 Furthermore, the lack of development to the south and west allows for the town's historic setting (and particularly that of the castle) by the Teme and the neighbouring countryside to be readily appreciated in the modern day.M.R.G.Conzen remarked of Ludlow "Its composite medieval town plan and a history of eight and a half centuries with several periods of considerable importance have endowed its Old Town with an historically well-stratified and richly textured landscape."