College Street & Churchyard

College Street and Churchyard. . , The Church and the surrounding square owe much of their appearance to the religious Palmers Guild of Ludlow C.1284-1551., College Street takes its name from the College of Cannons or Priests of the Palmers Guild founded well before the first written record of 1284. In the mid 14th c. it sustained 16 priests and continued until around 1540 and the Dissolution when inhabitants included, a Warden, 7 priests and 4 singing men. , The College was then acquired by the Corporation "for the benefit of the Town", becoming a Council Chamber, school, and cottage hospital before its current role as retirement housing. A ruined wall stands behind No 3 and the original range is thought to have extended to part of the Rose and Crown., Churchyard The site of a bronze age tumulus (destroyed) The Northern boundary is the town wall with sweeping views to the North and West. A new graveyard was opened in Corve Street around 1824, later the site of St Leonard's built by 1870. The churchyard was cleared of gravestones around 1920/30., Memorials The outside of the North wall of the church contains memorial tablets to Scholar and Poet, A.E Housman 1859-1936 and Adrian Jones 1845-1938 Sculptor of the Quadriga crowning Wellington Arch., Hosyers Almshouse Another charitable institution exists next to the college site, erected in 1486 by local merchant John Hosyer, a benefactor to the Palmers Guild. The original Gothic stone building was rebuilt 1758 in its present style to a design by T.F Pritchard., The Old Rectory Dated to 1313 and mainly timber frame under the render, this is the oldest domestic building in town and served as the rectory until 1841 and then subsequently until 2009., Linney Gate One of the seven town gates, demolished around 1786 when Linney House was built. In the 1880s the portcullis grooves and door jambs were uncovered during repairs when the strange brick attachment you see now was erected., Reader’s House What you see is a building created 1616 by Thomas Kaye, Chaplain to the Council of the Marches on the site of a house from 1320. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the house was the residence of the Rector's assistant, known as the Reader. In 1826 he received £85 p.a. from the Corporation plus the house, worth £15. His duties were to read prayers Readers House twice on Sundays and once every other day.