Book

SHINING A LIGHT ON LUDLOW STREET

Jonathan and Rosemary outside The Merchant House.

HEATHER LARGE MEETS A COUPLE WHOSE RESEARCH INTO A LESSER KNOWN PART OF LUDLOW HAS LED THEM TO WRITE A FASCINATING BOOK ON ITS HISTORY

Much has been written about Ludlow’s royal connections and its wellknown medieval, Tudor and Georgian buildings.

But its northern, industrial quarter has never been as well documented – until now.

Previously untold stories about the people who lived and worked in this part of town as well as its buildings have been revealed in a new book.

It has been written by Jonathan and Rosemary Wood, who moved into The Merchant House in Lower Corve Street in 2006.

This 15th century half-timbered house with the river Corve running behind it has been owned by wealthy dyers, tanners and glovers.

And more recently it became worldfamous as the home of a Michelin-starred restaurant owned by master chef, Shaun Hill.

When Jonathan and Rosemary moved into The Merchant House, Jonathan, a motoring historian, journalist and author, began researching its history.

Work intervened, and the former chairman of Ludlow Historical Research Group put the project on hold until his retirement would allow him the time to finish it.

Sadly in 2019 Jonathan suffered a stroke, which meant he could no longer write or carry out any research, so the baton was passed to Rosemary.

To ensure the work he had done prior to his stroke didn’t go to waste, the couple then agreed the book should be completed and that Rosemary would undertake the outstanding work.

“Jonathan has always been interested in local history and has given a number of lectures and Powerpoint presentations on local history,” she says. “When we moved into The Merchant House, he began researching it in depth. He had to put it to one side and the idea was that when he retired he would pick it up again.”

“He had spent a lot of time researching and writing 30,000 words on the history of Merchant’s House so it seemed a great shame if it didn’t happen.

“I began working on it but I’m not a historian. While I was reading it and learning about, it became so apparent that it should contain information on the other houses in Lower Corve Street and St Mary’s Lane,” explains Rosemary, who has been involved in a number of different community groups in Ludlow.

Until the 20th century, Corve Street was one entity, though a major section lay beyond the Corve Gate.

Only with the creation of Coronation Avenue did ‘Lower’ Corve Street come into being. Centuries ago, this riverside location provided the Knights Hospitaller with rents from burgage plots owned by Hugh de Lacy, the Lord of Ludlow.

Wealthy dyers and tanners lived and worked by the Corve, and traded with Flanders and Florence. In the 18th century, rich glovers erected low-status back buildings for their impoverished workers in what became a noxious tanning zone.

In the early 1900s this yard, Drew’s Court behind No. 119 Corve Street, now the site of Tesco, was typical of the squalor and overcrowding of many of the street’s dwellings. The wooden boxes on the wall are pigeon coops. Photo:GarethThomas

They then moved up the hill into town to build or renovate grand houses reflecting their new social status. Speculators amassed fortunes or went bankrupt.

Maltsters and brewers plied their trade, social distinctions were blurred. Land was exchanged and murder was committed. Animals were auctioned, carriers and hauliers flourished, and Corve Street had its own ‘red light district’.

“In Mill Street and Broad Street, with their beautiful buildings and wealthy people, a lot of people gained their wealth because of the castle which ruled Wales.

“It’s a bit like having Westminster and everything to do with Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson happening at the top end of town and all the wheels of industry happening at the other end,” says Rosemary.

When she began researching the other houses in Lower Corve Street, she trawled through local history books looking for any references to the road or one of its residents.

A source of information that proved invaluable was a PHD thesis written by late Ludlow historian, David Lloyd MBE.

The manuscript, which was titled ‘property, ownership and improvement in Ludlow, a fashionable county town, 1660 - 1848’, was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Wolverhampton in 2005.

It had be compiled with the help of documents such as churchwarden notes, property deeds, wills and parish minutes.

No. 47 Charlie’s Cottage. No. 64 Tanners Cottage. No. 69 York House. From left, The Glovers

’ Workshop, Nos. 81a, 81 (Turford House, with blue door), 82a and 82.

In 1881, William Pipe, a general haulier, was living in No. 82 Corve Street. The Pipe family also owned land and a farm in St Mary’s Lane. This photo, probably from the mid-1940s, shows Allan Pipe, (front right) driving his milk cart in St Mary’s Lane. Photo:JoanPipe

Thomas and Mary Lowe (seated) were landlords of the Queen’s Arms at 77 Corve Street, now The Bridge Inn. Their son, William, (centre) was a Territorial, aged 21 in 1914 and working as a clerk on a gentleman’s estate when he was called up to join The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. Photo: GarethThomas

“Every time David mentioned a property, person or occupation to do with Lower Corve Street, I wrote it down. It was quite different as often it only said Corve Street, which might have been the higher end of town, so it took a while to make sure we were dealing with the right area,” explains Rosemary.

As part of her investigation, she also took a close look at her neighbours’ handwritten house deeds which provided valuable information.

“We’ve found lots of things that had never been recorded because they were in people’s deeds and tiny little phrases that mean nothing now. At No. 98, they were allowed access with a wheelbarrow – that was important enough to put in a deed.

“By reading the names on the deeds, I was able to join up some of the dots,” recalls Rosemary, who was instrumental in the establishment of the Friends of the Corve and Teme.

Her research also uncovered details of a murder committed in one of the houses and the sad circumstances surrounding it.

“The lady, we would say now that she had postnatal depression, had lots of children. The lady cut her throat and two of her children’s throats, one of the children died,” explains Rosemary.

Continuing the project, started by her husband, has been a “fascinating” experience, although she admits it has involved “a lot of hours and working to 3am”.

“With a book like this you are never finished,” says Rosemary. “Even now, when the book is at the printer, I’ve found little bits and joined up another dot and I think ‘that should have been in the book’.

“In this tiny area, that it would take three minutes at the most to walk from end to the other, so much as happened over the centuries.

“When you look at the individual houses, they are stunning. The book is well-illustrated with lots of colour. I wanted Corve Street to shine, I wanted people to see the beauty of the houses.”

n The People and History of Lower Corve Street and St Mary’s Lane, Ludlow is an A4 hardback, costing £20. Copies will be available from Castle Bookshop, 5 Castle Street, Ludlow. Or people can order their copy and collect it later from The Merchant House, Lower Corve Street, SY8 1DU. Contact Rosemary Wood on 01584 875438 or email rosemary.wood3@ gmail.com

Attributed to William Ward Gill (1823-1894) St Laurence’s Church seen from Corve Bridge; the buildings on the left were the tanneries. PaintingcourtesyofJanetGough

The Merchant House.