COGGESHALL

Coggeshall A large village now, but a town in the Middle Ages, situated about seven miles east of Braintree. It was granted a charter to hold a market by Henry III in 1256, this being held on Market Hill in the town centre.

The two-sided woodcarved sign stands on the opposite side of the road from the 15th-century church of St.Peter. It was carved by G.R.Nield and was erected in 2000 to commemorate the millennium. One side shows a monk from Coggeshall Abbey, which was founded in 1140 by King Stephen and Queen Matilda, originally for the Savigny Order. This order was merged with the Cistercians seven years later and the abbey continued to flourish until the Dissolution in 1539, after which it fell into decay until being partly restored in the 1860’s. The monks kept sheep, as the sign shows, and these formed the basis for the wool trade which made the area extremely prosperous in the Middle Ages.

Chief amongst the wool merchants were the Paycocke family. They moved to Coggeshall in the 15th-century and built a house in the town which is still standing, now owned by the National Trust. The Paycockes were originally sheep farmers but later became clothiers and were responsible for developing the cloth trade in the town. The other side of the sign shows Thomas Paycocke tending his loom.

Written by Ken Savage, VSS Member