Lavenham

My friend June would be in Lavenham today as part of a coach trip so we agreed to meet up. June wasn't there until 2:30 I of course was a little earlier LOL

The traditional wander around the church :)

The Guildhall 

Alas no scone of the month but a rather fine fruit one! 

Now regular readers will know that I KEEP saying I must visit the Little Hall but it opens at 1pm and I normally head off to Long Melford but today I was there and went in.

It is a 14th century building which was lovingly restored by the Gayer-Anderson twins in the 1930's. They were avid collectors who made the most important contribution to the Fitzwilliam Museum in the 20th century (according to the Fitzwilliam!) 

Apparently in the 1520's tax records show Lavenham was the 12th richest "town" in England. This was due to Lavenham Blue (the blue comes from the woad plant)

Apparently Flemish weavers introduced new weaves and colours and the Lavenham weavers seemed to have done nothing and by 1568 tax records show Lavenham to be the 79th richest ..... in Suffolk. 

That fall in income explains why Lavenham is the quintessential medieval town.

This is a replica of the Gayer-Anderson cat in the British Museum which is "among the very finest surviving from ancient Egypt, and justly regarded as one of the British Museum's greatest masterpieces." According to the curator for the Egyptian sculpture in the British Museum. 

The Gayer-Andersons had an amazing collection! 

Amusingly the Hall was offered to the trust but they declined and Historic Suffolk Manage it now. The Little Hall is a fabulous place and makes Lavenham an even more must place visit.