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Ludlow was an important and busy castle, a hive of activity thronging with important nobles, officials, priests, servants, cooks, bakers, weavers, herbalists, grooms, chambermaids, clerks, tutors, porters, farriers and so on and so forth. Many of these people would have lived within the castle walls, some would have come in just for various commercial, business or maintenance activities as required.
Inside the family home, now called the North Range private living rooms would have been kept warmly cosy with roaring fires. Beautiful woven tapestries on the walls would keep away draughts and also added lovely visual decoration. A letter of 1631 says that 'hanginges 12 feet high and 60 yards long' furnished these rooms. Rush matting on the floor covered the stone flags and wooden floorboards of the upper stories. This was cleaned out just once a year and replaced with fresh new rushes at the end of May - this practice was widepread and gives rise to our modern expression 'spring cleaning.' Floors were regularly sprinkled with herbs to try to keep them smelling sweet.
Herbs were also used for cooking and for their powers of healing; a large variety were grown in the castle grounds. Books called 'Herbals' gave advice on growing and using herbs. One was called the 'Canon of Medecine' and was written by a Persian medic called Avicenna. He mentions lavender, sage, rosemary and thyme among many others.
The castle kitchens would have been very busy all year round and a huge fire burned in the 16ft wide fireplace, even during the heat of summer. Huge joints of meat were roasted on spits, turned by a young boy called the 'turnspit.' The castle baker baked all the bread in the kitchen bread ovens for the lord, his family, his guests and his staff. The kitchen staff not only fed the population of the castle on a daily basis, but they also provided luxurious banquets for special occasions - Roger Mortimer for example, was famed for his lavish entertaining.
Documents show that throughout the 16th and 17th centuries many troupes of travelling actors, musicians and entertainers were employed at Ludlow Castle. 'The Lord of Sussex' Players' and the famous 'King's Men' both performed for the residents and officials at the castle, but we can only speculate at what plays, masques and revels they presented. Undoubtedly, the popular plays of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, John Webster would have been in the repertoire.
Sir Phillip Sidney, who became famous for his courtly poetry during the Elizabethan age, was son of the Lord President of Wales, based at Ludlow Castle. The playwright Phillip Massinger and the poet Thomas Carew, were both relatives of Ludlow Council officials. Lord Herbert of Chirbury, one of the metaphysical poets, was a member of the locally powerful Herbert family.