Suffolk medieval buildings

 I've recently been to Suffolk for a week and while there I visited Leiston Abbey, well the remains of it  anyway. It's a pretty impressive ruin and I would recommend it if you are in the area, plus it's free and there is a classical music centre for gifted youths that make it quite pleasant having a wander around!

It's a poor area for stone, so most of it is built of flint faced with stone and the stone and some columns of an earlier Abbey were reused.  I thought the black and white stone patterning was interesting and might be worth applying to a suitable church, I'm a bit dissatisfied with my large mdf church, it might get a makeover! I fancy doing some medieval ecclesiastical buildings so maybe I'll do that instead!

Also in Suffolk but much closer to Essex is Lavenham which in the 15th century was one of the wealthiest towns in England, by the 16th century the wool trade had been undermined by cheap foreign imports ,they got hit by the plague just as they were getting back on  their  feet and the town never really recovered ,sounds surprisingly current, or is that just me?! At least one benefit was that no-one could afford to update their housing which means there is a fantastic collection of medieval timber framed buildings and a nice 15th century church, there's more than 300 listed buildings in this small town and it's been used in films from Witchfinder General, Barry Lyndon to Harry Potter. 

The black and white look isn't really kosher,it's more of a Victorian affectation, the silver finish is  more correct and the panels weren't always white. 

So maybe I should make my church look more like this?! Next up? I've acquired a pile of painted 17th century figures, I might show those before I rebase them? No painting but plenty of prep and a bit of terrain work. 

All the best 

Iain