Unique,distinctive,cherished...a fresh look at Lavenham Guildhall

The Guildhall of Corpus Christi, Lavenham.

On Friday evening I went to a focus group event hosted by the National Trust at the Guildhall in Lavenham.

The Trust, which owns the building, has recently obtained a Heritage Lottery Fund Grant to update and re-display its story. An additional object is to involve local people more closely with the Trust's work at the site.   Luke Potter, the Property Manager responsible for a number of the smaller properties in Suffolk including the Guildhall, presided over the event at which local people were invited to express what the sixteenth century building means to them.

I suppose that the Guildhall is to Lavenham what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris and the Coliseum to Rome.  One way of gauging its significance is to imagine what the village would be like without it!  It is a little while since I visited the upstairs of the building, recent visits being confined to attending meetings of the Parish Council and lectures on art by Hugh Belsey downstairs.  I have to say that I found some of the displays so interesting that my mind was rather distracted from the business of the evening.

We were asked to spend some time in the garden at the back, a lovely peaceful spot, and also to stand in the market place and contemplate the astonishing front of the building, the beams softened in the fading light.  I was reminded that in Victorian times a school stood opposite, in the middle of the market place. This must have spoiled what is now a remarkable space, if somewhat marred by parked cars!  However, Lavenham remains very much a living village and like other beauty spots has to absorb the less attractive, but essential, features of 20^th century life.

The building has always been used by the local community and it is significant that an aim of the project is that links with local people are strengthened further.  Residents, and others present yesterday, were asked to express on post it notes what they felt is unique about the Guildhall, what is distinctive, and what is most cherished.  Their thoughts will be borne in mind when the Trust is planning how best to re-present the property to both visitors and local people alike.