benefit society, but later concerns were with provision for the after-life. By using the name Palmer, the Guild associated itself with pilgrimage to the Holy Land and a window in the Guild’s own chapel of St John the Evangelist depicts a legend that attributes the foundations of the Guild to Edward the Confessor. The town’s economy and medieval prosperity came from wool.

I have been promising to show more images of the interior so let’s have a look around and you will see why I find this building so beautiful and how it connects the present town of Ludlow to its historical political importance (Wars of the Roses) and economical past.

Carvings

Tomb

Pulpit

Continue reading The Parish Church of St Laurence, Ludlow

Post Boxes

An article by English Heritage about the familiar British post boxes that we take for granted in our streets nudged me into writing about the unusual one located in Haslemere, Surrey. Sadly it is only a replica of the famous Penfold hexagonal design which dates from 1866. The box was hexagonal in shape with the top decorated by acanthus leaves and balls and painted green.

The box again achieved a degree of modest fame in the cartoon series danger mouse. Danger mouse’s sidekick was named Penfold after JW Penfold since the duo’s secret hideout was in a postbox in Baker Street. Unfortunately the hide out was not a genuine Penfold postbox! Source: The Haslemere Society

Olympic gold medal winner Helen Glover, whose Cornish home town is Penzance, had a Royal Mail box painted gold in honour of her winning performance in the rowing pairs.

Helen Glover

And of course there are many different types of the red painted boxes all over our towns and cities – originally green to blend in with the landscape they were repainted in the famous ‘pillar box red’ by 1884 to increase visibility.

Red Penfold in Bath

Penfold Painted red

enamel-fronted boxes were inserted into the walls of Post Offices.

There are over 800 different types of post boxes. Perhaps you have an unusual one to share? If you do then please post it and link to this one in the comments or via a pingback.

This could become yet another obsession

And if you want to read more fascinating facts about post boxes then please click on the EH link above.

Category: History