Long Melford Travel Guide

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Holy Trinity church was built during the 15th Century, with the exception of its tower - a very recent addition that was added as late as 1903. The church is huge, a typical statement by the medieval wool and cloth merchants that funded its building, using it as an oportunity to display their wealth. A large, sprawling churchyard surrounds it, with farmland and Tudor Kentwell Hall beyond. There is lots to see inside, together with the now seemingly obligatory gift-shop found in such notable churches.

Kentwell Hall is a magnificent moated Tudor building set in extensive grounds. A long, tree-lined avenue leads you to what is a privately-owned family home, but one very open and accessable to the public - open air concerts, Tudor recreation days and ghost tours are regular features in the Kentwell Hall calendar. I spent a wonderful evening here once, enjoying an open air performance of the opera La Bohem, with a picnic, champagne and a huge umbrella to keep off the summer rain.

A lot of the rooms in the house are open for public viewing, and the Tudor kitchens are so interesting, especially on the Tudor-themed recreation days when the staff wear period costume. There is also a brick maze, a rare breeds farm, and gardens to explore.

Favorite thing: This beautiful Tudor brick building sits just outside Holy Trinity church. The Hospital of the Undivided Trinity was built in the 1570s by Sir William Cordell, who lived in nearby Kentwell Hall, and served both both Mary and Elizabeth Tudor as queens. He built it as a hospital for "twelve poor men and two servants" and amazingly it is still used as a hospital to this day.