Bodenhams has held the corner of Broad Street and King Street since William Bodenham bought the shop in 1860 and started a drapery business with his wife Emma. The Bodenham name has been above the door ever since. Roger and Monika Curry are the present owners; Roger’s carpentry background took the floor through a complete refit from 2012, keeping the bread oven, the oak panelling and the original floorboards. The timber-framed building above the shop dates from 1405.
The shop runs across one ground floor at the corner of Broad Street and King Street. A single trip from the Barbour rail to the lingerie counter to the homeware shelf, with the bread oven and the original floorboards still in place around you.
Two corners of the ground floor turned over to Barbour, Fynch Hatton, Brook Taverner and Bugatti. Failsworth caps and Ashwood Leather satchels on the wall above the trouser rail. Taylor of Old Bond Street at the grooming counter. The kind of menswear floor where a Ludlow customer can find the wax jacket, the brogues and the silk tie on a Saturday morning.
A ladieswear floor that runs from Cream and Masai for the everyday wardrobe to Adini, Fransa and Soya Concept for the next season, with Powder, b.young and Seasalt for the prints. Dresses, knitwear, trousers, hosiery and the Cath Kidston accessories sit on the same floor as the lingerie counter, so the fitting and the outfit happen in the same room.
Sixteen lingerie houses on the counter, fitted in person. Marie Jo and PrimaDonna at the luxury European end. Wacoal, Panache, Fantasie and Elomi for cup-size depth. LingaDore, Gossard and Triumph through the middle. Sloggi, Cottonreal and Pretty Polly for everyday and sleep. STAR Lingerie Awards finalist 2014 and 2015. The bra fitting is by appointment or walk-in.
Three hundred and sixty-six homeware lines across London Ornaments, Dutch Imports, Floralsilk, Light and Living, Chalk, Biggie Best, ARTKO and Satchville. Candles, mirrors, lanterns, mugs, wall art, picture frames and the pet shelf. The garden corner runs through to the summer pots and planters. Half the gift-buying on Broad Street still happens upstairs at Bodenhams.
The Palmers Guild of Ludlow held the four single-storey shops on this corner from 1392. The present timber-framed building, with its black oak frame and lime-plaster infill, went up in 1405. William Bodenham, son of a farmer, left the countryside in 1858 and found work in Ludlow with a High Street milliner; in 1860 he bought the corner shop and started a drapery business with his wife Emma. The shop has passed down directly through the Bodenham family. Roger Curry, with a carpentry background, led the refit from 2012 with his wife Monika, keeping the bread oven, the oak panelling and the original floorboards in place.
One of the oldest stores in Britain, family run on this corner since 1860, in a timber-framed building dating from 1405.
From the About page on bodenhams.co.uk
Three windows onto a Saturday on Broad Street. The frame is fifteenth century. The shelving was put up in 2012.
The current owners. Roger’s carpentry took the floor through a complete refit from 2012, keeping the bread oven, the oak panelling and the original floorboards.
The lingerie counter is the part of the shop a first-time Ludlow visitor would not predict from outside. Sixteen lingerie houses are carried, fitted in person at the counter. Marie Jo and PrimaDonna at the luxury European end, Wacoal, Panache, Fantasie and Elomi for fitting depth across the cup-size range, LingaDore, Gossard and Triumph through the middle, Sloggi, Cottonreal and Pretty Polly for everyday and sleep. The brand list is the working evidence: this is a lingerie destination, not a clothing shop that happens to sell underwear. Bodenhams was a STAR Lingerie Awards finalist in 2014 and again in 2015.
Email arrives on a real inbox we read at the shop. If you are after a bra fitting at the lingerie counter, a Barbour size check for a country jacket, a Cath Kidston gift wrap or a homeware item for the garden room, tell us what you are looking for and we will reply during opening hours. Phone 01584 872 786 for anything urgent.
Click and Collect, the same form.
Online orders can be collected from the shop at 1-2 Broad Street during opening hours. Returns are not free on online orders, in line with the policy on the live site.
The shop sits on the corner of Broad Street and King Street, opposite the Buttercross and a short walk from St Laurence’s Church. Ludlow is a 35-minute drive from Shrewsbury, a 45-minute drive from Hereford, and an hour from Worcester. Castle Square car park is a four-minute walk from the door.
From the front desk, the phone, and the lingerie counter.
The shop is at 1-2 Broad Street, Ludlow, SY8 1NG, on the corner of Broad Street and King Street, opposite the Buttercross and a short walk from St Laurence’s Church. The timber-framed building is the one with the BODENHAMS signage panel above the bay windows. Castle Square car park is a four-minute walk away.
Yes. The present timber-framed building dates from 1405; the four single-storey shops that came before it are recorded with the Palmers Guild of Ludlow from 1392. William Bodenham bought the corner shop in 1860 and started the drapery business with his wife Emma. The shop has passed down through the Bodenham family ever since. Roger and Monika Curry are the current owners.
Yes. The lingerie counter carries sixteen houses: Marie Jo, PrimaDonna, Wacoal, Panache, Fantasie, Elomi, LingaDore, Triumph, Gossard, Sloggi, Cottonreal, Aruelle, Corin, Anita, Pretty Polly and Sloggi swim. Fitting is by appointment or walk-in. We were finalists for the STAR Lingerie Awards in 2014 and 2015.
No to both. The rebuild does not require a finished logo, a brand book, a fixed colour palette or any signed-off direction. We start from what is already in the shop: the Tudor frame, the heraldic red of the signage panel, the lime plaster, the Ludlow stone. We work in iterations on a preview link and revise until you are content. You hold a single round of formal revisions, and the source files are yours on day 60.
Yes. The Shopify store ships across the UK from Ludlow, and Click & Collect is available at 1-2 Broad Street during opening hours. Returns are not free on online orders, in line with the shop policy on the live site. Ring 01584 872 786 for any sizing or stock question during opening hours.
Castle Square car park is a four-minute walk from the shop, with short-stay bays on the square itself for quick collection. The ground-floor entrance is level from Broad Street. The shop is on a single ground floor with the four departments laid out across it. Ring 01584 872 786 in advance for assistance with larger orders or hamper-size lingerie collection.