Toponymy
The placename "Lodelowe" (Welsh: Llwydlo) was in use for this site before 1138 and comes from the Old English "hlud-hlaw". At the time this section of the River Teme contained rapids, and so the hlud of Ludlow came from "the loud waters", while hlaw meant hill. Thus Ludlow meant a place on a hill by a loud river. Some time around the 12th century weirs were added along the river, taming these rapid flows. Later in the same century the larger outer bailey was added to the castle.
Though the settlement became known as Ludlow, Fouke le Fitz Waryn a 13th-century poem states that it was called Dinham "for a very long time". The western part of the town immediately south of the castle retains this name, and many writers assume it is Saxon in origin, and the suffix -ham occurs in Shropshire. Another alternative is that the town took its name from Josce de Dinan who controlled the town's castle in the 12th century.
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