Lavenham, Suffolk
"There is nothing in Suffolk to compare with the timber-framed houses of Lavenham", said Pevsner. Indeed, the whole village is crammed with them. There are many who claim to dislike this kind of thing, sneering "twee", or "chocolate boxy", and Lavenham is picturesque in a way we have been taught to regard as ridiculous. If we enjoy such places we are automatically on the defensive about it.
You won't find anything quite like this outside England ...and that's the real trouble. It's because they are such a symbol of Englishness that we despise them. The self-hatred of the English, now incorporated into State ideology, is a comparatively recent thing, psychologically absolutely abnormal. It is rooted, I think, in some kind of death-wish. Where will it all end I wonder. Those who live longest will see most.
Lavenham, Suffolk
"There is nothing in Suffolk to compare with the timber-framed houses of Lavenham", said Pevsner. Indeed, the whole village is crammed with them. There are many who claim to dislike this kind of thing, sneering "twee", or "chocolate boxy", and Lavenham is picturesque in a way we have been taught to regard as ridiculous. If we enjoy such places we are automatically on the defensive about it.
You won't find anything quite like this outside England ...and that's the real trouble. It's because they are such a symbol of Englishness that we despise them. The self-hatred of the English, now incorporated into State ideology, is a comparatively recent thing, psychologically absolutely abnormal. It is rooted, I think, in some kind of death-wish. Where will it all end I wonder. Those who live longest will see most.