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England > East of England > Suffolk

Suffolk is known for its distinctive pink-washed cottages and patchwork countryside, extending from the shingle strand where the land merges into the North Sea through woods, breckland, fenland and cornfields, to the rolling heath at Newmarket. The county's buttressed castles, stately houses and great churches are relics of an absorbing history. Constable used to paint in these parts, though the scenery has changed somewhat with the death of numerous elm trees from the mysterious Dutch Elm Disease that ravaged England a few decades ago. In 1214, Barons assembled at Bury St Edmunds and resolved that Bad King John should be forced to sign the Magna Carta, granting them some respite from his tyranny. Suffolk has a history of seafaring and smuggling.

Click on the headings to find out more: Dunwich, a tiny fishing settlement that can be reached on a little road off the B1125, is one of England's strangest villages. A few houses are all that's left of a "lost city", consigned to the sea by erosion. You can learn all about it at Dunwich Museum in St James's Street. Seat of the powerful East Anglian kings in the 7th century AD, Dunwich reached its zenith in the 12th century. Gradual but relentless erosion of the shoreline, a yard or more a year, finally consumed almost everything. After the insatiable waves swallowed the entire medieval city (including 11 churches), church number 12 (the last remaining) toppled into the brine in 1912. You can glimpse its steeple at low tide, if you look hard and conditions are right. Stand on the cliff at night and it's said you can hear church bells tolling under the sea. To hear the pealing at its clearest, go there at midnight during a full moon, preferably after knocking back four or five stiff gin and tonics. Take care not to fall in.


"Shrine of a King, Cradle of the Law" - so runs the motto of Bury St Edmunds. Tours around the town are conducted by certified Blue Badge guides, including "Brother Jocelin de Brakelond - a Benedictine monk of the 12th Century" and "William Hunter - a Victorian Graveyard Warden and Plantsman". Bury's Cathedral, St Mary's Church and the Manor House are all worth a visit. Saint Edmundsbury Cathedral has a 16th Century nave but was not made a cathedral until 1914. But don't miss the Greene King Brewery. Greene King (its trademark, predictably, is a king in green robes) brews some of the finest beer in these parts. Abbot Ale is a powerful drop indeed, but most drinkable. Just don't drive afterwards.


Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery is the noted architect Robert Adam's only public building in eastern England. Adam is generally known for his fireplaces. The Art Gallery was designed originally as a playhouse.


The remains of an original Norman Castle with Saxon mounds stands in the middle of the market town of Bungay. Odd events happen in these parts. In August 1577, during the morning service at St Mary's Church, a lightning bolt hit the belfry, killing two parishioners and injuring many others. At the same instant, a large black dog (generally held to be the Devil) bounded into church. The dog was thought to come from neighbouring Blythburgh, a rival village whose residents might well harbour that kind of dog.


Herringfleet Marshmill is the last full-size working windmill in England, with four common sails and a tailpole.


Constable Trail. This nine-mile walk through the landscape and villages associated with the artist's childhood and life is worth the effort. If you're feeling less energetic, four shorter walks are available. They start from the little village of Bures. In 1405, not far from Bures, records relate that there appeared "a dragon vast in body with a crested head, teeth like a saw and a tail extending to enormous length". The dragon breathed out a huge blast of fire, which cooked a shepherd and his entire flock, and although valiant men of Bures attacked it with arrows, it disappeared into the reeds. Never fear - it's probably dead by now.


Ipswich, a rich trading port in medieval times, offers plenty of imposing Victorian buildings. The Wet Dock - biggest in Europe when it opened in 1845 - is tranquil and pleasant. Tolly Cobbold is the beer they drink around here - the brewery is a magnificent Victorian establishment. Guided tours (with tastings) are available.


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