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City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000 info@cityandvillagetours.com
The Famous Flora Tea Rooms
(pictured left) nestle in the dunes of Dunwich Beach.
Dunwich was the capital of East Anglia 1500 years
ago but the harbour and most of the town has since
disappeared due to coastal erosion. At its height this
was one of the largest ports in Eastern England, with
a population of around 5000, 8 churches, 3 chapels,
5 monasteries and 2 hospitals.
In 1286 a large storm swept much of the town into the
sea, and the River Dunwich was partly silted up.
The people fought to save the harbour but this too was
destroyed by an equally fierce storm in 1328. Twenty
years later another large storm swept some 400 houses
into the sea. Dunwich is now a small coastal "village",
though retaining its status as a town. The remains of a
13th century Franciscan priory - Greyfriars - and the
leper hospital of St James are still there.
In 1971 historian Stuart Bacon located the remains
of All Saints' Church a few yards out to sea during
a diving exhibition. Two years later he also found
the ruins of St Peter's Church lost to the sea during
the 18th century.
As a legacy of its previous significance, the
parliamentary constituency of Dunwich retained the
right to send two members to Parliament until the
Reform Act 1832 and was one of Britain's most
notorious rotten boroughs.
Our tour of the Suffolk Coast starts at 10-30am in
Woodbridge, off the A12 just above Ipswich, to buy
morning coffee. Suitably refreshed we head straight for
the sea passing through Orford, an attractive village with
a castle, and Snape with its famous Maltings and on to
Aldeburgh. In this seaside town the Moot Hall, once in the
centre of the town, now teeters on the water’s edge.
We stop here to enjoy the timeless maritime air, see where
the fishermen still sell their catch on the beach and marvel
at the controversial Maggi Hambling sculpture. We pass
through Thorpeness, an eccentric puzzle of mock Tudor
houses and the quirky “House in the Clouds” en route to
The Flora Tea Rooms at Dunwich for lunch.
In the afternoon we continue along the coast to the elegant
little Edwardian resort town of Southwold. Old cottages of
great charm cluster around the gleaming white lighthouse
and candy coloured beach huts line the shore. Join the guide
to explore possibly the finest mediaeval church in England -
the home of “Southwold Jack”. There’s time to enjoy this
jolly seaside town and pick a spot for tea before heading for
home at 4-45pm.
The Suffolk Coastal Tour is available daily until the end of
October. As ever we keep the walking to a manageable
level so that everyone is comfortable. You can read more
about the tour in our current brochure or click
Below: The Pilot’s £50,000 ‘secret’ ingredient!