On the tenth of January, we explored the beautiful countryside of Suffolk. Our journey began in Lavenham, a small town with a strong history of wool production and wool trade. This historical town has been well-preserved and it provides one with a glimpse of the half-timbered architectural style found in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. We visited the Church of St. Paul and St. Peter, a Perpendicular-style church with an enormous tower that is visible from quite a distance. The local cloth merchants provided the majority of the funding for the church, and the tower bears the coats of arms of these prominent business men. We walked through the town and we came upon our next point of interest, the Guildhall. The Guildhall served as the central meeting place of the Guild of Corpus Christi, who regulated wool production during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
After leaving Lavenham, we attempted to find Groton, the homestead of John Winthrop, the founder of the Massachusetts Bay Company. We made our way through the narrow, winding roads and came upon the Winthrop family’s church, where John Winthrop’s parents are buried. . .well, at least we thought we did. Actually we were at the Parish of Edwardston, St. Mary the Virgin. This was the parish into which John Winthrop was born, but it was not the family’s church. The sun had begun to set, yet we persevered. At one point the bus driver asked a woman, “Where is Groton?” She simply replied, “You are in it!” It was quite amusing, and we eventually did find the church and saw the grave sites of his parents. The Winthrop family was a rather prominent family, who owned a great deal of land in the countryside. It was incredible to see exactly the amount of land and wealth Winthrop gave up to move to America. We finished our evening with dinner at the Queenshead, a pub located in Newton. It provided us with a very traditional taste of English food and it served as the perfect end to our day!