Secret Shops We Love - Stephen Walters & Sons

You might wonder why there are no visuals with this post. That’s because the exterior of Stephen Walters & Sons doesn’t look that promising and unless you are a nosy journalist like me, you can’t go inside the main building. The adjoining mill shop, which is open to the public, looks like nothing much really.

The lesson here is never judge a book by its cover or, indeed, a fabulous gem by its dull industrial exterior. Stephen Walters & Sons has been weaving silk for nine generations (yes nine - counting right back to 1720). Here, silk is woven into cloths of wonder for basically every big name in the fashion and interiors business. I’m sworn to secrecy on who the company works for, so why don’t you think of a list of top ten fashion designers yourself and you won’t be far off the mark. As for interiors fabrics, silks that cost hundreds of pounds a metre, by the very top names, are created here. And did I mention Royal houses? No of course not, because there’s no naming of names.

The mill shop is now officially my favourite shop in England because the prices are such that we mere mortals can shop up a storm. So if you are tempted to release your inner Russian Oligarch and upholster that old sofa in the most exquisite, lustrous golden silk imaginable, this is your store. Or if you fancy whipping up something fabulous, in the sort of fabric one sees at haute couture, this is your place.

The challenge is that the Stephen Walters Mill shop is in Sudbury, Suffolk, so you are unlikely to be just passing by. But it’s worth a day trip or even overnight from London. Lovely Lavenham, home to the famous Swan Inn, is one of the prettiest towns in England and just six miles away should you be looking for a bed for the night.

Stephen Walters & Sons, Sudbury Silk Mills, Cornard Street, Sudbury, Suffolk CO102XB. +004 (0) 1787 372266; http://www.stephenwalters.co.uk/

The Swan Hotel, High Street, Lavenham, Suffolk, CO10 9QA. + 01787 247477; http://www.theswanatlavenham.co.uk/