Dunwich, Heathland and Westleton Walks

What is left of All Saints' graveyard perches near the cliff edge. All Saints itself, originally 13th-century, was the last medieval church to perish, finally going under the sea in 1919. Just one headstone remains in the churchyard: that of Jacob Foster, who departed this life March 12th 1796, aged 38 years. How long it will remain before being claimed by the sea itself is unknown.

Turning inland, the path follows Middlegate, one of the main roads serving the medieval town. The bridge over Middlegate was put up in the 1800s by the Barne family to link two parts of their estate; the Barnes built most of the present village, erecting houses with Tudor chimneys and leading lights.

About half a mile beyond the village, the route comes onto heathland with Dunwich Heath, belonging to the National Trust, off to the left. Most of the heath and woodland here belongs to Minsmere, much of which is one of the RSPB's best-known nature reserves.

The route goes in a north-easterly direction through woods and heath — much of it known as the Westleton Walks, named after Dunwich's neighboring village of Westleton — and then heads back towards Dunwich across open heathland. It eventually comes out by the parish church of St James, built in 1830 to replace All Saints (which had already been abandoned); a buttress from the doomed medieval church stands in the graveyard.

Also in the graveyard is a ruined chapel, part of the 12th-century leper hospital that once occupied the site. In the Middle Ages, these hospitals (lazar houses) were very common, but their function was isolation rather than treatment.

Finally, you go through the village along St James Street. Notice the Old School on the left and, on the right, the museum and the Ship Inn, formerly the Barne Arms.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.