Mill Street

Mill Street. . , The street takes its name from the first town mill on the River Teme, probably built in the 1100s by the Lacy family who owned the Castle., This was not always a desirable part of town, containing the butchers "shambles" or slaughter house and in Victorian times large vats of sewage formed a "deodorising tank" by the river's edge. This was close to a pump drawing river water for the town, resulting in a plentiful supply of cholera! , A scheme in 1880 for a pedestrian suspension bridge by Architect Richard Penson was vetoed on cost and that due to nude bathing "the ladies would find it particularly obnoxious". , During the Georgian era, wealthy families visited Ludlow for the social season, erecting town houses, particularly in Mill Street and Broad Street, frequenting the Theatre, the races, and later the Assembly Rooms., East Side Going Down , The extension on this side of the Assembly Rooms, currently a greengrocers, contained the Library and the Natural History Museum. , Number 8, now a clothing shop, was formerly the British Legion and was once owned by the Knight family, Ironmasters of Downton. , Next door, No.9, was once the home of Sir Caesar Hawkins 1711-1786, Sergeant Surgeon to Kings George II and III. Himself the son of a surgeon, his son and grandson also became sergeant surgeons. , Continuing down the street, we meet what was once Ludlow Grammar School - a large medieval building dating from 1527 on a site donated to the Palmers' Guild by the Cheyne family. The dormer windows were added in 1686 when a dormitory was created. The school became Ludlow College in 1977., West Side Coming Up , From Mill St gate of which only the site remains: , THEATRE , Numbers 23 and 23a occupy the site of Ludlow Theatre (in existence by 1775 and rebuilt 1805). In its heyday it saw Sarah Siddons and Edmund Keane tread the boards. By 1881 it was sold and replaced with the current houses built by John Grosvenor. , Number 47 is a jettied cottage. The right-hand room at the front has a fine original plaster ceiling with decorations featuring a pomegranate - the symbol of Catherine of Aragon. , Continuing upwards we meet The Guildhall, once the headquarters of the Palmers' Guild. Behind the Georgian façade is evidence of an aisle hall from 1411. Rebuilt 1768 in, the "Gothick Style" by T. F. Pritchard, the windows contain glass from Clements Inn, London. Once the venue for guild meetings and feasts, it was taken over by the Corporation in 1551 and used for Quarter Sessions, where the Recorder could pronounce death sentences. It served as the magistrates court until very recently.