After lunch on Saturday we headed off to Ludlow for the afternoon where Mr C had it in mind to visit the castle. On our way there I suggested we had a quick look inside the Church of St Laurence. I was keen to see how it looked now the Victorian pews had been removed. To my dismay I had learned on our previous visit to the church that the Victorian pews were about to be removed.
On stepping inside the church I was amazed at the transformation. The church looked light and airy with my eye being drawn to the building structure and stained glass windows whereas before the pews dominated the setting. Mr C was inspired to explore the church including the opportunity to climb up the bell tower.
We decided there wasn’t enough time to do the castle justice and that we would leave it for another day, although we visited to the castle shop to see if there were any interesting books. We came away empty handed as we did on our subsequent visit to Castle Bookshop.
Then it was time to seek out a tea shop for a naughty cake. We has almost given up hope of finding the ‘perfect’ teashop, then we saw Carvell’s The Art of Tea. The tea shop was inviting with china cups set out on the table and a cabinet of interesting cakes to tempt. We choose to share a wedge of courgette and avocado cake, it was delicious. I was so busy enjoying the experience that I forgot to take photos. Visiting the castle will be a good excuse to go back and sample some other tasty delights and maybe I will remember to take a photo or two.
The Church of St Laurence still has its magnificent ceiling, lecturn and stained glass windows, so I hope that the new pews are compatible.
You can judge for yourself from the photos if the new seating arrangement is compatible.
I love the transformation.
I see you found the wonderful misericords, Cherie
It was a delight to see them
On our previous visit this area was housing an exhibition so we weren’t able to get up close to explore them.
I enjoyed seeing your photographs, I especially like the stained glass windows.
All the best Jan
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Thank you
Great to see the church is open again. Your photos are lovely and you are right the church now looks far more light and airy.
Thank you xx
The church is really quite stunning inside. Do you known if they plan to put permanent seating in again or will they use the space as it is?
There is not plan for permanent seating. The chairs in my photos are the chairs going forward it allows for flexible use of the space available.
When the churches were built there was no seating and the removal of the Victorian additions showcases the space before those seats had been added.
When churches were originally built the interior was an open space which apart from worship had other functions.