Whenever I visit Lavenham, I always have to break it down into its constituent parts. This little village has a mighty punch. What I love about this place is that it isn't full of touristy shops. People just come here to participate in its ambience. It can be a little overwhelming during the high season - but if you visit first thing - you might just have the place to yourself.
Lavenham was one of the wealthiest medieval towns in England. It's wealth came from wool, and its church is one of the most iconic of 'wool churches' in the area.
St. Peter and St. Paul, Lavenham.
The church is a wonderful example of C15th-C16th perpendicular architecture and, in the early morning light, presents itself like a richly inlaid jewellery box.
Much of its surface is faceted and sculpted. The porch especially so..
Interior
The interior is spacious and cathedral like.
The font looks much older than the building itself.
It's a wood thing...
Most of all, I'm drawn to the wood. The C15th choir stalls have some wonderful finial carvings - although some of them haven't survived iconoclastic times.
The misericords are beautifully carved. They have a softness of line that is really engaging. The artist that carved these had a genius for spatial awareness - thinking through the design in three dimensions, envisioning the vignette, and pulling it out of the wood with tools that haven't changed to this very day.
Above: A dead man’s head with ears being pulled by an ibis on one side and a spoonbill on the other.
The misericords have three roles. Firstly as a seat for the choristor and then (after lifting) as a support whilst standing. Finally they have a didactic role through the symbolism behind the carvings. Many are inspired by the Bestiaries of the day.
Above: half-woman, half beast playing a viol, and another, half-man half beast beast, mimics her by playing a pair of bellows with a crutch.
Above: Pelican in her piety - feeds her young with her own flesh
The Spring Chantry Chapel
The early C16th parclose screen was built to enclose 'rich clothier' Thomas Spring's tomb. It's a triumph of carpentry, lavishly made whilst the tower was being completed (funded by Thomas Spring's money).
Every single detail from the fluting to the finials has been cut to the glory of God but funded by the humble sheep.
After helping the vicar with the dusting, I'm left to wander around the church and capture the pattern and repetition; an unthinking eye, drawn into spaces by the genius and ingenuity of those that have come before us.
🌟Member Goodies🌟
✨ Members can immerse themselves in a wonderful aerial VR of Lavenham with St. Peter and St. Paul's church by clicking the box below (viewable on any device):
Andy Marshall
✨ Members can also see a glorious aerial video that spirals around the church with extensive views of the surrounding landscape - helps put the church and village in context.
Andy Marshall
Readers of the Genius Loci Digest
What stays with readers
That aura, those echoes - the muted light is transporting. What a space to feel rooted in history. I'd love to make that journey myself; you've stirred the opera lover and architectural dreamer in me.
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