The Guildhall - Lavenham Part 6

Away from generally wandering around Lavenham and homing in on some places of interest, the first being The Guildhall.
Built about 1530, it is one of four guildhalls that once existed in Lavenham. The Guildhall and the two adjoining buildings together form a section of an  early Tudor street.  

The building is now owned by The National Trust and the tearoom at one end is a rare example of a Tudor shop, goods being traded through the two arched windows, and the Guildhall itself demonstrates the skill of the late mediaeval carpenters and wood carvers.

The primary objects of Lavenham gilds were religious - they were not trade associations. The gilds were dissolved at the Reformation. During Queen Mary's reign, in 1555, prisoners were housed in the building and from 1596 to the late 1600s it was the Town Hall, afterwards becoming a prison which closed in 1787. Later, it served as a workhouse, an almshouse and, in  the 19th century, a wool store.

Let's go inside

and first down  into the cellars

then to the top floor to see a little of life in the past

looking out onto the Market Place

then out into the garden at the back

here we see remnants of the prison

and here the mortuary with funeral cart

(still more to come)