Dunwich

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Dunwich (Template:IPA2) is a town in the county of Suffolk in England, the remnant of what 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. Dunwich was one of the largest ports in eastern England, with a population of around 3,000, eight churches, five houses of religious orders, three chapels and two hospitals. The main exports were wool and grain, and the main imports were fish, furs and timber from Iceland and the Baltic region, cloth from the Netherlands, and wine from France.

Over time, the rivers silted up, and Dunwich was lost to the sea over a period of two to three hundred years through a form of coastal erosion known as long-shore drift. Buildings on the present day cliffs were once a mile inland and the village no longer has a significant natural harbour.

Most of the original buildings have disappeared, including all eight churches (a new church, All Saints, was built in the 19th century) and Dunwich is now a small coastal "village", though retaining its status as a town. However, the remains of a Franciscan priory and a building constructed as a hospice for lepers can still be seen. A local legend says that at certain tides, church bells can still be heard from beneath the waves.

As a legacy of its previous significance it retained the right to send two Members to Parliament until 1832, making it an example of a rotten borough.

The village now lies between the birdwatching areas of Dunwich Heath (to the north, towards Walberswick and Southwold) and Minsmere (to the south, towards Sizewell).

Dunwich is the destination of the annual semi-organized bicycle ride, the Dunwich Dynamo, which leaves Hackney in London on the Saturday night closest to the full moon in July and arrives in Dunwich on the Sunday morning.

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