Lavenham

[edit] The village is around five miles northeast of the town of Sudbury. Situated in a relatively hilly area, Lavenham is on a ridge on the western bank of the River Brett. The ridge is intersected by two small valleys, breaking it into three parts; the church is located atop the southernmost section, the marketplace on the central part, and the northernmost section is topped by the remains of a windmill. The southernmost valley contains a brook running between the pond at Lavenham Hall and the River Brett, though it was covered by a culvert 500 years ago and Water Street built over the top. There have been attempts to give the culverts Scheduled Monument status as a "rare early example of municipal plumbing". The northernmost valley also contains a small stream as well as being the former route of the abandoned railway line.

[edit] Lavenham is on the A1141, the main road between Hadleigh and Bury St Edmunds. HGV traffic has been an issue for the village's narrow streets. The village formerly had a railway station on the Long Melford–Bury St Edmunds branch line, which was opened on 9 August 1865. There were plans for the Hadleigh branch line to be extended to Lavenham but they never came to fruition. The line was an important goods route during the Second World War and was guarded by numerous Type 22 pillboxes, most of which are still visible in the surrounding farmland. The railway station was closed to passengers on 10 April 1961, with a goods service surviving until April 1965. Today the disused line is used as a public footpath and is a designated nature reserve.

[edit] The village is served by Lavenham Community Primary School, which currently caters for pupils aged 5–11. The school feeds into Thomas Gainsborough School.

[edit] Historical population[edit] Historical population of LavenhamYearPop.±% 18011,776—     18111,711−3.7% 18211,898+10.9% 18312,107+11.0% 18411,871−11.2%YearPop.±% 18511,811−3.2% 18611,823+0.7% 18711,886+3.5% 18811,838−2.5% 18911,908+3.8%YearPop.±% 19012,018+5.8% 19111,963−2.7% 19211,620−17.5% 19311,451−10.4% 19511,489+2.6%YearPop.±% 19611,305−12.4% 19711,480+13.4% 1981—     1991—     20011,750—    Source: Census: Regional District 1801–1971 Notable residents[edit] Richard of Lavenham (fl. 1380), an English Carmelite, known as a scholastic philosopher Thomas Cooke (unknown, but in Lavenham – 1478), an English merchant and Lord Mayor of London Thomas Spring of Lavenham (c. 1474 – 1523), an English cloth merchant, buried in Lavenham John Spring of Lavenham (unknown – 1547), an English merchant and politician Thomas Spring of Castlemaine (unknown, but in Lavenham – 1597), an English Protestant soldier and landowner William Spring of Lavenham (unknown – 1599), an English politician and landowner. George Ruggle (1575–1622), author of Ignoramus, a college farce; brought up in Lavenham William Gurnall (1616–1679), puritan rector of Lavenham church (1644–1679), author of The Christian in Complete Armour Peregrine Branwhite (1745 in Lavenham – c. 1795), an English poet Isaac Taylor (1759–1829), an English engraver and writer of books for the young, lived in Lavenham William Blair (1766 in Lavenham – 1822), an English surgeon, interested in ciphers and stenography Jane Taylor (1783–1824), an English poet and novelist, wrote the words to the song Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, lived in Lavenham Sir William Shelford KCMG (1834 in Lavenham – 1905), an English civil engineer Robert Langton Douglas (1864 in Lavenham – 1951), a British art critic, lecturer and author Katherine Dempsey (1865 in Lavenham – 1923), a British mathematician Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson (1881–1945), surgeon, soldier, colonial officer and collector of antiquities, lived in the Little Hall, Lavenham. Sir Francis Meynell (1891–1975), a British poet and printer at The Nonesuch Press, lived in Lavenham. Dame Alix Kilroy (1903–1999), civil and public servant, lived in Lavenham. John Millar Watt (1895–1975), artist, illustrator and comics artist: creator of 'Pop' cartoon (1921–1949), lived in Lavenham. Sir Stephen Spender CBE (1909–1995), an English poet, novelist and essayist Sir Clive Rose GCMG (1921–2019), a British diplomat, retired to Lavenham Roy Turner Durrant (1925 in Lavenham – 1998), an English abstract artist Eamon Boland (born 1947), an English actor

[edit] Lavenham Guildhall was established in 1529 Parts of Market Square were included in the 1968 Vincent Price film Witchfinder General. The witch-burning scenes were staged in front of the Guildhall. In 1969 some filming was done in Lavenham for The Thirteen Chairs, also known as Twelve Plus One. This was actress Sharon Tate's last movie before her murder. In 1971 part of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film The Canterbury Tales was recorded here, with the village representing medieval London. The 1975 Stanley Kubrick film Barry Lyndon included the Guildhall. In 1980 some sequences in a TV advertisement for the launch of the new Austin Metro were filmed in the village, primarily on the market square, as well as in neighbouring Kersey.[citation needed] In 1986 the film Playing Away, about a visiting cricket team from Brixton, was also filmed in the village. The Market Square is the setting of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1970 film Apotheosis. In 2010, under conditions of strict secrecy, scenes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 were filmed there. The village's De Vere House represented sections of Godric's Hollow, as backgrounds, since the cast members did not actually visit Lavenham. Lavenham was also the setting for many scenes in the mid-1990s BBC TV drama Lovejoy. An episode broadcast in December 1994 had the title Last Tango in Lavenham. Other productions that have used Lavenham as a location include Lowland Village, a 1943 British Council release, and an episode of Treasure Hunt from February 1988. One legend suggests that thecrooked appearance of many of the town's buildings inspired the poem There Was a Crooked Man. One discussion of the village provides these specifics as to the reason the houses are crooked.The village grew so fast that many of the houses were built in haste with green timber. As the wood dried the timbers warped causing the houses to bend at unexpected angles. Unfortunately Lavenham's good times didn't last long. When Dutch refugees settled in Colchester began producing cloth that was cheaper, lighter and more fashionable than Lavenham's, the town's cloth industry went bust. By the time the dried timber started twisting, Lavenham's families had lost their wealth and with no money to rebuild their homes Lavenham's crooked houses were left as they were. The Crooked House, Lavenham The best-known crooked house is 'The Crooked House' at 7 High Street. Thought to be the inspiration for the old English nursery rhyme There Was a Crooked Man, The Crooked House was built in 1395 as part of a medieval Hall House. It has been Grade II listed since 1958 as part of 7–9 High Street. The listing description indicates that 7–9 High Street was divided into two tenements before 1958, and that the orange building (originally the south cross wing) was "very much altered in the C18 and C19" and was "restored with the timber-framing exposed". In 2005 and for some time after, the building was an art gallery. The property operated as a tearoom from 2013 to 2020. In 2021 it was bought and restored by Alex and Oli Khalil-Martin and 'the Crooked Men' now host experiences and events. In 2022, Country Life described The Crooked House as "one of the world's most photographed homes" and "the world's most famous crooked house".

[edit] Little Hall, Lavenham Medieval house on Lady Street, Lavenham Shilling Street, Lavenham Lavenham Wool Hall, built in 1464 St Peter and St Paul's Church, Lavenham