A Year of Trust

Once the immortal words ‘it was filmed as part of Harry Potter’ had been spoken, it was inevitable that I would visit Lavenham.

Back in 2010, this quaint little village in the Suffolk countryside, regularly used as a film location, was transformed into Godric’s Hollow for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

Yet, despite recent fame on the silver screen, the Guildhall has a history all of its own well worth a couple of hours exploring.

I took great joy in the knowledge that the age of the buildings would melt the brains of most Americans, with the original house being constructed in 1510.

To put this into context, Henry VIII was on the throne (and still married to wife number one, Catherine of Aragon) and Thomas More’s Utopia was published. In Latin. Because people read Latin. That’s how old this building is.

However, the Guildhall hasn’t remained a fancy meeting house for the last 500 years – it’s had multiple rebirths for different uses. These have included a bridewell – where paupers convicted of petty crimes were punished and reformed – and later as a workhouse until 1834 where the impoverished would live and spin yarn. All before the Guildhall was saved from demolition and renovated.

Aside from some fairly questionable remedies for common ailments such as asthma and diabetes (rather alarmingly including eating live woodlice), one of the most interesting parts of the site was the ‘lock up and mortuary buildings’.

Always one to appreciate the more morbid features of a place, the two cellar-like buildings were said to have been where bodies of those who died in the workhouse were stored before burial. Rather gruesomely, the same space was also used as a temporary prison cell for criminals, although we can only hope not at the same time.

Finally, all good National Trust properties end with a coffee shop, and the Guildhall is no exception. The difference is that this is the domestic house where the Guildhall began, and it’s surreal to sit and sip (very good) coffee in someone’s house from 500 years ago.

So not just a worthy pilgrimage for Potter fans, but a very old building with a surprisingly varied history.