Places to Stay
Top left: Saracen’s Head, Towcester. Above right: The Swan at Lavenham. Far left: The Westleton Crown, Suffolk. Left: The Ship at Dunwich
(including one with a four-poster bed) bringing it comfortably into the 21st century. Another inn that has grown and changed
over the centuries (the oldest part dates back to the late 14th century) is the Swan at Lavenham, a glorious medieval and Tudor town jammed full of timber-framed houses in Suffolk. It is not known when the buildings became an inn, but it was well established by 1667 when the then-landlord, John Girling, issued his own ‘Trader’s Tokens’ (local coin replacements). The Girling family still lives in Lavenham to this day. At the heart of the inn is the Old Bar, where the RAF and 487th Bomb Group 8th AAF American servicemen used to hang out, when stationed in the area during the Second World War. On show in the bar is memorabilia from this period, including The Boot Record, with the names of the servicemen who managed to drink three and a half pints of ale from a boot- shaped glass in the shortest possible time. Nestled between the coastal villages of
Southwold and Adelburgh, making it a great base from which to explore the Suffolk coast and nearby Dunwich village, The Westleton Crown is a pretty inn dating back to the 12th
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century. Westleton village is also home to St Peter’s, a 14th-century thatched church built by the Sibton Abbey monks from nearby Saxmundham. The monks are, of course, no longer around to try the superb food and sophisticated wine list at The Westleton Crown, but it’s worth a visit for both. If you would like to stay in historic
Dunwich itself, then The Westleton Crown’s sister property, The Ship at Dunwich, is ideal. This atmospheric village has an amazing history. Some 700 years ago it was a major town and important port with a population of around 4,000 (half the size of London at the time). Bishops were based here, beginning with Bishop Felix between 636 and 647. Later in its fascinating history, Dunwich was one of Britain’s most notorious rotten boroughs: the constituency retained the right to send two members to Parliament right up until the Reform Act in 1832. As you would expect, The Ship also has many tales of smugglers. But it wasn’t smugglers or non-resident freemen that prevented Dunwich’s growth; it was nature. Much of old Dunwich was demolished by the sea. Erosion of the coastline has been going on ever since Suffolk
became separated from the Netherlands. The sea shore is now two kilometres west of its position in Roman times. There is a model of the medieval town, as it might have appeared in the 12th century, in Dunwich museum. Both sister properties provide superb food, nicely-decorated contemporary rooms and a very warm welcome to tourists and our four-legged friends alike.
The Westleton Crown, nr Southwold, Suffolk; tel: (01728) 648777;
www.westletoncrown.co.uk. The Hoste Arms, Burnham Market, Norfolk; tel: (01328) 738777;
www.greatinns.co.uk. The Hunter’s Hall Inn, tel: (01453) 860393;
www.oldenglishinns.co. uk. The Pheasant, Harome, N Yorks; tel: (01439) 771241;
www.greatinns.co.uk. Saracen’s Head, Towcester, Northants; tel: (01327) 350414; www.
oldenglishinns.co.uk. The Ship at Dunwich, Norfolk; tel: (01728) 648219;
www.shipatdunwich.co.uk. The Star, Alfriston, E Sussex; tel: (01323) 870495; www.
thestaralfriston.co.uk. The Sun, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria; tel: (01524) 271965;
www.sun-inn.info. The Old Swan, Minster Lovell, Oxon; tel: (01993) 774441;
www.oldswanandminstermill.com. The Swan at Lavenham, Suffolk; tel: (01787) 247477;
www.theswanatlavenham.co.uk.
www.britain-magazine.com
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