Lavenham, "the best preserved medieval village in the country".
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The story of Lavenham , is the story of a very prosperous and thriving medieval town that peaked in the 1520s and then suffered a major economic decline, arresting virtually all building development and modernisation. This left numerous stunning, but unaltered, medieval timber framed houses for us to enjoy during a gentle stroll through the village. Houses in Lavenham could adorn countless boxes of chocolates and calendars.
Discover Lavenham
Believe it or not, these are genuine, high street houses, not from some Disney characters in a theme park! Obviously, the builder did not believe in using a “set square”!
What is the story of Lavenham?
It is the story of Lavenham’s prosperity and its decline. In 1348, the Black Death hit England and in many areas nearly half the population died! As a consequence of this depopulation, farming began to switch from the labour intensive arable farming to sheep farming which required far fewer labourers. Soon wool was being produced and sold in huge quantities both in England and to European markets. In Lavenham there began to flourish a dyeing, spinning and weaving industry. In particular, Lavenham became noted for its quality blue cloth. With their newly acquired wealth, clothiers built the beautiful timber framed cottages that we see today. At its height, about 30 clothiers lived in Lavenham, employing dozens of labourers spinning, dyeing and weaving.
Spinning wheels in the Guild Hall
Weaving loom
The fleeces providing the wool was bought in from all over England and the Welsh borders.Surprisingly, sheep reared locally were noted for their meat , not their wool. One of the guides made the point that if the meat is good, the fleece is invariably not of such a high standard. Before the fleece could be turned into yarn or thread, it had to be dyed blue using wode. “Lavenham Blue” cloth became in great demand all over England and Europe with fortunes being made in the early Tudor period. Apparently, the spinning was often done by young unmarried women who had time to turn the fleece strands into yarn and hence, today, we still use the word “spinster” as the title for a young, unmarried women.
Unfortunately, for the people of Lavenham, their “bubble”burst in the mid 1500s. By then, fashion had changed, moving away from Lavenham Blue cloth to patterned cloth with numerous colours. Added to that, wool was not alone and there was now competition from other textiles such as silk and worsted. Lastly, skilful weavers had fled from Flanders to Norwich in this period and they brought with them new patterned cloth making techniques to rival Lavenham. All of this competition led to Lavenham’s demise and buildings being frozen in time. Money had run out to replace or modernise the houses of Lavenham and hence, we see them today as people did 400 years ago, albeit with cars moving around the streets. Even houses that appear slightly younger have sometimes got a secret to tell with a stucco or brick front simply built across the front of a 16th century timber building!
The Guildhall of Corpus Christi
Lavenham’s Guildhall is a “must see” medieval building .Stand outside and marvel at the majesty of such a place and its craftsmanship. Have a look at the carving oil the right hand corner and around the entrance. Notice that the wooden beams are whitish in colour as was the tradition when it was built and not the regular black colour contrasting with the white lath and plaster walls as seen in calendars etc.
What was a gild?
Lavenham was so prosperous that it had five gilds with four gild halls. The guild that built this guildhall was basically a saving/pension type fund paid into by regular savings and when a member died money from the savings pot would be used to pay for prayers for the soul of the member whilst it was in “purgatory”. To get to heaven a person had to be good, do good deeds and when they died have numerous prayers made for them whilst their soul was being judged. No-one was ever thought to be totally good and so needed these prayers said to ensure the opening of the gates to heaven. Paying a group of monks at a monastery or abbey to pray for someone’s soul six times a day for several weeks was an expensive right at the point when the person being dead could no longer earn more money and hence this kind of savings scheme meant that money would be available for prayer when the time came. Pictures of hell, in what were called “Doom Paintings”, were very scary and seen every Sunday whilst people were in church. People believed that they were only on earth for a very short time and that there must be more to existence than just having a short life. Having been brought up with convincing scenes of Heaven and Hell, nobody wanted to risk going to spend eternity isuffering great pain in Hell. Guilds, you might say, were mutual insurance organisations that facilitated going to Heaven. The hall would be used as a general meeting place for its wealthy members.
The meeting hall
Note medicinal substances kept in the green jars on the right
Have a close look at and through the beautiful windows
Look out for a “little gem” to be discovered in the Guildhall, Lavenham.
This mark can be seen just above the fireplace in the upstairs room. It is believed to be a daisy wheel carved in the 1600s to prevent evil spirits from entering. If you have read our blog on Colchester Museum, you will know that East Anglia had strong beliefs in the existence of witchcraft and in 1642, the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins went all over East Anglia searching out over 100 witches!
As time went on the Guildhall was used for several things, they are so sad that you get the impression that this is the kind of place that Charles Dickens wrote about.
A Bridewell
Awful stories come from the period 1655-1787 when the Guildhall was used as a Bridewell. Here local paupers convicted of petty crimes were sent to be punished and reformed. On the walls there are stories of some of the inmates and their punishments.The aim was to give the accused a short, sharp, shock and teach them the benefits of hard work and not to return to their old ways of idleness and petty crime!
When two inmates escaped by punching through a lath and plaster wall, the man in charge of the brideswell was instructed to put the thumbs of the remaining inmates in thumbscrews prevent anymore from escaping!
Note the stocks on the right hand side.
You can discover loads more from reading the information boards.
One of the tasks the bridewell inmates had to do was to “pick Oakhum”
This is where inmates tease the fibres out from old pieces of rope used on ships. The job was painful on the fingers and very monotonous. The fibres were then sold to shipbuilders who mixed them with tar and squashed them in gaps between the planks that made up the sides and bottoms of ships to make them watertight.
A Workhouse
From 1655-1834 when the “Poor Law” was reformed, the Guildhall was also used as a “Wokhouse”. To understand what it must have been like think Oliver Twist, the book and much later films, written by Charles Dickens.
Lavenham and Harry Potter
See Harry Potter’s front door, probably the most photographed front door in the country!
Below you can see The De Vere House, now often known as the Harry Potter House.It was the setting for Harry’s family home on Godric Hollow. It featured in the book and movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One”. The front door is one of the most frequently photographed front doors in the UK. Sadly, none of the actors actually came to the house, footage of it was used as a backdrop for the actors who performed in a studio.
Built by John De Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, from one of the richest and the biggest landowning families in the country. It was probably visited by the first Tudor monarch, King Henry VII in 1498 whilst participating in hunting and was the place where the sister and younger brother of Charles II were held under house arrest two years after their father was executed!
Look out for “pargeting”.
Lavenham has several examples of pargeting, which is where the wet plaster between the timbers is stamped or moulded, leaving a symbol or pattern for all to admire. Pargeting can be found all over Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk where they are called examples of “pinking”.
See if you can find these examples of pargeting.
If you have time pop into the Church of St Peter and Paul
This large church illustrates the prosperity of Lavenham at the time when it was at its richest and although a church has existed on this site since Anglo-Saxon times, its present design was completed in the 1520s. The huge tower alone, took 40 years to complete and can be seen for miles around. Inside the church have a look at the medieval stall which, when lifted, will reveal some delightful misericords.The two principal donors who paid for the construction were the 13th Earl of Oxford from the rich, landowning De Vere family and clothier, Thomas Spring. To remind everyone that the De Vere family were keen christians and powerful, their emblem, the star, surrounds the top of the tower. Not to be outdone, Thomas Spring wanted his god and everyone else to know that he financed the church by having 32 copies of his emblem all over the outside walls! You can also find the cross keys representing St Peter and the Tudor Rose.
See if you can find these emblems and coats of arms on the church walls
The coat of arms of Thomas Spring III and the cross keys of St Peter
The merchant’s mark or emblem of Thomas Spring and the five pointed star of the Earls of Oxford
Essential information.
Nearly all of the houses in Lavenham are still lived in and so are not open to the public. However, they can be admired, politely, from the outside.
There are some lovely lunch and ‘afternoon tea’ establishments - we had a wonderful cream tea at ‘Sweet Meats’ in Lavenham with freshly baked and still warm fruit scones! They also offered tempting lunch menus and ice creams. The ambience is tranquil with the gentle sounds of jazz music in the background. We loved it! This little gem can be on Water Street near the junction with the main road through Lavenham. (This is not a sponsored plug)
Getting to Lavenham
A bus service is run by a company called Chambers between Colchester and Bury St Edmunds from Mondays to Saturdays and there are two stops in Lavenham. Website www. chambersbus.co.uk
Sadly the train station at Lavenham closed down nearly 60 years ago and so the best way is by car.
By car; the major roads are the B1115 (off the A134) from Sudbury to Lavenham and A1141 from Bury St Edmunds and from Hadleigh.
Parking; there is a car park without tickets but politely asks for voluntary contributions. It is just beyond the Cockhorse Inn if you are coming from the south west.
NOTE; Lavenham becomes very popular in the summer months so arrive early! Things calm down a lot from September when the weather can still be good.
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