Photos

Water Street in Lavenham, the once wealthy medieval village during the peak of the wool industry, is named so because a stream ran down the center. This now runs under the road and does not appear until the point where the road leaves the town and bends near Brett Farm.

It was thought that those who dyed the wool lived and worked near water street due to the flowing water. Ironically, of all the wealth in Lavenham, I have heard there were more wool merchants than those actually doing weaving and processing - lots of middle men and a good mark up!

Many factors brought an end to the wealth of Lavenham. Double taxes from King Henry VIII on the wealthy town to support war efforts in Europe, plus workers and customers having to participate in battle plus changing fashions are part of the reason for it to drop out of Britain's top 20 richest places 400 years ago.