Ludlow Arts: Word
Members of the medieval Ludlow Palmers Guild paid an annual membership fee (equivalent to £220 in today's money) to help members ‘reduced to poverty by theft, fire, shipwreck or other mishap or wrongfully imprisoned anywhere in England, to provide assistance during temporary sickness or incurable disease or as a dowry for sisters of the Guild on their marriage or entry into religion’.
For nearly 300 years, until the Guild's suppression by Edward VI, the Ludlow Palmers provided St Laurence Church with financial resources to maintain and enhance the building, as well as enrich Ludlow town life through music and education. The magnificent building, beautiful ceilings, rare medieval stained-glass windows, and historic misericords are a few of the Ludlow Palmers Guild's legacies to Ludlow and the nation.
Founded in 2006, today's Conservation Trust for St Laurence, whose supporters are commonly known as the Ludlow Palmers, helps to fund the repair and conservation of St Laurence's fabric and historical treasures.