Lavenham. Timbered jewel.

[mossie]

I recently visited Lavenham, held up as THE medieval small town of this area and very much on the tourist trail. Here is the Guildhall, not classic black and white as one might expect, but coloured as the the first Elizabethians might have done



Here perhaps is a more typical example, note that, in common with most, the old thatch roof has been replaced 2 or 3 hundred years ago. The upgrading also appears to have extended indoors in an attempt to level the place up.





Not all the old property is that style,18th century brickwork can be tidy



Here is a general shot showing how the styles mix



Another example, showing how the builder took advantage of building on a hill



Here is an old "hall house" which unusually has not been extended but the original simple frame is obvious



Some of course rely on support from their neighbours



This is The Swan, a very well known pub cum upmarket hotel. One of the bars is called "the Airmens bar", there was a wartime airfield a few mies away which housed an American bomber group during the war. There is one wall which was signed by many of them and which is now preserved in their memory



I'll have a rest, I expect you need one as well, but I'll be back!

[mossie]

Lavenham was a very rich wool town and has a magnificent church to show off



Some excellent wood work as well



and a baby burial with a brass, must have been sorely missed



There are some wonderful gravestones in the nave



Pretty windows



Fancy memorials



But some of the gravestones out in the churchyard are leaning in sympathy with the houses



Incidentally I had coffee in one of the old houses up the hill and learnt that it was built in 1395, so perhaps they can be excused from showing their age



Of course there are plenty of opportunities to spend



As in any good town no shortage of pubs



But my wife preferred to have lunch at the Angel



Just realised I didn't show you the old flyers signatures from the Swan



If you fancy a holiday there are places available. I have no knowledge or connection, but this card was in a window in the market place

[Deleted]

Everything is so delightfully crooked, I love it! I was almost disappointed not to see the coffee slopping off one side of the cup. I suppose that some of the floors have been "rectified" though, or I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in the buildings in your second photo and a few of the others.

[htmb]

What a picturesque place, Mossie. Love the crooked buildings. I'd like to go inside one, but I'm not sure how long I could stay.

[nycgirl]

Some of these look very precarious, especially that leaning orange one. It's amazing these buildings are in livable condition, though, considering how old they are. I'm always impressed to see anything that pre-dates the 20th century around here.

[cheerypeabrain]

Oooh....that looks right up my street. We'll have to go visit...great pics Mossie.

[mossie]

Cheery, you could easily spend a weekend or longer in the area. Dedham, Bury St Edmunds and Colchester are not far away.

Here is another slightly different timber building style to whet your appetite

[mossie]

And here is the grandly named "The Great House" at the top of the market square. This is a fancy French restaurant cum hotel. Again I have no recent experience or connection www.greathouse.co.uk

[Deleted]

You mean they don't run out in the street when you go by and say "Oh, so nice to see you again, Monsieur Mossie! Please come in for a complimentary feast!" ?

[mich64]

Lovely Mossie. What does the term "hall house" mean? I can see that it is a long and narrow structure, is it because it is built on a half lot or previously a laneway or alley?

The battenburg lace table cloth on your table for coffee is beautifully detailed.

[mossie]

Mich, hall house is a generic type of house which was the first house type to develop in Western Europe. In the good old days the lords and ladies lived in castles and suitable strongholds with a range of buildings clustered together in a defensible situation so that their servants could live with them and cater for their needs. The rest of the population lived in rough shacks. The hall house was produced as little more than a rectangular timber framed shed, with wattle and daub, or rough infilling for walls and a thatched roof. There was generally a central fire with the smoke exiting through a hole in the roof and the place had a door in the middle of each side, so ventilating the place. One end would be devoted to living and the other to cooking and storage.
Later an upper storey was added for sleeping and safety. The lower floor was sometimes open for sheltering the animals The modern style of house layout grew from that. As a side issue I well remember staying on an airfield in Libya which had been built by the Italians before the war. There were conventional two storey houses which had housed families but which had been taken over by the locals. All doors and windows complete with frames had vanished downstairs into the cooking fire. The families lived upstairs and their livestock downstairs.
House window styles evolved quickly. In my second snap, when the house was upgraded a newer window style was inserted, replacing and sometimes supplementing the original style which is evident in snap No.5.
The history of building development is beyond me, needs a university course, but details like those can help in dating a building. There are many traps for the unwary as shown by those examples because people always like to update their property, A trend which continues today, known as "keeping up with the Joneses"

[mich64]

Thank you for answering my question Mossie, the answer is quite fascinating.

Whenever possible, I watch television programs on homes (properties) for sale or do it yourself builders programs from the U.K. or Europe as I not only learn the how to but some of the history of building techniques. I think many Westerners are intrigued by European architecture as we have nothing here to compare it too.

My husband explained the term "keeping up with the Joneses". We discovered, and had to correct, some of those type of issues in our home after we purchased as well.

[bixaorellana]

Aaagh, Mossie -- you have kindled in me a mania to go visit there! I flew in and out of Heathrow and it killed me not to be able to see the English countryside -- I had my face mashed to the plane window, peering through the clouds.

It seems all the wonky houses you show are being used &/or lived in. Are they stable? Obviously they've stood up all these centuries, but what keeps them from toppling?

[mossie]

Come on in Bixa, I think if you stay in London it is easy to pick up a tour that would visit Lavenham. You would most likely know more than me about the place if you did that.

The wonky houses are lived in and are as stable as they were built 500 years ago. I lived my early teenage years in a house of that vintage and we could let marbles roll down the hall easily, there was a fall of about 5 inches from top to bottom.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks, Mossie. I'm going to have to take you up on that!

[Deleted]

I always wondered if Mossie had lost his marbles.

[mossie]

Yes K, years ago. Now daft as a brush and happy as Larry. (Whoever he was)