Lavenham, Suffolk

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• published: 11 Apr 2011
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SEE MY HISTORY SITE ON FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/pages/historysite Lavenham is an outstanding medieval village in Suffolk. Once one of the top 20 most wealthy towns in England, now it is a wonderful tourist destination! Before the Norman Conquest of England, the manor of Lavenham had been held by the thegn Ulwin or Wulwine. In 1086 the estate was in the possession of Aubrey de Vere I, ancestor of the Earls of Oxford. He had already had a vineyard 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 century, with the town's blue broadcloth being an export of note. During the 16th century Lavenham industry was badly affected by Dutch refugees settled in Colchester who produced cloth that was cheaper and lighter than Lavenham's, and also more fashionable. The most successful of the cloth making families were the Springs. The town's wealth can be seen in the lavishly constructed parish church of St Peter and St Paul which stands on a hill top at the end of the main high street. The church is excessively large for the size of the village and with a tower standing 43 m high it lays claim to being the highest village church tower in Britain. The church is renowned for its Late-Gothic chantries and screens. Other impressive 'Wool Churches' nearby include Holy Trinity church in nearby Long Melford. During the reign of Henry VIII, Lavenham was the scene of serious resistance to Wolsey's 'Amicable Grant', a tax being raised in England to pay for war with France. However, it was being done so without the consent of parliament. In 1525, 10,000 men from Lavenham and the surrounding villages took part in a serious uprising which threatened to spread to the nearby counties of Essex and Cambridgeshire. However, the revolt was suppressed for the King by the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, with the aid of local families. The Guildhall of the wool guild of Corpus Christi stands in the centre of the village overlooking the market square. Established in 1529, most of the timber framed building seen today was constructed in the 17th century and is now maintained by The National Trust. One well-known example is the Crooked House, an orange building on High Street which now serves as an art gallery. In the late eighteenth century, the village was home to poet Jane Taylor, and it was while living in Shilling Street that she wrote the poem The Star, from which the lyrics for the nursery rhyme Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are taken. Like many East Anglian settlements, Lavenham was home to an American Air Force base during World War II. USAAF Station 137 was manned by the US Army Air Force 487th Bombardment Group between 1944 and 1945. The airfield has since been returned to arable farmland, though some evidence of its structures and buildings remains. My channel on you tube : http://www.youtube.com/alanheath is one of the most prolific from Poland. I have produced around 1,800 original films, most in English. My big interest in life is travel and history but I have also placed films on other subjects. Please feel free to ask questions in the public area or to comment on things you disagree with. Sometimes there are mistakes because I speak without preparation. If I see the mistakes myself, I make this clear in the text. Please also leave a star rating! There are a number of films here on the packaging industry. This is because I am the publisher of Central and Eastern European Packaging -- http://www.ceepackaging.com - the international platform for the packaging industry in this region focusing on the latest innovations, trends, design, branding, legislation and environmental issues with in-depth profiles of major industry achievers. Most people may think packaging pretty boring but it possibly effects your life more than you really imagine! Central and Eastern European Packaging examines the packaging industry throughout this region, but in particular in the largest regional economies which are Russia, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Austria. That is not to say that the other countries are forgotten, they are not, but obviously there is less going on. However the fact that there are so many travel related films here is not from holidays but from business trips attending trade fairs around the region. Every packaging trade fair is a new excuse to make another film!