Little Hall is delighted to be hosting another spinning and dyeing day
Sunday 23rd August from 11.00a.m.- 4.00p.m.
The ancient hall house on Lavenham’s Market Place now known as Little Hall started life as a clothier’s house. Built in the 14th century for a clothier’s family it was and enlarged and improved in the 15th century.
It was during this period that Lavenham became hugely rich from the production of woollen broadcloth dyed with woad. It was known as Lavenham ‘Blews’. This colour was obtained from the leaf of woad. In the early days this plant was not grown in England but imported from the city of Toulouse in South-West France and Spain. However, by the end of the 15th century or early 16th century the great riches of the medieval age had declined. The merchants left and the great houses of the cloth merchants fell into disrepair.
Little Hall itself was rescued in the 1920s and 30s by the Gayer Anderson twin brothers who restored it and made it into the house we see today. The brothers filled the house with some of their collections.
Lavenham’s history of making and creating throughout its history are continued in Little Hall today. There are examples of the Gayer Andersons’ craft skills in carpentry and woodwork. Indeed, the dresser in the dining room was designed and made by Colonel Gayer Anderson in 1905.
The library has examples of leather and cloth bound books, the windows show the skills of glaziers and Nellie Smith (housekeeper during the art hostel years) embroidered the panel, based on a design by Stephen Spender, which is now displayed in the dormitory and is a fine example of needlework.
On Sunday 23rd August local craftspeople will be in the Hall and garden from 11am until 4pm explaining how they produce their wares using age old techniques of dyeing and spinning wool. Stuart Race of “The Woolpatch” in Long Melford who supplies Little Hall shop with his beautiful woad dyed wool hanks will be demonstrating how he dyes yarn in the garden. He will be joined by some others with their spinning wheels.