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Where a village once stood

Dunwich was the capital of East Anglia 1,500 years ago, and was once a prosperous seaport and centre of the wool trade during the early Middle Ages, with a natural harbour formed by the mouths of the River Blyth and the River Dunwich, most of which has since been lost to erosion. Its decline began in 1286 when a sea surge hit the East Anglian coast and it was eventually reduced through coastal erosion to the village it is today.

 

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The Domesday Book of 1086 describes it as possessing three churches. The historian and diver Stuart Bacon, who has made several visits to the seabed in a bid to find the remains of the old town, has found evidence that it may have possessed up to 18 churches and chapels at the height of its fortune during the 12th and 13th centuries.

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Uploaded on July 14, 2008
Taken on July 14, 2008