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The Plough and Sail at Snape
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| Lavenham |
Lavenham is probably the most beautiful town in Suffolk if not
England. Time really has stood still here with the preserved
timber framed buildings exactly as they were in the 14th & 15th
centuries.
Lavenham Guildhall
The town's history goes back a very long way with Anglo-Saxon,
Norman and Roman connections all being traced to the town.
The town's wealth and fame came from it's wool connection, at
the peak of it's fame the town was richer than both York and
Lincoln. In the 14th Century Lavenham and the surrounding villages
were instrumental in England's weaving industry. Lavenham was
famous for its blue broadcloth which was made from dyed wool
rather than weaving the cloth and then dyeing it.
 The
limewashed silver-grey building that is Lavenham's Guildhall
dates from around 1529 and dominates the small market square.
Built by the Guild of Corpus Christi, one of three guilds founded
in Lavenham to regulate the wool trade, look for the rampant
lions on the doorpost, they were the Guild's emblem. The Guild
was dissolved by Henry VIII, who disapproved of its religious
associations.
Throughout the years the building was used as a town hall, a
prison, a workhouse and wool store. In the Second World War
was a "Welcome Club" for American servicemen. In 1951 the Guildhall
was given to the National Trust, today a museum on Lavenham
and the wool trade is housed within it.
Above the 14th Century Little
Hall |
Little Hall
also stands on the market place, a 14th Century Hall House
built originally as a family home and workplace. Throughout
the years it was improved, enlarged and modernised so
that by the 1700s it could house six families. during
the Second World War, it housed evacuees, who painted
their names on the chest of drawers.
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The church (pictured left)
is strangely not in the village centre but on the outskirts
and equally well-worth a look with some fascinating windows
telling the history of local families and local artefacts.
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| How to get there |
A1141 off the A134 from
Bury St Edmunds or Sudbury, A1141 from Hadleigh.
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