Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, paramour of Edward II's Queen Isabella and usurper of the young Edward III's kingship, founded a collegiate chantry at Leintwardine and built the Mortimer Chapel at the church of St Mary Magdalene, now known as the Lady Chapel, where prayers could be said for the souls of his family. It was to the chapel that in September and November 1353 Edward III made pilgrimages, laying a cloth of gold at the feet of the statue of the Virgin Mary on the occasion of his September visit.