In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Lavenham like this:
LAVENHAM, a small town, a parish, and a sub-district, in Cosford district, Suffolk. The town stands in the valley of the river Brett, on the Bury-ST. Edmunds and Sudbury railway, 10½ miles SSE of Bury-ST. Edmnnds; consists of several small streets, mostly with old houses; has a spacious market-place, with a stone cross in the centre; is a polling place; and has a post office‡ under Sudbury, a railway station, a church, Independent and Wesleyan chapels, national and British schools, a free grammar school, thirty alms houses, and charities £450-The church is later English, of stone and flint; measures 180 feet by 68; and has a very fine steeple 141 feet high, a fine porch, a carved roof, and stained windows. ...
The Independent chapel was enlarged in 1865. A weekly market was formerly held on Tuesday; and fairs are still held on Shrove-Tuesday and 10 Oct. The manufacture of blue cloths, serges, and other woollen stuffs, was formerly carried on; and now there is a manufactory for horse hair seatings and cocoa-nut-fibre. Richard de Lavenham, who was killed by Wat Tyler's mob, Ruggle, the author of "Ignoramus, " and Lord Mayor Cooke were natives.—The parish comprises 2, 887 acres. Real property, £7, 015. Pop., 1,823. Houses, 413. The manor was given, by William the Conqueror, to Robert Malet; and passed to the De Veres and others. Lavenham Hall is the seat of W. R. Scott, Esq. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value, £850.* Patron, Cains College, Cambridge.—The sub-district contains fourteen parishes. Acres, 27, 110. Pop., 7, 742. Houses, 1, 743
Lavenham through time
Lavenham is now part of Babergh district. Click here for graphs and data of how Babergh has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Lavenham itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Lavenham, in Babergh and Suffolk | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/7448
Date accessed: 26th April 2024
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