Lavenham - A medieval wool town
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Half-timbered buildings in Lavenham |
Lavenham is possibly the
prettiest village in Suffolk. Situated in the Stour valley, it is a
marvelously preserved medieval wool town, with more than 300 listed
buildings. Lavenham has existed since Roman times, and was mentioned in
the Domesday Book.
The Spring family were persuaded
by John de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, to build a church tower in
thanksgiving for the victory at the Battle of Bosworth (1485). He donated
the porch where two boars are to be found carved in stone. They are
actually a pun on his family name, verres being Latin for boar.
The church was completed in 1525 and is a perfect example of Late
Perpendicular architecture and has suffered little change since then.
The early sixteenth-century
Guildhall is one of the finest half-timbered buildings in the country.
After the decline in Lavenham's importance, it became a prison, and later
a workhouse and an almshouse. Beautifully restored, it is now a local
history museum.
Walking around this lovely
village you can see marvelous buildings of all descriptions, some of the
oldest of which are weavers' cottages in Water Street. There are ancient
inns, crooked houses, thatched cottages painted the traditional Suffolk
pink, thought to have been whitewash tinted with pig's blood, and
higgledy-piggledy roofs. In the late seventeenth century the wool trade
moved away from here, but it left behind a wonderful legacy for us to see
today.
Visit Lavenham and check out the
Guildhall and discover local history at its best. Note that entrance fees
are payable at most of the local museums.
