Ludlow was given a grant of murage dated 7/12/1461.
This was in the form of:-
Wording
{Translation from Copies of the charters and grants to the town of Ludlow}
THE KING to the archbishop, &c. greeting. Know ye, that we considering the laudable and gratuitous services which our beloved and faithful subjects the burgesses of the town of Ludlow, have rendered unto us in the obtaining of our right to the crown of England for a long time past withheld from us and our ancestors, in great peril of their lives: And also the rapines, depredations, oppressions, losses of goods, and other grievances for us and our sake in divers ways brought upon them by certain of our competitors; being therefore desirous for the amelioration and relief of our town aforesaid and of the burgesses and inhabitants in the same, to bestow our grace and favour on the same burgesses, of our especial grace and by our royal munificence we have granted and by these presents do grant to our burgesses of our town aforesaid, that the same town shall be a free borough for ever, incorporated in deed and in name of Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Commonalty ...
ALSO we have granted to the same burgesses and their successors that although it was heretofore enacted and ordained by our noble progenitors that no one be distrained for foreign debts, unless he be the debtor or pledge, nevertheless they have been divers times arrested and distrained in divers lordships of the marches of Wales for foreign debts whereof they are not the debtors or pledges, or any wise liable, and they by reason of the very many grievances and losses by which such arrests and distresses they have sustained, refrain from going towards our lordships in the marches aforesaid; and also to other places for transacting their divers merchandizes, and for providing and seeking for fish or other provision for the sustentation of our faithful subjects Of the town aforesaid in the county of Salop, and also the country adjacent, because of the trespasses in the lordships aforesaid, whereupon they have petitioned us for a remedy for them to be by us provided. We have granted for us and our heirs to the aforesaid burgesses of our town aforesaid for ever, that if it shall happen that any one of our subjects of the town aforesaid, or any parcel of their goods in any lordship within the marches of Wales be so arrested and distrained, and the lord of such lordship in which such arrest or distress shall be made, or his officers there, at the request of the bailiffs of the town aforesaid for the time being, by their letters under their seals to the same lords or their officers directed, shall refuse to deliver the bodies or goods of such person so arrested or distrained, then the said bailiffs and their successors may distrain and arrest the men of the aforesaid lordships of Wales, where such arrest or distress shall have been made, who shall happen to come within the liberty of the town aforesaid, and them may detain until full satisfaction shall have been made unto the men of the same town for the damage which they have sustained by the cause aforesaid.
And that the said burgesses, their heirs and successors may have of all welsh people coming to Ludlow aforesaid with their merchandizes, due toll and murage, and other customs there anciently had and used; and that assizes of provisions, made and constituted by the bailiffs and good men of the borough aforesaid shall be holden and preserved on forfeiture of us. ...
ALSO we have granted for us and our heirs to the aforesaid bailiffs and burgesses of the town aforesaid, their heirs and successors aforesaid for ever, that they by the hands of certain of the good and lawful men of the same town whom they shall think fit from time to time to depute for that purpose, for the reparation, emendation, and fortification of the bridges, ports, towers, and walls of the town aforesaid, and for the munition and defence of the same town in the resistance of the rebels of Wales and the Marches thereof, may take, receive, and have yearly for ever, all and singular the customs underwritten (that is to say)
For every horse load of corn for sale of whatsoever kind it be, or malt, one farthing.
For every horse arid mare, ox and cow, for sale, one half-penny;
For every tun of wine for sale, one penny;
For every hide of horse and mare, fresh or salt, or tanned, one farthing;
For every five hogs for sale, one half-penny;
And for ten porkers, one half-penny;
For ten sheep, goats, and pigs for sale, one penny;
For every one hundred of skins of lambs and goats for sale, one penny;
For every one hundred of woolfells for sale, sixpence;
For every quarter of salt for sale, one farthing;
For every horse-load of cloth for sale, one half-penny;
For every piece of cloth for sale, of the value of forty shillings, one penny;
For every bale of cloth for sale brought by a cart, three-pence;
For every hundred of worsted cloths for sale, two-pence;
For every cloth of worsted which is called coverlid of the value of forty shillings for sale, one penny;
For every one hundred and fifty webs of aylsham {cloth} for sale, one penny;
For every piece of wrought silk for sale, one penny;
For every cart load of sea fish for sale, one halfpenny;
For every one hundred of mullets, salt or dried fish for sale, one penny;
For every horse-load of sea fish for sale, one farthing;
For every salmon for sale, one farthing;
For every dozen of lampreys for sale, one penny;
For every cask of sturgeon for sale, one half-penny;
For every last of herrings for sale, six- pence;
For every horse-load of cinders for sale, one half-penny;
For every horse-load of honey for sale, one penny;
For every cart loaded for sale as well, one penny;
By the week, likewise for one hundred weight of pewter, one penny;
For every weigh of tallow and grease for sale, one penny;
For every quarter of gaids sold, two-pence;
For two thousand of garlic or onions for sale, one half-penny;
For every bale of leather for sale, three-pence;
For every one hundred of boards for sale, one halfpenny;
For every mill-stone for sale, one half- penny;
For every hundred of faggots for sale, one farthing;
For every cart-load of timber for sale, one ' half-penny;
For every hundred of tin, brass, or copper for sale, two-pence;
For every boat loaded with malt or other things whatsoever, exceeding the value of twenty shillings, one penny;
For every bale of merchandize whatsoever, exceeding the value of twenty shillings, one half-penny;
For every other merchandize not herein specified of the value of five shillings, one penny:
Of all things coming or brought for sale to the town aforesaid, and those sums of money from the customs aforesaid yearly arising, to be applied and expended from time to time towards the emendation, reparation, and fortification of the bridges, ports, towers, and walls aforesaid, in providing for the defence of the same town, without rendering any account thereof to us and our heirs in any manner at the exchequer, or at the receipt of the same. These being witnesses, the venerable father Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England and Legate of the Apostolic See; our very dear cousin William Archbishop of York primate of England ; George Bishop of Exeter our very dear kinsman and Chancellor ; William Bishop of Ely; George Duke of Clarence, Richard Duke of Gloucester, our most dear brothers; Richard Earl of Warwick, Henry Earl of Essex our Treasurer and our very dear kinsman; and our beloved and faithful John de Montague, knight ; and William Hastings, knight, our Chamberlain; and our beloved Clerk Robert Stillington, keeper of our privy seal, and others. Given by our hands the seventh day of December. By the King himself and of the date aforesaid by the Authority of Parliament,
Granted by Edward IV. (Regnal year 1). Granted at Westminster. Granted by K. & of the said date etc..
Primary Sources
Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1927,
Calendar of Charter Rolls Vol. 6 5
Henry VI - 8 Henry VIII, AD 1427-1516, with an appendix, 1215-1288 (HMSO) p. 155-61
1821,
Copies of the charters and grants to the Town of Ludlow p. 5-44
online copy
Record created by Philip Davis. This record created 07/03/2009. Last updated on 30/04/2012. First published online 5/01/2013.
