Little Hall Lavenham
Medieval clothier’s house in Lavenham, restored by the Gayer-Anderson brothers, with seven furnished rooms, a collection and a walled garden.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
Little Hall stands on Market Place in Lavenham, one of the best preserved wool towns in Suffolk. It was built in the 1390s for the Causton family of clothiers, enlarged between 1425 and 1450 and later modernised in Tudor times with a fireplace and an upper floor in the hall. Its changing fortunes follow those of the town and its cloth trade. It is the only example of medieval domestic architecture in the village that is open to the public.
In the 1920s and 1930s the twin brothers Robert and Thomas Gayer-Anderson, soldiers who were also artists and collectors, rescued the house. They restored it as their home and filled it with antiques, pictures, books, china and decorative art. Many of their personal possessions remain in the house, while their antiquities were given to museums around the world. Robert became a respected Egyptologist.
Today visitors can walk through seven rooms, including a study with Persian panels and an upstairs chamber with a crown-post roof. A dormitory recalls the five evacuee boys from London who lived here from September 1939. Outside lie a traditional walled garden and a knot garden laid out on Tudor lines. The house is owned by the charity Historic Suffolk and is run largely by volunteers.
Highlights
- Medieval timber-framed house from the 1390s
- Seven furnished rooms with art and antiques collected by the Gayer-Anderson brothers
- Upstairs chamber with a crown-post roof
- Second World War dormitory for evacuee boys
- Walled garden and Tudor-style knot garden
Permanent exhibitions
- Little Hall house and collection – Seven furnished rooms showing the development of the medieval and Tudor house, with art and artefacts collected by the Gayer-Anderson brothers.
- The Home Front – The former dormitory for five evacuee boys from Bethnal Green in 1939, with displays about their lives.
- Operated by
- Historic Suffolk
Admission & discounts
| Adults | £6 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | –Members of CPRE and the Suffolk Preservation Society, and Lavenham residents (concession price not published) |
| Children & teens | freeAccompanied children go free. |
| Groups (10+ people) | £5 per personGroups of ten or more paying visitors; school visitors pay £1 per child; accompanied children are free. A £50 deposit is required. |
| School visitor in a group of ten or more (per child) | £1 |
Visitors who arrive without a car (by train, bus, bicycle or on foot) save £1 on admission.
Accessibility
- Partially wheelchair accessible
- Elevator: no information
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome: no information
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
This is an old house with uneven floors, changes of level, narrow stairs and low beams. Wheelchair access is difficult; users of small or folding chairs have sometimes been given limited access. Visitors who cannot manage the stairs can watch part of the upstairs on CCTV with a guide’s commentary. Please call for advice before visiting.
Kids & families
Great for kids & families
| Time needed | approx. 60 min |
|---|
- Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
The museum welcomes families. Younger children can follow a trail to find ten toy cats in the rooms, older children can do a quiz of fifteen questions, and children receive a small gift and sticker from the shop.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
An hourly bus runs through Lavenham between Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds; both towns have railway stations.
By car
Cars can drop passengers in Market Place and there may be space to park there. The coach park is about 800 m away; coaches cannot manage the tight turns into Market Place but can unload on the High Street.
Little Hall holds the Good Journey Mark for welcoming visitors who travel without a car. Lavenham lies 12 miles south-east of Bury St Edmunds, 19 miles west of Ipswich and 23 miles north-west of Colchester.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
- Café: not available
- Restaurant: not available
- Museum shop
No refreshments are sold on site; cafés, inns and restaurants are available in the village. The shop sells items related to the house, garden and Suffolk, including postcards, mugs, jigsaws and books.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | Allow at least one hour. Visitors can explore freely or join a guided tour, and groups can request a guided tour or an illustrated talk. A free digital guide is available on the website. |
