Introduction
Lavenham is best known for its fine half-timbered houses that
are a reminder of the prosperity of the cloth trade that flourished
here in medieval times. However, as well as the village itself, the
surrounding landscape is well worth exploring.
This 3.5 mile circular walk starts at the church and then sets
out into pleasant countryside, in places running along disused
railway, through quiet pasturelad and returning beside Lavenham
Hall. Ordanance Survey Pathfinder Series sheets 1029 TL84/94 and
1006 TL85/95 show other rights of way in the area.
The Windmill
The remains of the tower mill stand on a mound above the mill
house. Once a six story building with four sails, a domed cap with
fantail and two pairs of stones, it was built in 1831 by Thomas
Bear to replace a post mill. It stood across the road from another
earlier tower mill and worked until about 1920 when it was pulled
down.
Lavenham Hall - (not open to the public)
The hall is a 16th to 17th century timber-framed building. It
replaced the original hall that used to lie to the east of the
house; this being the home of the De Vere family who held the Manor
of Over Hall for over five hundred years after the Norman Conquest.
In 1580, although still part of the De Vere estate, the hall is
recorded as being called the Bailey House, where the bailiff
lived.
The pond close to the path was the medieval fish pond, enlarged
in more recent times, to look more like a lake, when the hall
became a gentry residence.
How to get there
Public transport
For up to date details phone Traveline on 0870 608 2 608 or
check online at
www.travelineeastanglia.co.uk.
By road
Lavenham is situated on the A1141.
Parking
There is a free car park opposite the church and one beside the
railway on Bridge Street Road.