Lavenham

Virtually unchanged since the height of its wealth in the 15th and 16th centuries, Lavenham is one of the most perfectly preserved examples of a Tudor village in England. The weavers' and wool merchants' houses occupy not just one show street but most of the town. The houses are timber-frame in black oak, the main posts looking as if they could last another 400 years, although their walls are often no longer entirely perpendicular to the ground. The town has many examples of so-called "Suffolk pink" buildings—actually a catch-all term for brightly painted colors, including rose, yellow, and apricot; many of these house small galleries selling paintings and crafts.