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Dunwich is a place that my family like to visit in winter. Then,
you can walk along the lonely shingle beneath the cliffs, with the
wind coming in off the sea. It is easy to imagine that a whole town
could disappear, for that is what happened here. It happened
elsewhere along this coast as well, of course, and many churches
were lost in villages from here to the Orwell.
The difference with Dunwich is that it had six parish churches, as
well as several other ex-parochial ones; these disappeared over the
centuries one by one, until only All Saints was left, alone on a
cliff top. It was only used for baptisms and funerals, and for
nearly eighty years, Dunwich had no parish church at all; this, at
a time when it was still electing two Members of Parliament! You
can read the story of these churches, and their destruction, on the
entry for All Saints.
West of the church of All Saints, and outside the limits of the
town, were the Greyfriars Monastery, and the leper hospital of St
James. As a consequence, ruins of these two institutions survive
today, and it was in the grounds of the leper hospital that the
Diocese of Norwich built a new parish church for the area in
1832.
It was in a grindingly classical style, quite out of keeping with
all Suffolk tradition, despite the casual addition of a round
tower. The architect was Robert Appleton. Few pictures of this
church survive; over the next few years, the awakening of interest
in ecclesiastical history, and the influence of the Oxford
Movement, led to a complete transformation of the new church; by
the 1860s, its tower had been replaced, and the body of the church
encased in flint. To look at it today, one would never imagine that
it had ever been anything else.
Simon Knott.
The cache can be found at N52 1A.BCD E001 3E.FGH
A= There are several info boards within the church grounds. Dunwich
was without a parish chapel for XX years. The first number is
A.
B= Take a look at the nearby war memorial. Webb.Noel.Wm Ward.
Capt.M.C. 1B.8.1917.
C=How many narrow windows are there on the church tower?
D= Look at the info board for the leper chapel. Bottom left hand
pictures shows the ruins in 1D97.
E= On one of the gates. Geoffrey Fairs 4.5.49 21.3.E9
F= Take a seat. Sheila Sutton 19F1-2002.
G= Francis Robinson Esq April G 1843.
H= James Fuller Edwards Aged 9H years.
Happy hunting.
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I
would just ask that you could let
Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church
numbers and names to avoid duplication
To view the church micro stats page, please click here