In the late 11^th century, Bury St Edmunds grew into a town of about 4,000; large for the time. It was a wool manufacturing town. The wool was woven and fulled, a process being pounded in a mixture of clay and water to clean and thicken it.

Bury St Edmunds was also an important market town: the two annual fairs or markets attracting merchants from a wide area. It is likely that our Merchant’s House belonged to a wealthy local man. The building has the typical medieval timber frame with a central hall, reaching to the roof with each wing being used for storage and general household tasks.

This would have been a much better house than most at the time. Many of the original features are visible today.