As a visitor from the Continent you can't fail to notice England is very much into the Middle Ages.
The English cherish their Medieval towns, they're deep into Gothic (late medieval) Architecture and even the famous Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century is strongly influenced by this period in history.
In every English architecture class I followed the Middle Ages crop up, with the village of Lavenham as an exemplary example: 'one of the finest and more beautiful medieval villages in England', in the reign of Henry VIII ranked as the 14th weathiest town of England. With over 320 'buildings of historic significance', the highlight of the village is no doubt the Guildhall of Corpus Christi at the market place.
Think a georgeous half timbered hall, that housed the Guilds when Lavenham was very famous for it's wool.
We visited the Guildhall in the nicest summer weather imaginable - hence we could stroll into it's lovely garden, full of all the dye plants that were used to dye the wool that made this part of England famous - till the Flemish wool trade took over! Their wool was more refined, and since wool was expensive people started to buy the Flemish cloth.
This was explained to us by two very charming ladies who demonstrated the use of the spinning wheel and were full of other interesting stories about the wool industry in this part of England. Enter a National Trust building and you learn so much about history!
The English cherish their Medieval towns, they're deep into Gothic (late medieval) Architecture and even the famous Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century is strongly influenced by this period in history.
In every English architecture class I followed the Middle Ages crop up, with the village of Lavenham as an exemplary example: 'one of the finest and more beautiful medieval villages in England', in the reign of Henry VIII ranked as the 14th weathiest town of England. With over 320 'buildings of historic significance', the highlight of the village is no doubt the Guildhall of Corpus Christi at the market place.
Think a georgeous half timbered hall, that housed the Guilds when Lavenham was very famous for it's wool.
We visited the Guildhall in the nicest summer weather imaginable - hence we could stroll into it's lovely garden, full of all the dye plants that were used to dye the wool that made this part of England famous - till the Flemish wool trade took over! Their wool was more refined, and since wool was expensive people started to buy the Flemish cloth.
This was explained to us by two very charming ladies who demonstrated the use of the spinning wheel and were full of other interesting stories about the wool industry in this part of England. Enter a National Trust building and you learn so much about history!
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