David Harris was a guide for many years at Little Hall as well as a trustee with SBPT, especially guiding groups. He stopped guiding in 2014 and died in 2021 aged 93. In 2012 Mike Hodges of Lavenham Photographic filmed David. One film was an introduction and tour, lasting 43 minutes. To make this a […]
David Harris, Introduction and Tour of Little Hall Read More »
We have now had two months of opening and welcomed nearly 550 visitors from many parts. The shop is proving popular too and there are some new items to tempt you as well as the old favourites. Some of our special visitors to the garden in early July included Catherine and Marek who had their
2021 – 07 Little Hall welcomes some different visitors Read More »
We have now had four weeks of opening and welcomed over 250 visitors over 11 days. The house façade is looking very smart after its latest redecoration and the garden is looking wonderful too. The wet weather in May followed by the hot spell in June has created a riot of colour all tended by
2021 – 06 A good start to the season at Little Hall Read More »
Little Hall has been closed for nearly 18 months but now at last we are open again. We will open Friday to Sunday afternoons, 1pm to 4pm, from the 22nd May 2021, subject to any changes in the government restrictions. Our season usually closes at the end of October. The house and its collection have
2021 – 03 Open Again Read More »
Recently Lavenham and Little Hall was in the grip of a biting easterly wind. There had been snow on the ground for the whole week, accompanied by freezing temperatures. In 1961 Reginald Brill had just arrived as warden of the newly established Gayer Anderson Hostel for Art Students and painted Snow in the Garden –
2021 – 02 Little Hall in the snow Read More »
There are several different collections which reflect some of the works in the house. The Panel Collection uses an image taken from the “room with eleven doors” and has been used on several items, for example tea towels, small bone china mugs, coasters, trivets, magnets and notelets. Bone China Mugs £9.00 Ceramic Coaster £6.00 Trivet
The earliest film we’ve yet found was made in 1944 and can be seen at https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/197711/ . There’s shots of Little Hall near the beginning and briefly, towards the end. Little Hall has been a popular backdrop for films for over 50 years. Released in December 2020 was an adaptation by Pelham Elliott of Anthony
Little Hall on Screen Read More »
On the external walls of Little Hall there are a number of pargetted crests set into the plasterwork. These depict a lion and a tree and are the combined emblems of the Gayer Anderson family. The tree symbol is said to come from Egypt and signify ‘home’. Thomas Gayer Anderson wrote in his house guide:
The Gayer Anderson Crests Read More »
Portrait of a Young Man by Glyn Warren Philpot (1884-1937) In the Well Room at Little Hall, Lavenham, the former home of twins Robert and Thomas Gayer-Anderson, hangs a portrait of a young man by the artist Glyn Warren Philpot. The portrait, a gift to Thomas Gayer-Anderson from Philpot is undated but appears stylistically to
Painting of a young man, by Glyn Philpot RA Read More »
Over the last 650 years Little Hall has had many and varied owners. The last residents before the property finally passed out of private hands were twin brothers named Gayer Anderson. They were distinguished army officers who bought the Great House in 1924. The range of buildings now known as Little Hall came as part
2020 – 09 Garden Opening continues for September Read More »
Thomas Gayer-Anderson was a gifted artist who worked in a range of media, including sculpture. At Little Hall he created a studio within a first floor room of the house, and a workshop within the garden. It was probably within the latter that he made a model in clay, of a naked boy, to which
The Kite Flyer, Thomas Gayer Anderson Read More »
Past item from the lockdown year, 2020 LITTLE HALL WELCOMES YOU TO VISIT OUR BEAUTIFUL GARDEN. Little Hall’s beautiful hidden garden will be open to visitors FREE of CHARGE during the weekends of 1st-2nd and 8th-9th August, between 2-4pm. Little Hall’s beautiful hidden garden will be open to visitors FREE of CHARGE during the weekends
2020 – 07 Garden Opening – Summer 2020 Read More »
When the Gayer-Anderson brothers undertook the restoration of Little Hall in the 1930s they fitted out a number of its rooms with architectural features and decorative pieces. The items were collected on their travels in Egypt and the Middle East. One such room, which they called ‘the Study’, now known as the Panelled Room, was fitted
Decorative Bridal Mirror Box Panels Read More »
Lavenham Hidden Gardens on Sunday 9th June, 2019. This was our chance to show off our ‘hidden gem’ which lurks behind the wall at the top of Barn Street. Over 600 adults, children and assorted dogs came to look round. The sun gods shone on us after a soaking the day before and the day
2019 – 06 Open Garden, 2019 Read More »
Little Hall is nearly 650 years old and over time has had many and varied owners. The last residents before the property finally passed out of private hands and into the possession of the Suffolk Building Preservation Trust in 1975, were twin brothers named Gayer Anderson. They bought the property in 1925, restored it as
Little Hall Garden Read More »
While Little Hall has been unable to open some of our volunteers have been kept busy doing tasks that can be done from a home computer. The result is a database and the beginning of a digital framework of the whole collection at Little Hall which includes the newly cleaned library books. Back in 2017
2020 – 05 2 year project completed under lock-down Read More »
Our planned exhibition to mark the commemoration of VE day on the weekend of the 8th/9th and 10th May unfortunately cannot now take place. However, we would like to bring you some elements of it here on our newly refreshed website. In Object of the Month our volunteer Catherine Smith explains the story behind the Chest of Drawers in
2020 – 05 A Little of the Home Front at Little Hall. Read More »
The Chest of Drawers with a Unique History Visitors to Little Hall may wonder at the name “dormitory” given to the upper area above the dining room. During the 14th, 15th and until the mid-16th century this room didn’t exist but was an open space from the simple earth floor to the roof where swirls of smoke
In 2019 we were pleased to welcome Michael Sutherill to Little Hall as our new curator. Michael, now retired, was formerly a curator with the National Trust and prior to that an Inspector of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings with English Heritage. Michael is supporting us in delivering a project to remove mould from the
2020 – 03 A new curator for Little Hall Read More »
In August 2011 we hosted a wonderful exhibition of glass art, entitled Art in Glass, showing the work of a local group of glass artists centred on the studios of Rosella Chester in Colchester. Their work was distributed around the house and garden, and the garden in particular provided a stunning back drop for the
2011 – 08 Art in Glass – Wed 24 August to Mon 29 August 2011 Read More »
