Lavenham, Suffolk
Historical Description
Lavenham, a village and a parish in Suffolk. The village stands in the valley of the river Brett, on the Bury St Edmunds and Sudbnry branch of the G.E.R., on which it has a station 10½ miles S from Bury St Edmunds, and a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.) It was formerly a market-town and a place of some importance, having a weekly market on Tuesday, and fairs on Shrove Tuesday and 10 Oct., but both market and fairs have become obsolete. It consists of several small streets mostly of old houses, some being timbered with quaint oak carvings, and has a spacious market-place with an ancient stone cross. The Guild-hall, on the S side of the market-place, is a beautiful example of the timber-framed buildings of the 16th century. The manufacture of blue cloths, serges, and other woollen stuffs was formerly carried on, and there is now a manufactory for horse-hair seatings and cocoa-nut fibre. The parish comprises 2898 acres; population, 1908. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely; net value, £603 with residence. Patron, Cains College, Cambridge. The church of St Peter and St Paul, which stands on an eminence, is an ancient and noble building of Casterton stone and flint in the Late Perpendicular style. It is 156 feet long by 68 wide, with a lofty clerestory, and a simple and massive tower, 141 feet high- one of the finest in the county. It has some fine carvings, four stained windows, and some very interesting tombs and brasses. There are Congregational, Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan chapels, thirty almshouses, and charities worth about £320 a year, Lavenham Hall is a chief residence. Richard de Lavenham who was killed by Wat Tyier's mob, Ruggle the author of " Ignoramus," and Lord Mayor Cooke, were natives. The manor was given by WDliam the Conqueror to Robert Malet, and passed to the De Veres and others.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Suffolk | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Lavenham St. Peter and St. Paul | |
Hundred | Babergh | |
Poor Law union | Cosford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Lavenham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Lavenham (St. Peter and St. Paul))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Suffolk is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Lavenham are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Suffolk papers online: