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Showing posts from September, 2009

The magnificent Blythburgh Church

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The Holy Trinity Church is the parish church of the village of Blythburgh in the Suffolk Coastal area and is known as the 'Cathedral of the Marshes'. Blythburgh was one of the earliest Christian sites in East Anglia. There was a church here in 654, it is thought. When driving along the A12, this church really does stand out, so the name 'Cathedral of the Marshes', really fits. At the time of the Norman Conquest Blythburgh was part of the royal estate and had one of the richest churches in Suffolk, possibly a Saxon minster, with two daughter churches. It was probably the rich parent church that was granted by King Henry I to Augustinian canons some time between 1116 and 1147, becoming the priory of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A daughter church is likely to have been the predecessor of Holy Trinity. It was rebuilt in the 15th century. In the movement to dissolve the monasteries, the suppression of the priory was authorised in 1528 and it was dissolved in 1537. The chur...