Greyfriars was not the only religious foundation in Dunwich. Image from an information board at the site showing an artist’s impression of how the priory may have looked in its heyday The Franciscan friars were popular in Dunwich their acts of charity benefitted the town’s poor and vulnerable people and many wealthy people left the friary bequests which probably helped to fund the impressive buildings that graced the site by the end of the 14th Century. Perhaps the friars relocated at that time due to their previous quarters getting precariously close to the cliff edge.ĭespite Dunwich’s decline as a port in the later medieval period, the friary continued to prosper, probably at least in part because its 14th Century stone buildings were further away from the sea than the other buildings that were gradually falling off the cliffs as they eroded. The friary was founded at the end of the 12th Century, possibly on a different site closer to the sea, and the stone buildings are thought to date from the late 14th Century. The height of the remaining walls gives the visitor some idea of how large and imposing the complex must have been when it was newly-built – this was a wealthy place, sturdily built in stone. It’s thought these ruins are from the old refectory and kitchens that served the site. The ruins of this Franciscan friary are some of the final remaining relics of what was once a thriving and significant port – an ancient settlement that today is sometimes dubbed “Britain’s Atlantis” due to most of its medieval fabric now lying beneath the North Sea.Īpart from the impressive archways at the friary’s entrance, a few walls and archways survive from the old building. Two impressive archways welcome the motorist into Dunwich, a sign between them proclaiming that they are a part of Greyfriars, Dunwich’s medieval friary. But in the grounds of its Victorian church, and in a field on the edge of the villages, are ruins that suggest a more propserous past. There’s a beach, a place to buy ice cream, a little museum, a pleasant old pub that draws visitors from miles around. The tiny village of Dunwich clings to the edge of the Suffolk coast and is in many ways a pretty but unremarkable place, a sleepy settlement a long way from any large towns.
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