SUFFOLK

 

ALDEBURGH

LAVENHAM

ALDEBURGH

A small place, Aldeburgh has become famous as the home of composer Benjamin Britten, and for Snape Maltings, with its superb concert hall. The River Alde at the Maltings is a haven for birdlife with its expansive estuary.

(below) Snape Bridge next to the Maltings, at high water

Snape Maltings, as you can guess, was a collection of buildings used for malting barley and then shipping it out to breweries all over the country. It became a successful inland port, with access for Thames barges.  

When the maltings went out of business in the 1960s, the buildings took on new lives; an old boathouse became a craft shop, encouraging local artisans, and a cafe and art gallery followed.

Benjamin Britten was a regular visitor to the onsite pub there, and realised that it could become a venue for his music festival, and a state of the art concert hall was built.

The concert hall was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, but just two years later, the roof caught fire and came crashing down. Britten's prized piano was just one of the losses that day. The concert hall was rebuilt and reopened in 1970. It now acts as the home of Aldeburgh Music's programme of performances, education and artist development.

LAVENHAM

Most people are drawn to this attractive Suffolk town by the profusion of half-timbered medieval cottages, beloved of calendar photographers. Lavenham has been called "the most complete medieval town in Britain", a tribute to its fine collection of medieval and Tudor architecture. Mansions of wealthy merchants mingle with simple cottages, some of which mix crooked timber beams with sprightly pink-painted infill
It benefits from the fact that the road completely by-passes it, so there is little or no through-traffic. It has thus remained small and quiet.

The Corpus Christi Guildhall in the triangular market place, was built in 1529, by the wool growers' Guild. Lavenham was famous for its' blue cloth stamped with a fleur-de-lys mark, which was introduced by the Flemish weavers, invited by Edward III to settle in England and pass on their trade secrets. The Guildhall became successively the town hall and then a gaol, although by then, it was in a poor state of repair. It is now beautifully restored.

(below) the Swan Hotel is one of the oldest timbered buildings in Lavenham, with traces of 14th. century fabrication. Originally it was just the building on the right, but relatively recently, has extended into the adjoining Elizabethan house and the former Wool Hall.

It is easy to imagine how the village centre looked when Queen Elizabeth I came here in 1578.