Walthamstow: an ideal retreat from the Tudor Court

Five centuries ago Walthamstow was a desirable country village, with some excellent houses and good farmland. It was an ideal location, too, for people who had made money at Court or in London and who wanted an easily accessible refuge. As part of our Walthamstow Notes project, made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, […]

Five centuries ago Walthamstow was a desirable country village, with some excellent houses and good farmland. It was an ideal location, too, for people who had made money at Court or in London and who wanted an easily accessible refuge.

As part of our Walthamstow Notes project, made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have rediscovered the story of a family of musicians who came to England from Venice, recruited to play for Henry VIII as part of his determined bid to bring London into the premier league of European cities. The six Bassano brothers came here and prospered. Two of them bought property in what is now Waltham Forest.

We still have some of the music, and the musical instruments, that they made. And young composers, supported by Waltham Forest Music Service and members of early music group Passamezzo have created their own responses to some of the music of the Bassanos and their contemporaries. These were performed in St Mary’s Church, where the Bassanos and their descendants were part of the congregation for over a hundred years

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