Lavenham
I had misgivings when my wife said she wanted to go to Lavenham – I thought it would be a crowded tourist trap. Well, maybe we just came on the right day, maybe the rain put people off because it wasn’t very busy at all.
I took so many photos here, it’s hard to whittle them down. My wife’s father’s family came from here, hence one of the reasons to pay it a visit. Lavenham is one on those places that ‘time forgot’. It was once one of the wealthiest places in England as a centre for cloth production in the middle ages.
After the Norman Conquest of 1066 Lavenham was given by the victorious William the Conqueror to one of his relatives, Alberic de Vere. He lived in a castle of course [Hedingham Castle, about 15 miles away], but he built a hunting lodge in the village. De Vere sponsored the growth of Lavenham as a centre for cloth production. Wool was the main fabric used for clothing in Europe through the middle ages, and here in South Suffolk was the most important area for producing woollen cloth in the country. For two centuries the weaving industry in Lavenham prospered, but in the late 16th century Dutch refugees in Colchester began weaving a lighter, cheaper and more fashionable cloth and the woollen trade in Lavenham began to fail.
Most of the buildings in Lavenham today date from the 15th century, many of these were never altered due to the fall of the weaving industry, and nobody could afford the improvements which is our good luck because the town appears very much as it must have looked all those years ago.
Almost all the buildings in the centre of the village are built out of oak frames, infilled with wattle [woven branches] and daub [a mixture of clay, lime, straw and hair]. During the 18th and 19th centuries some had painted plaster or brick fronts added, but if you go inside you can see their massive frames and inglenook fireplaces.
Lavenham
I had misgivings when my wife said she wanted to go to Lavenham – I thought it would be a crowded tourist trap. Well, maybe we just came on the right day, maybe the rain put people off because it wasn’t very busy at all.
I took so many photos here, it’s hard to whittle them down. My wife’s father’s family came from here, hence one of the reasons to pay it a visit. Lavenham is one on those places that ‘time forgot’. It was once one of the wealthiest places in England as a centre for cloth production in the middle ages.
After the Norman Conquest of 1066 Lavenham was given by the victorious William the Conqueror to one of his relatives, Alberic de Vere. He lived in a castle of course [Hedingham Castle, about 15 miles away], but he built a hunting lodge in the village. De Vere sponsored the growth of Lavenham as a centre for cloth production. Wool was the main fabric used for clothing in Europe through the middle ages, and here in South Suffolk was the most important area for producing woollen cloth in the country. For two centuries the weaving industry in Lavenham prospered, but in the late 16th century Dutch refugees in Colchester began weaving a lighter, cheaper and more fashionable cloth and the woollen trade in Lavenham began to fail.
Most of the buildings in Lavenham today date from the 15th century, many of these were never altered due to the fall of the weaving industry, and nobody could afford the improvements which is our good luck because the town appears very much as it must have looked all those years ago.
Almost all the buildings in the centre of the village are built out of oak frames, infilled with wattle [woven branches] and daub [a mixture of clay, lime, straw and hair]. During the 18th and 19th centuries some had painted plaster or brick fronts added, but if you go inside you can see their massive frames and inglenook fireplaces.