The Reader's House, Ludlow

The Earlier House

There has probably been a house on this site for some considerable time before 1320 when it was recorded as being gifted to the Palmers. Ludlow’s wealthy medieval guild was named after the palm leaves brought back from the Holy Land by returning pilgrims.

For much of the 1400s the property was used by the Palmers to house their grammar school. The current front wall of the house dates from around this time, as does the original arched doorway and studded front door that you can see behind the porch.

Another early resident was Thomas Coke, Servitor to Prince Arthur, eldest son of Henry VII who died in Ludlow. Arthur’s younger brother became King Henry VIII, and in 1551 he dissolved the old guilds and so the stone house was transferred to the Corporation of Ludlow.

The 1616 Rebuilding

Ludlow Castle was still home to the Council of the Marches, which governed Wales and the border counties. In 1613 a new chaplain to the Council was appointed. He was Thomas Kay (or Kaye), recently married and wanting a grand house to match his important new status.

He took over the lease of the house from the Corporation and demolished all but the front wall. He built a new three storey home using the latest technology - timber framed, with elaborate internal plaster work and large glass windows to demonstrate his wealth. To make it grander still, he covered the original front door with an impressive three storey jettied porch, adorned with much intricate carving at all levels - similar to that found on the gatehouse at nearby Stokesay Castle.

The house was made from 840 pieces of timber weighing 28 tonnes and coming from some 45 mature oak trees. They were all cut and shaped offsite and reassembled on site using 1,100 oak pegs. The original assembly guide marks on the beams remain visible to this day.

If you have good eyesight you can see ANNO * DN * 1616 * THO * KAYE carved above the second floor of the porch to mark completion of the project.

Benign Neglect

After Thomas Kay, the Corporation continued to own the house, and in 1711 it was reserved for the use of the assistant to the Rector at St Laurence's Church - a position frequently called the Reader. And so it became known from then on as “The Reader’s House”.

Local governments, then as now, had very little money to repair and improve their houses. And so the house missed out on the improvements of the Georgians, the Victorians, the Edwardians and even the post-war efforts. The interiors remained as Thomas Kay had built them in 1616.

For this reason, the house was listed Grade I in 1954 - the only purely domestic property in the town at this top grade. The unspoilt early 17th century interiors are now considered extremely rare.

But with no money to invest in it, and with the house in rickety shape, English Heritage placed it on their “Buildings At Risk” register.

Modernisation

In 1979 the house finally passed into private ownership for the first time, bought by Stephen Bacon, a retired gem and antiques dealer. He started the process of modernisation, connecting water, sewerage, electricity and gas for the first time.

After his death in 2001, it lay empty for a while, until a couple bought it and in 2008 finally started the major renovations to bring it up to 21st century living standards - with proper wiring, plumbing, central heating and bathrooms. Sadly, the exercise proved too much for them and they went their separate ways having completed much of the renovation.

Again the Reader’s House was left empty until the present owners bought it in 2016, exactly four hundred years after Thomas Kay had rebuilt it.

With all renovations complete, the home now has all the modern conveniences you would expect. But in all essential features it manages to remain true to the reign of King James I.