[Illustration]
Lavenham, or _Lanham_, a small town north of Sudbury, was once eminent for
its manufactures, when there were eight or nine cloth-halls in the place,
inhabited by rich clothiers. The De Veres, Earls of Oxford, whose names
are blazoned in our history, held the manor from the reign of Henry I.
till that of Elizabeth, and one of the noble family obtained a charter
from Edward III. authorizing his tenants at this place to pass toll-free
throughout all England, which grant was confirmed by Elizabeth. But the
manufacturing celebrity of Lavenham has dwindled to spinning woollen yarn,
and making calimancoes and hempen cloth; the opulent clothiers have
shuffled off their mortal coil, and proved that "the web of our life is of
a mingled yarn, good and ill together."
The church of Lavenham is, however, a venerable wreck of antiquity, and is
accounted the most beautiful fabric of the kind in Suffolk. It is chiefly
built of freestone, the rest being of curious flintwork; its total length
is 150 feet, and its breadth 68. From concurrent antiquarian authorities
we learn that the church was built by the De Veres, in conjunction with
the Springs, wealthy clothiers at Lavenham. This is attested by the
different quarterings of their respective arms on the building. The porch
is an elegant piece of architecture, very highly enriched with the
shields, garters, &c. of many of the most noble families in the kingdom,
among which are the letters I.O., probably intended for the initials of
John, the 14th Earl of Oxford, who married the daughter of Thomas Howard,
Duke of Norfolk. He is conjectured to have erected this porch.
In the interior, the roof is admirably carved, and the pews belonging to
the Earls of Oxford and the Springs, though now much decayed, were
highly-finished pieces of Gothic work in wood. Some of the windows are
still embellished with painted glass, representing the arms of the De
Veres and others. Here also is a costly monument of alabaster and gold,
erected to the memory of the Rev. Henry Copinger,[1] rector of Lavenham,
with alto-relievo figures of the reverend divine and his wife.
[1] Dr. Fuller relates the following anecdote of this
divine:--Dr. Reynolds, who held the living of Lavenham, having
gone over to the Church of Rome, the Earl of Oxford, the
patron, presented Mr. Copinger, but on condition that he
should pay no tithes for his park, which comprehended almost
half the land in the parish. Mr. Copinger told his lordship,
that he would rather return the presentation, than by such a
sinful gratitude betray the rights of the church. This answer
so affected the earl, that he replied, "I scorn that my estate
should swell with church goods." His heir, however, contested
the rector's right to the tithes, and it cost Mr. Copinger
£1,600. to recover that right, and leave the quiet possession
of it to his successors.
In the north aisle is a small mural monument, upon which are represented a
man and woman, engraved on brass, kneeling before a table, and three sons
and daughters behind them. From the mouth of the man proceeds a label, on
which are these words:--In manus tuas dne commendo spiritum meum.
Underneath is this inscription, which, like that of the label, is in the
old English character:--
Contynuall prayse these lynes in brasse,
Of Allaine Dister here,
A clothier, vertuous while he was
In Lavenham many a yeare.
For as in lyefe he loved best
The poore to clothe and feede,
So with the rich and all the rest
He neighbourlie agreed;
And did appoynte before he dyed,
A special yearlie rent,
Which should be every Whitsontide
Among the poorest spent.
_Et obiit Anno Dni_ 1534.
Although this benefaction is written in _brass_, the good man's
successors have found enough of the same metal to pervert it; for it is
now lost, and no person can give any account of it. It needs not brass to
outlive honesty; a mere breath will often destroy her. There are, however,
several substantial charities belonging to Lavenham, the disposal of which
has fallen into better hands.
In the churchyard is a very old gravestone, which formerly had a Saxon
inscription. Kirby, in his account of the monasteries of Suffolk, says
that here, on the tomb of one John Wiles, a bachelor, who died in 1694, is
this odd jingling epitaph:--
_Quod fuit esse quod est, quod non fuit esse quod esse_
_Esse quod est non esse, quod est non erit esse._
But as the point and oddity may not be directly evident to all, perhaps
some of our readers will furnish us with a pithy translation for our next.
_F.R._ of Lavenham, to whom we are indebted for the drawing of
Lavenham Church, informs us that this fine building will shortly undergo a
thorough repair.
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