Sandlings Walk: Dunwich to Southwold

Dunwich and the friary

Dunwich is now a sleepy little village, situated where the shingle bank that stretches south from Walberswick reaches the cliffs. Nowadays it consists of little more than a hotel, a few houses and a museum, but once was an important port at the mouth of the River Blyth. The main trades were grain and wool out to the continent, whilst wine, cloth and timber would be bought into the country. A storm in 1286 caused shingle to block the harbour's entrance and forced the mouth of the River Blyth to move northwards to its current position, reducing the village's importance as a port.

Yet the village is famous for erosion rather than deposition. Dunwich was the capital of East Anglia in Saxon times, showing its importance to the area. The 1286 storm also started the erosion that has led to the vast majority of the town being lost to the sea. Of its eight churches none remain (the current church being a Victorian addition that was sensibly built a long way inland). The last to be lost, All Saints, was finally lost to the sea in 1919. Legend has it that its bells can sometimes be heard ringing from beneath the waves.

Perched perilously near the edge of the cliffs are the ruins of Greyfriars, a Franciscan Priory. This was originally much further to the east but was abandoned in 1328, less than a century after it was founded. The current ruins are of its replacement, and it can only be so long before these ruins are also lost to the sea.

Dunwich museum has many interesting displays about the history of the village, including a fascinating model of the village at its height. The village retained the right to return two members to Parliament until the Great Reform Act of 1832, making it one of the infamous 'Rotten Boroughs'.

There is a large car park behind the beach, near which is a good cafe. There is also a hotel / pub in the centre of the village.

Dunwich Forest

The Dunwich Forest is a large area of coniferous and deciduous woodland situated to the northwest of the village of Dunwich, a little way inland from the sea. Work started on the forest in 1920 to produce wood in case of war; Douglas Fir, Scots and Corsican Pine all thrived in the sandy soil, yet destroyed the natural ecosystem.

The forest is now jointly run by the Forestry Commission, the RSPB and the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, who are currently implementing a scheme to return much of the forest back to a wilder form, as it was before the conifers were planted. As part of this process some of the woodland is being returned to lowland heath. There is a four-mile waymarked walk through the north of the woods and the Sandlings Walk makes an indirect route round its southern and western edges.

Walberswick

Walberswick is a small village situated to the south of the mouth of the River Blyth. It was once a major port, having gained when Dunwich to the south lost much of its trade due to erosion. Trade only really petered out in the early years of the twentieth century, late enough for leisure craft to rapidly take over.

A long shingle beach stretches southwestwards from Walberswick; the three miles to Dunwich protect low-lying marshes inland. The walk along the shingle to Dunwich is hard going and can be rewarding, especially if you take time to watch the birds on the marshes. The village is now justifiably very popular with tourists, and many of the properties in the village are used as holiday homes by the rich and famous.

The River Blyth acts as a barrier to the north. You can cross it either using the footbridge a mile upstream, or by using a foot ferry nearer the mouth that operates during the summer months. The nearest road bridge over the river is many miles upstream at Blythburgh.

River Blyth

The River Blyth is one of the several winding tidal rivers on the east Suffolk coast. Its mouth is situated immediately to the south of Southwold and the first mile forms Southwold Harbour, the uppermost extent of which is defined by a pedestrian bridge over the river (which replaced one belonging to the Southwold Railway).

The stretch of river downstream of Blythburgh is dominated by the Angel and Bulcamp marshes, large expanses of tidal mud flats. The river originally had a much narrower defined course, but the banks burst during the 1953 North Sea floods and were not repaired. Therefore the footpaths shown on the map across the marshes are not necessarily passable.

Upstream of Blythburgh the river becomes freshwater as it heads towards its source near Halesworth.

The Southwold railway

3-foot gauge Southwold Railway was built in 1879 to connect the seaside town with the main railway network at Halesworth station. The arrival of motor busses, the non-standard gauge and the rather eccentric rolling stock led to the closure of the line in 1929. The main piece of engineering was the swing-bridge over the River Blyth near Southwold; this has now been replaced with a long footbridge that allows pedestrians to cross the river. Some good views of the course of the line can be seen from the Sandlings Walk across Walberswick Common, with low brick abutments and gorse-filled shallow cuttings.

The Southwold Railway Trust wanted to rebuild the entire 8.5-mile route of the line; local opposition has led them to pursue smaller aims.

Southwold

Southwold is well known as being an archetypal seaside town; once a busy fishing harbour sheltered in the River Blyth, it declined when nearby Lowestoft became a better option for the larger nineteenth-century boats. As the majority of the fishing fleet left, tourism took over and the town grew into an Edwardian Resort. Fortunately it did not get ruined in the postwar years and now seems almost perfectly timeless, with its pier by the sea, rows of brightly-coloured beach huts and lighthouse high above the town. The sandy beach is popular throughout the year.

Expansion of the town has proved difficult; the south is guarded by the River Blyth, the east by the sea, and the west and the north by Buss Creek, beyond which lies marshland. The high ground around the water tower is home to a golf course. This is probably the reason why the town has remained so gloriously unspoilt; there was no room to expand into.

Southwold lighthouse started guarding the coast in 1890, replacing some earlier lighthouses that were threatened by erosion. Unusually it is situated right in the middle of the town, and the whitewashed tower has become one of the town's main landmarks. Another landmark is the massive 150,000-gallon water tower just outside the town, built in 1937 to replace an earlier structure.

The town is also home to Adnams Brewery. Visits of the brewery are available regularly throughout the season and include a tasting session at the end - it is best to book in advance.

In 1672 the combined English and French fleets fought the Dutch in the Battle of Solebay. This occurred just off the coast of Southwold and ended in an expensive draw. The local museum has many artefacts of the battle.

Southwold Pier

The 623-foot long Southwold pier was originally built in 1900 to serve the steamers that plied the east coast. Like many coastal piers it was sectioned during the war, and despite being repaired after the hostilities ended, it was damaged by gales and neglect. It appeared to be facing the same fate as many coastal piers - continuing decay and demolition - but its owner carefully restored it. It finally reopened in 2001 and is a superb testament to the craftsmen who worked on it. Although there are two arcades on the pier, neither of them have gambling machines (one features weird and whacky machinery), enhancing the pier's and town's Edwardian feel. It is surely the finest jewel in Southwold's crown.