Sunday 26 August 2012

Lavenham, Part 3

Back with some more treats from Lavenham

Life seems to be running away with me at present with each day bringing new challenges/visits/studies/outings (including attending 4 modules of Hebrew studies this week) and I note the sign on the wine shop here - "Keep calm and drink wine" I think I prefer the initial challenge of "Keep calm and carry on"



Or a few quiet moments in a tea room


There is so much history in Lavenham and here we see the old Wool Hall on Lady Street
The Grove, the conjectured head  house of Thomas Spring, the Rich Clothier, was where a Roman bath or crypt was discovered in the garden 




We are now walking towards the Market Place where fairs and weekly markets were held here, dating as far back as 1290




The Guildhall seen here has lots of history of it's own so I will save that for another post


Grannie's Attic - an antique shop




An Estate Agents (Realtor for USA visitors)


and Little Hall is the HQ of the Suffolk Preservation Society.
Built in the 15th Century, this medieval house was originally an open hall. In the next century a new brick chimney was added and a floor inserted, thus providing a completely new first floor room.
The left hand side of the house may be 14th century, while the right side was probably added in the 16th century. In the 18th century the hall was divided into tenements, home for 6 families 


Looking down the entrance way of Little Hall
we did not have time to go around it today as it was the day our friends came up to visit




The Market Cross was bequeathed to the town by rich clothier William Jacob in  his will of 1500. The base of the cross is original though the shaft shows the date 1725






Back onto the High Street
Funny how men always stop and look at old cars
as here with this Alvis



The Cock inn


and looking behind us as we walk back up the High Street, a road that was originally a track joining the manors of Overhall and Netherhall. Roman artefacts were found as recent as 2002 during a house renovation
The Greyhound Pub lower down the street and photographed in my last post is where Lois Napoleon is alleged to have stayed on his way to Brettenham Park as a Prisoner of War.



and now continuing our walk along Prentice Street, a purely residential street









We will continue walking down this street in the next post
but now to answer a few questions posed by followers
1. The beams in old cottages are not just external but very thick and extending into the house
2. Often there is a slope to floors, it is where the house has settled. They can be levelled on top of what is already there and some people do this
However I have stayed or visited many places over the years where there is a slightly sloping floor (there was in our holiday cottage this year upstairs) and I find it a strange experience, leaning over a wash basis can feel a bit like being on a plane to me but I am sure people get used to it
Royal Visitors to this village
1275 - HM King Edward I - he was the eldest son of King Henry III
1578 - HM Queen Elizabeth I was said to have passed through 
1928 - Queen Mary visited Lavenham church
1996 - HRH The Prince of Wales visited the church
2005 - HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited The Guildhall and Little Hall
Enough for one post I think but much more to come





11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous pictures.It really is a very beautiful place.

Vee said...

Thank you for answering those questions...very interesting. I have lived in a home built prior to 1840 (a new home by Britain's history) and it had a few sloping floors as well. No beams that extended to the outside, though.

I imagine that finding artifacts means that everything comes to a standstill or perhaps that is just an American thing.

Yes, I prefer the original expression...keep calm and carry on...myself. =D

Gracie Saylor said...

I know that there is auto traffic because cars are in your pictures, but somehow it looks so quiet and calm. Is it as quiet and calm as it looks?
Thanks for taking the time to post and answering questions, too, Barbara. I am enjoying your holiday :)
Gracie

DeniseinVA said...

Hi Barbara, this is a great post and I have thoroughly enjoyed all your photos.

nikkipolani said...

I love all the bright colors interspersed with the more sedate white buildings. And I'm with you on the original "Keep calm and carry on".

Willow said...

SO MUCH history! I'm loving these posts and learning much about English history. Thanks!

Elizabethd said...

A place I would love to visit, one day.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

With all the history there its good you had some time to spend there and see it all. One day would not suffice. I'm glad you added the part about the beams. I wondered about them.

Priscilla said...

I can certainly attest to the warped floors. We actually had 3 layers of floors - one on top of the other. We lived in a 15th C former weavers cottage that had been altered in the Elizabethan era with a story dividing the shop below, from a living apartment above. There were 3 layers of flooring. On top of the first layer was one from the Victorian era, and the third was another modern one. There were lead gas pipes between the top top two layers, from before electricity. There were people in the village who still remembered when the electricity came to Lavenham. They also remembered when they got water to each home. The well in the garden of Blaize House (where we lived first) was the water source for that part of the village, until the council brought in piped water.
The floor sloped at such a sharp angle that I had to have wood blocks cut for two legs of my bed so I wouldn't roll off.
The stair steps up to the flat were so un-even - each one was different. Some were wider, some higher. One doorway was so low I was constantly banging my head - until I covered a piece of foam rubber with velvet cloth and tacked it up where I banged my forehead. No more bruises.
Thanks so much for more pictures of our old home. It is so much fun to see how much some things have changed and how little others haven't.

Michelle-ozark crafter said...

Wonderful pictures! Being raised in a house of all boys and my dad, I love old cars and have startled Jack once or twice when I see one I really like!

HOPE said...

oooh I so wanted to go into the Tea Room! and Grannies Attic!

I love Little Hall...door way.

Always dream of an arched door just like that ...on my cottage!

A mansion in Glory..but I love cottages..perhaps mine will have a similar door!!

Thank you again for the lovely stroll and views of a wonderful..enchanting place!

Hope