St. Laurence Parish Church, Ludlow

We might have missed it, tucked in amid all the other Medieval buildings, but the parish church was for us the best feature of Ludlow, a five-banger in Simon Jenkins' England's Thousand Best Churches, said by some to be the third largest of all England's parish churches. Construction of the current building began in the late 12th century with modifications in the 14th and 19th centuries. It has been beautifully maintained and is certainly one of the finest "Wool Churches" we have seen. 

West window

Nave

Ceiling

Elevation

A first for us...a fully self-contained toilet and washroom,

plopped down right in the northwest corner of the nave (next 

to the coffee shop, tables and chairs)...one is seeing restrooms 

installed in cathedrals here and there, but, for us, this is a parish 

church first...

Adjacent also to the social area...churches in the UK are
increasingly returning to their community function, which
is fine...

Old organ, refurbished in the 19th and 20th centuries

Now admiring the window in the Lady Hall...interestingly,
a Jesse "tree"

So it's bad enough you have to spend the rest of eternity doing a plank...

You have to do it in the store room?!

Crossing

Altar and great east window...about St. Laurence, 
a rich guy who got grilled, literally, for advocating the
cause of the poor, in 3rd century Rome

Among the tombs, memorials

More windows

The misericords in Ludlow are fewer in number than a cathedral's,
but of no less interest...some even more rowdy than what we saw in
Chester

Wrestling match?

Mermaid

Tap woman

"When are they going to invent elastic?"

North choir stall

Chancel ceiling

Abaft the beam

Very rarely seen...this is the old carillon-playing machine...sort of like a
player-piano, only heavy-jumbo to ring the big bells

And oldish radiators

Ludlow

After Bodnant, Llandudno, and Chester, it was time to head back east, to Kent and then three weeks in London. We were sufficiently impressed with Chester to ask an AI (Clod? Jiminy?) whether there might be another town like Chester on the way east. The answer was to stop at Ludlow, a town of scores of listed old buildings, a castle, a foodie culture, and a great parish church. It was a short stop, three or so hours, but we can enthusiastically recommend Ludlow as another British site worth a stop. 

Chain mail portal; one of several

Maybe not Michelin foodie, but authentic, fresh, seasonal, etc.,
also traditional

Actually it was mostly crafts, weird stuff

The castle; we don't do castles anymore; unless they have elevators

Helpful model; not LEGO

Probably not from Pier 1

Drone's eye view

Many such facades

Clever advert

Ample interpretive signage, badges, etc.

Among the pretty such places; we did not eat here since
they were not serving the full English breakfast I wanted

We did eat at this place, whose name we have lost, but it at 
least afforded a most memorable dish...Vicki's duck pizza;
seriously; ducks bits, hoisin sauce, and mozzarella cheese (!);
ate it all but said she might not order it again

I had to settle for partial English breakfast

Scores of such buildings

Never pass up anything called "Reeds Plus" or "Reeds R Us,"
especially with this sort of display out on the street

Me, inquiring within, asking whether they had any oboe reeds; their
supply, they said, was "rather limited," which I took as British for "no";
still, nice, fun people, a mother (saxophone) and daughter (clarinet)

Chester Cathedral Misericords

In the olden days, monks, et al., were expected to stand in the choir throughout the various services, etc. This was hard on the older guys (ask me...) and so someone came up with the idea of the misericord, literally, mercy seat. It could be folded down, out of sight, but, when extended up, provided a little something to lean onto, while maintaining the appearance of standing. Like other things in the choir, they were carved, that is, decorated. But since the misericord was something on which you placed your bottom, or bum, as the British say, the carvings were not of sacred things. Rather, they were of the other, profane world, mythology, beasts, mere humans, and such, often amusing, sometimes raunchy, even lewd. I don't think we've ever been in a church of any size or sort in which all the misericords were exposed for examination. Until we got to Chester. Below are some of the better choir carvings at Chester, not even all of the misericords. Interpretation is sometimes obvious, more often problematic, especially as a 21st century mind looks at 14th century sculpture. But as with anything else, there is a whole literature to help you find your way, e.g., Church Misericords and Bench Ends, by Richard Hayman.

North choir stall, bench ends

Misericords...

Wild men?

Unicorn

The Chester Elephant and Castle, very famous (as choir stall carvings go)