Lavenham is a village,

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

and electoral ward in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

, Little Hall, 15th-century church, half-timbered medieval cottages and circular walks. In the medieval period it was among the twenty wealthiest settlements in England.

History

Before the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

, the manor of Lavenham had been held by the

thegn In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there ...

Ulwin or Wulwine. In 1086 the estate was in the possession of

Aubrey de Vere I Aubrey (Albericus) de Vere (died circa 1112-1113) was a tenant-in-chief in England of William the Conqueror in 1086, as well as a tenant of Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances and of Count Alan, lord of Richmond. A much later source named h ...

, ancestor of the

Earls of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 170 ...

. He had already had a

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

planted there. The Vere family continued to hold the estate until 1604, when it was sold to Sir Thomas Skinner. Lavenham prospered from the wool trade in the 15th and 16th centuries, with the town's blue broadcloth being an export of note. By the late 15th century, the town was among the richest in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

, paying more in taxation than considerably larger towns such as

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. Several merchant families emerged, the most successful of which was the

Spring family The Spring family is a Suffolk gentry family that has been involved in the politics and economy of East Anglia since the 15th century, as well as holding large estates in Ireland from the 16th century.Joseph Jackson Howard, ‘Spring’, ‘’ ...

. The town's prosperity at this time can be seen in the lavishly constructed

wool church A wool church is an English church financed primarily by donations from rich merchants and farmers who had benefitted from the medieval wool trade, hoping to ensure a place in heaven due to their largesse. Wool churches are common in the Cotswold ...

of St Peter and St Paul, which stands on a hill at the top end of the main high street. The church, completed in 1525, is excessively large for the size of the village and with a tower standing 138 feet (42 m) high it lays claim to being the highest village church tower in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. Other buildings also demonstrate the town's medieval wealth.

Lavenham Wool Hall Lavenham Wool Hall, also known as the Swan Hotel, is a timber framed building on Lady Street in Lavenham, Suffolk, England. Dating from the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, it has been protected since 1958 as a listed building ( Grade I). Histo ...

was completed in 1464. The Guildhall of the catholic guild of Corpus Christi was built in 1529 and stands in the centre of the village overlooking the market square. When visiting the town in 1487, Henry VII fined several Lavenham families for displaying too much wealth. However, during the 16th century Lavenham's industry was badly affected by

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

refugees settled in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

, who produced cloth that was cheaper and lighter than Lavenham's, and also more fashionable. Cheaper imports from Europe also aided the settlement's decline, and by 1600 it had lost its reputation as a major trading town. This sudden and dramatic change to the town's fortune is the principal reason for so many medieval and Tudor buildings remaining unmodified in Lavenham, as subsequent generations of citizens did not have the wealth required to rebuild in the latest styles. The Little Hall is a late 14th-century hall house on the main square. First built in the 1390s as a family house and workplace, it was enlarged and modernised in the mid-1550s, and greatly extended later. By the 1700s it was home to six families. It was restored in the 1920s/30s. In the 1960s and 70s it was an outpost of Kingston (Surrey) College of Art. In 1975 Surrey County Council offered it to the Suffolk Building Preservation Trust, who restored it. It now contains the Gayer-Anderson collection of pictures and artefacts, including a copy of the Gayer-Anderson cat, and operates as a museum. During the reign of Henry VIII, Lavenham was the scene of serious resistance to Wolsey's ‘

Amicable Grant The Amicable Grant was a tax imposed on England in 1525 by the Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey. Called at the time "a benevolence", it was essentially a forced loan, a levy of between one sixth and one tenth on the goods of the laity and on one-th ...

’, a tax being raised in England to pay for war with France. However, this was happening without the consent of parliament. In 1525, 10,000 men from Lavenham and the surrounding villages took part in a serious uprising that threatened to spread to the nearby counties of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

and

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

. However, the revolt was suppressed for the King by the Dukes of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and Suffolk, with the aid of local families.

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

visited the town during a Royal Progress of East Anglia in 1578. Like most of East Anglia, Lavenham was staunchly Parliamentarian throughout the

Civil Wars A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

of the 1640s. Most local landowners, such as Sir Nathaniel Barnardiston, Sir Philip Parker and Sir William Spring, were strong advocates of the Parliamentarian cause. There is no record of the town ever being directly involved in the conflict, although the townspeople did provide a troop of soldiers to aid in Parliament's

Siege of Colchester The siege of Colchester occurred in the summer of 1648 when the English Civil War reignited in several areas of Britain. Colchester found itself in the thick of the unrest when a Royalist army on its way through East Anglia to raise suppo ...

in 1648. A grammar school opened in the town in 1647. The settlement was struck by plague in 1666 and 1699. Small pox struck in 1712 and 1713, killing over one in six of Lavenham's residents. In the late 18th century, the village was home to poet Jane Taylor, and it may have been while living in Shilling Street that she wrote the poem ''The Star'', from which the lyrics for the nursery rhyme ''

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English lullaby. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor, "The Star". The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in '' Rhymes for the Nursery ...

'' are taken.

and Ongar, both in Essex, also have claims to be the site of composition of the poem. Like many East Anglian settlements, Lavenham was home to an airfield in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

II – Air Force Station Lavenham, an

American Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

airfield.

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Station 137 was manned by the US Army Air Force 487th Bombardment Group between 1944 and 1945. The

airfield An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for pub ...

, actually located a few miles away in Alpheton, has since been returned to arable farmland, though some evidence of its structures and buildings remains, including the control tower. In the 1960s, a new area of council housing was built in the north of the village, centred on Spring Street, Spring Close and Spring Lane. In 1980 the marijuana smuggler

Howard Marks Dennis Howard Marks (13 August 1945 – 10 April 2016) was a Welsh drug smuggler and author who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases. At his peak he claimed to have been smuggling consignmen ...

was arrested in the bar of the Swan Hotel.

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

filmed their experimental film '' Apotheosis'' with a hot-air balloon in Lavenham's Market Place in December 1969.

Geography

The village is around five miles northeast of the town of Sudbury. Situated in a relatively hilly area, Lavenham is on a ridge on the western bank of the River Brett. The ridge is intersected by two small valleys, breaking it into three parts; the church is located atop the southernmost section, the marketplace on the central part, while the northernmost section is topped by the remains of a

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...

. The southernmost valley contains a brook running between the pond at Lavenham Hall and the River Brett, though it was covered by a culvert 500 years ago, and Water Street built over the top. There have been attempts to give the culverts

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

status as a "rare early example of municipal plumbing". The northernmost valley also contains a small stream as well as being the former route of the abandoned railway line.

Transport

Lavenham is on the A1141, the main road between Hadleigh and Bury St Edmunds. HGV traffic has been an issue for the village's narrow streets. The village formerly had a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

on the Long Melford–Bury St Edmunds branch line, which was opened on 9 August 1865. There were plans for the Hadleigh branch line to be extended to Lavenham, but they never came to fruition. The line was an important goods route during the

and was guarded by numerous Type 22 pillboxes, most of which are still visible in the surrounding farmland. The railway station was closed to passengers on 10 April 1961, with a goods service surviving until April 1965. Today the disused line is used as a public footpath and is a designated

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

Education

The village is served by Lavenham Community Primary School, which currently caters for pupils aged 5–11. The school feeds into Thomas Gainsborough School.

Demography

Historical population

Notable residents

* Richard of Lavenham (fl. 1380), an English Carmelite, known as a scholastic philosopher * Thomas Cooke (unknown, but in Lavenham – 1478), an English merchant and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

Thomas Spring of Lavenham Thomas Spring (c. 1474 – 1523), (''alias'' Thomas Spring III or The Rich Clothier), of Lavenham in Suffolk, was an English cloth merchant.Phil W Kaufman, ''American Traces in Anglian Places'' (Lulu.com), 19. He consolidated his father's bu ...

(ca.1474 – 1523), an English cloth merchant, buried in Lavenham * John Spring of Lavenham (unknown – 1547), an English merchant and politician * Thomas Spring of Castlemaine (unknown, but in Lavenham – 1597), an English Protestant soldier and landowner * William Spring of Lavenham (unknown – 1599), an English politician and landowner. * George Ruggle (1575–1622), author of ''Ignoramus'', a college farce; brought up in Lavenham * William Gurnall (1616–1679), puritan rector of Lavenham church (1644–1679), author of ''The Christian in Complete Armour'' * Peregrine Branwhite (1745 in Lavenham – ca.1795), an English poet * Isaac Taylor (1759–1829), an English engraver and writer of books for the young, lived in Lavenham * William Blair (1766 in Lavenham – 1822), an English surgeon, interested in ciphers and stenography * Jane Taylor (1783–1824), an English poet and novelist, wrote the words to the song ''

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English lullaby. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor, "The Star". The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in '' Rhymes for the Nurser ...

'', lived in Lavenham * Sir William Shelford KCMG (1834 in Lavenham – 1905), an English civil engineer *

Robert Langton Douglas Robert Langton Douglas (1864–1951) was a British art critic, lecturer, and author, and director of the National Gallery of Ireland. Biography Douglas was born in Davenham, Cheshire, and educated at New College, Oxford, New College, University o ...

(1864 in Lavenham – 1951), a British art critic, lecturer and author * Sir Francis Meynell (1891–1975), a British poet and printer at The Nonesuch Press, lived in Lavenham. * Sir

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by th ...

CBE (1909–1995), an English poet, novelist and essayist * Sir Clive Rose GCMG (1921–2019), a British diplomat, retired to Lavenham * Roy Turner Durrant (1925 in Lavenham – 1998), an English abstract artist * Eamon Boland (born 1947), an English actor

Lavenham in popular culture

Parts of Market Square were included in the 1968

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

film ''

Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins ( 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament, a ...

''. The witch burning scenes were staged in front of the Guildhall. In 1969 some filming was done in Lavenham for '' The Thirteen Chairs'', also known as ''Twelve Plus One''. This was actress Sharon Tate's last movie before her murder. In 1971, part of '' The Canterbury Tales'' were recorded here, with the village representing medieval London. The 1975 Stanley Kubrick film '' Barry Lyndon'' included the Guildhall. In 1980, some sequences in the TV advertisement for the launch of the new

Austin Metro The Metro is a supermini car, later a city car that was produced by British Leyland (BL) and, later, the Rover Group from 1980 to 1998. It was launched in 1980 as the Austin mini Metro. It was intended to complement and eventually replace the ...

were filmed in the village, primarily on the market square, as well as in neighbouring Kersey. In 1986, the film ''

Playing Away Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and riv ...

'', about a visiting cricket team from Brixton, was also filmed in the village. The Market Square is the setting of

and

's 1970 film ''Apotheosis''. In 2010, under conditions of strict secrecy, scenes from ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow ...

'' were filmed there. The village's De Vere House represented sections of Godric's Hollow, as backgrounds, since the cast members did not actually visit Lavenham. Lavenham is also the setting for many scenes in the mid-1990s BBC TV drama '' Lovejoy''. An episode aired in December 1994, was titled "Last Tango in Lavenham". Other productions that have used Lavenham as a location include ''Lowland Village'' a 1943

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

release and an episode of '' Treasure Hunt'' from February 1988. One legend suggests that the distorted, or "crooked", appearance of many of the town's buildings inspired the poem " A Crooked Little Man". One discussion of the town provides these specifics as to the reason the houses are crooked.

The town grew so fast that many of the houses were built in haste with green timber. As the wood dried, the timbers warped causing the houses to bend at unexpected angles. Unfortunately, Lavenham's good times didn't last long. When Dutch refugees settled in Colchester began producing cloth that was cheaper, lighter and more fashionable than Lavenham's, the town's cloth industry went bust. By the time the dried timber started twisting, Lavenham's families had lost its wealth and with no money to rebuild their homes, Lavenham’s crooked houses were left as they were.

The best-known crooked house, at 7 High Street (defined as 11 Hall Road in some reviews), was built in the 14th century as part of a Hall House. It has been Grade II listed since 1958 as part of 7–9 High Street. The listing description indicates that 7–9 High Street were divided into two tenements prior to 1958, and that the orange building (originally "the south cross wing") was "very much altered in the C18 and C19" and was "restored with the timber-framing exposed". One report indicates that 7 High Street was originally the medieval hall's servants' quarters. In 2005 and for some time after, the building was an art gallery. The property began operating as tea rooms in 2013 but the business was expected to close after December 2019. In February 2020, the building was listed for sale; the description indicated that a two-bedroom residential flat occupies the upper floor.

Lavenham pictures

File:St Peter and St Paul, Lavenham 01.jpg, St Peter and St Paul's Church, Lavenham File:97 High St, Lavenham, Suffolk.jpg, 97 High St File:The Old Wool Hall - Lavenham - geograph.org.uk - 1546706.jpg,

, built in 1464 File:Prentice Street, Lavenham - geograph.org.uk - 865569.jpg, Prentice Street, Lavenham File:Lavenham High Street - geograph.org.uk - 865562.jpg, High Street, Lavenham

References

External links

Discover Lavenham, village web site

* ttp://lavenham.onesuffolk.net/ Parish council website
Lavenham Village Hall website
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Babergh District