It felt almost right to sit in the middle of the railroad tracks of Pullman’s old tearoom, sipping from a saucer and eating a toasted tea cake. All very interesting and in English. With a bit of wheeler-dealing thrown in, the Art Nouveau lamp on my desk was for sale, if I had £165 spare. That’s what happens in Long Melford: as well as selling old things, you get the perfect village experience.
Long Melford has a history. During the Mesolithic period people roamed this part of Suffolk; This place was settled in the Iron Age and occupied by the Romans. But more recently it has become the antique capital of East Anglia and beyond. love pleasure It was filmed here, and by the time the last series of that charming, flirtatious TV show was filmed 30 years ago, antiques filled almost every shop.
“People still visit Long Melford. love pleasure trail,” Graham Hessell told me. Graham is the founder of the Melford Antiques, Interiors and Lifestyle Center, which has 16,000 square feet of collections, and the Grade II-listed Pullman’s cafe in the Old Maltings. love pleasure star Ian McShane and his crew and one of the few remaining antique shops. “Over the last decade, many independent dealers have succumbed to high costs and overhead,” Graham added. But he thought this did not detract from Long Melford’s appeal: “It’s a lovely, friendly place with a great community spirit, probably one of the most excellent villages in England.”
Of course, if a list were to be drawn up for this sort of thing, Long Melford would get plenty of nods. It has two mansions, numerous pubs, an enormous church, and – despite the loss of all those antique shops – numerous independent businesses. There is even a village museum.
The biggest sign against this is that Long Melford, with a population of around 4,000 these days, is hardly a village. “It’s the biggest thing you can get before it’s a town,” volunteer church guide Simon Edge admitted. “But that probably means no one can know everyone, so you don’t have that potential small-village poison. “It’s never claustrophobic.”
I began my own explorations at the Black Lion, a stylish Georgian inn at the top of the village with good rooms, great food and an excellent location next to The Green. Four miles from here you can check out what is claimed to be England’s longest main street. But first I turned to the other side.
Just above the Black Lion is Long Melford’s Perpendicular Gothic giant, Holy Trinity, which has one of the longest church naves in the country and a multitude of windows. “It punches well above its weight,” said Simon, whom I met for a tour. “Long Melford is a bit stagnant now. However, in the Middle Ages, it was in the richest part of the country due to agriculture and wool trade. “Basically, this area was very important and people were showing off.”
John Clopton, owner of Kentwell Hall in Long Melford, was on the wrong side of the War of the Roses. One group was accused of conspiring with another; they were all executed in 1461, but Clopton escaped with a pardon. Thanking his lucky stars, he devoted his life to building this magnificent church. And if spiritual debts can be paid with stones and glass, he has surely found his way to heaven.
All carved images were destroyed during the Reformation, and most of the country’s stained glass is a Victorian revival. At Holy Trinity, 10 percent of the medieval windows survive; This is a significant amount. “We’re restoring eight stalls, costing £100,000 each,” Simon explained, pointing at some of the stalls: an exquisite Pietà, assorted Cloptons, two Norfolk duchesses, the alleged inspiration for John Tenniel’s Queen of Hearts illustrations . Alice in Wonderland.
I then continued on to Clopton, visiting Kentwell and entering a lemon-lined street where tanks and artillery were stored when the hall was requisitioned in the Second World War. The hall itself is a magnificent moated Tudor pile, charming in soft red brick and rich in background.
It is currently owned by Patrick and Judith Phillips, who bought it in 1971 when it was virtually abandoned. Restoration efforts have been heroic, especially in the gardens, which are now a parkland, a playground filled with cedars of Lebanon, a yew castle, a potter and the Pied Piper topiary; Judith’s pruning takes one week a year. During my winter visit, it was quiet and the gardens were open to the snowdrop trail. But in season, the old forge is set on fire and the furnace is filled for days of impressive re-creation.
There are a few big signs so far. What about the rest of the village? I turned back to walk the long street. To begin with, there were some nice houses; The average price for those around The Green is currently £825,000. How times change: In June 1381, 10,000 poor people, a phalanx of the Peasants’ Revolt of Wat Tyler, were resting here.
As I walked further into the village, via the National Trust’s Melford Hall and across Chad Brook, outside one of the first gates I passed was a table selling blueberry jam in cloth-covered jars to support the local library. Soon came the Bull Inn, built in the 15th century and hosting travelers including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who stayed there in 1969.
It took a while to walk the entire street; vintage stores, vegetable delicatessens, art galleries and tea rooms caught my attention. Even the charity shop looked as chic as a boutique. And of course there are businesses (Cooperatives, hairdressers) that make this place self-sufficient. Really nice and useful.
“Long Melford has changed so much in the last 20 years,” councilor John Nunn explained later when I asked how it had managed to thrive while other villages had not. “But people move here because they love the area and they integrate into the Melford way of life quite easily. We now have a plan which we hope will help regulate future development and retain Long Melford’s charm and appeal. We believe Long Melford has what it takes to be a quintessential English village.” We believe.”
how to
The author is hosted by the Black Lion Inn (01787 312356; theblacklionlongmelford.com), which doubles bed and breakfast from £89pn.
Melford Antiques, Interiors & Lifestyle Center and Pullmans tea room are open daily (01787 323626; melfordantiquesandinteriors.co.uk).
Holy Trinity is open every day; Guided tours can be booked in advance (longmelfordchurch.com).
Kentwell Hall is open on various dates from mid-February to October; check the website; tickets start from £14.10 per person (01781 310207; kentwell.co.uk).
Long Melford Museum and Heritage Center is open on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from April to October and is free to visit (01787 313496; melfordheritage.org.uk).
See visit-burystedmunds.co.uk