Aldeburgh and The Scallop

Aldeburgh is one of my favourite seaside town as it has many varied things to see, apart from beach and sea! These range from Maggi Hambling’s The Scallop, to a lighthouse in the town and a great Moot Hall. So, on another glorious day, we started our tour with a walk along by the river, and then explored the town. I must confess that some of the images were from a previous visit!

With your back to the river, this is your view of the town, as you start the riverside walk. Very pleasant too, with many birds (if you are lucky)

Fort Green Mill is a tower mill at which has been converted to residential accommodation, and was built in 1824. It was converted into a house in 1902.It was a four storey tower mill and had four patent sails and the domed cap was winded by a fantail. It had two pairs of millstones. Earlier photographs of the working mill shows that the sails were double patents carried on a cast iron wind shaft and the fantail had six blades. 

The lookout 

Copied from "Visit Suffolk" - The bonds between Aldeburgh, art, and the sea have always been strong ones. The Aldeburgh coastline has captured the hearts of many artists through the centuries, and when international art dealer Caroline Wiseman first set eyes on the dramatic landscape, she too found herself entranced by its siren call.Caroline has spent over 25 years working in the art world and has established successful open-house galleries in New York, London and Aldeburgh. She bought the Lookout, an extraordinary nineteenth century tower on the seafront, which came with a home on Crag Path adjacent, on the proviso that it must be used for artistic purposes. 

Benjamin Britten also famously did much of his composing on Aldeburgh beach. Citing artists’ retreat the Lightning Field in New Mexico as her inspiration, Caroline set about turning the Lookout into a place where both established and exciting up-and-coming artists could come and be seized by that same magic. 

Since 2011 Caroline has been offering week-long residencies at the Lookout, the rules of which are simple; firstly the artist must create new work over the course of the week, and secondly they must spend one full night in the tower. 

What a great idea! 

The Old Custom House, listed as 1703, has a fascinating raised front door but no-one is able to explain why. The two big ground-floor windows seem out of scale and were a late addition. 

Not sure of this cottage, but just loved the look. 

Perhaps one of the smallest houses you’ll ever see, right on the seafront in Aldeburgh, in the car park behind 152 High Street, is this tiny building. Consisting of a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom, the house is the width of one parking space. Recently, a walled garden was added, taking the width of an adjacent car park. 

The Scallop, this iconic image of the Suffolk Coast arrived on Aldeburgh beach in 2003, courtesy of local artist, Maggi Hambling. The sculpture was set up to commemorate Benjamin Britten and displays a quote from Britten’s Peter Grimes ‘I hear those voices that will not be drowned’. 

Hambling, who was brought up in Hadleigh, Suffolk, first studied at the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing 1962-4 and then at the Ipswich School of Art before moving to London where she would soon achieve worldwide acclaim. 

The quote from Britten’s Peter Grimes ‘I hear those voices that will not be drowned’. 

Yes, it can be windy on the beach! 

Moot Hall, the well known, timbered frame building near Aldeburgh seafront. It was built sometime during the early 16th century as a Council Chamber and Market Cross. Later, it was named Moot Hall, and the tall chimneys were added. 

Originally, it opened on to the town market - the arcade of four arches on the ground floor were filled in with brick by the Victorians, but would have originally been open, with space for market stalls beneath, as well as a pair of prison cells! When the infamous Witch finder General, Matthew Hopkins, was hired by the burgesses of Aldeburgh to search the town in 1646, six local women were found guilty and held in the cells at the hall until they ‘confessed’ to their crimes. They were hanged on specially constructed gallows. The houses between the marketplace and the shore have long since been swept into the sea.Today, Moot Hall is home to Aldeburgh Museum. 

The Church of St Peter and St Paul, Aldeburgh. 

There was a church here at the time of the Domesday Book, but the current church of St Peter and St Paul is largely an early 16th-century building, with an earlier 14th-century tower. There may have been an even earlier Saxon church at Aldeburgh, but if so, only limited traces of that building now remains in the altered roof line of the current church. 

As mentioned, the tower is the oldest part of the church, and it is such a notable local landmark hat it was used for many years by mariners to pilot their ships. 

Internally, the oldest feature of the church is the font, which dates to around 1320. You can see that several of the carved panels have been defaced; this destruction took place in 1643 when a local man named Thomas Johnson aided the famed iconoclast William Dowsing in destroying '20 cherubim and 38 pictures' as well as taking a sword to the carvings on the font. 

Johnson is buried in the floor before the altar - a strange honour perhaps, for a man who destroyed much historic architecture at Aldeburgh, but such was life during the Reformation! 

Before Johnson and Dowsing were active, the church was the scene of a much happier event. In 1573 a group of travelling actors gave a performance here. The troupe was known as the Earl of Leicester's Men, and they would later count among their number a certain young actor and playwright called William Shakespeare 

The south porch adjoins the pavement, and has arches in its east and west walls to allow processions to pass within the precincts of the graveyard. This was built by the Holy Trinity gild, right on the eve of the Reformation. 

The very well-preserved oaken parish chest 

The Benjamin Britten memorial window 

It is by the artist John Piper, in stained glass, and shows images from three of his church parables: The Prodigal Son, Curlew River, and The Burning Fiery Furnace. It sits in the north aisle, and gets enough light to fill the aisle with colour.

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The ghosts of Covehithe

Covehithe is a hamlet which lies on the North Sea coast around 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Southwold and 7 miles (11 km) south of Lowestoft. 

In the Middle Ages Covehithe prospered as a small town (no signs of that today!) It takes its modern name from the de Cove family who held land there at that time, and the fact that it had a hithe, or quay, for loading and unloading small vessels.There is also archaeological evidence of the linen industry having been carried out at Covehithe until the 18th century.

So that`s where the wealth came from, like many ports on the coast, but now you could be forgiven for not knowing the village existed at all.

A walk along the beach on a gorgeous day, gives you some idea of how deserted the area has become today.. It is just so peaceful on a day like this but, I reckon, very scary in stormy seas. 

The coastline in the Covehithe area suffers from the highest rate of erosion in the UK, and the settlement has suffered significant loss of land and buildings in the past. By the 17th century in fact, it had fallen victim, like nearby Dunwich, to coastal erosion. 

There were, about 10 years ago (2009), many trees standing like sentinels along the beach. Great to photograph - but now gone ! 

The large church of St Andrew, which had been built on the back of its wealth, was largely pulled down, although its tall tower remains, and a smaller church was erected among the ruins in 1672. (below) 

The west end of the 17th-century church is built against the tower. Its fabric includes much material re-used from the older church, and some brick. Its roof is thatched. 

Plain and simple.  Both the north and the south doorways have been re-used. The east window dates from the 19th century. At the west end are 15th-century pews with poppy-head carving. The wooden pulpit contains some 17th-century carving. 

The church has this 15th-century carved octagonal font. 

Walking around the ruins it is somewhat difficult to imagine the wealth which built this massive church. However, this was not uncommon in the middle ages. Much wealth was accumulated by the churches, which came to an end when Henry thought the church had far too much, and he and his mates could use it better. Like fighting the French etc! 

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More ghosts - Walberswick

The Suffolk village of Walberswick has a long history as a busy port and centre for maritime trade. As early as the 13th century the harbour at the mouth of the River Blyth was a thriving centre for trade in bacon, timber, cheese, and corn. and with good access to offshore fishing banks the port was a thriving centre for the fishing trade as well.

For many years Walberswick languished in the shadow of Dunwich, 3 miles to the south, but coastal erosion and silting meant that the port at Dunwich lost its importance by the late 13th century, and as Dunwich faded into obscurity Walberswick began to flourish.

The villagers grew wealthy on the trade passing through the port, and built an imposing church, dedicated to St Andrew, to rival the nearby churches at Southwold and Blythburgh.

Unfortunately, silting of the harbour and the effects of erosion along the coast meant that the heady days of Walberswick's trade were numbered. By the late 17th century the villagers could no longer maintain their large church. They were forced to pull it down, sell the lead and three of their four bells to raise enough money to erect a small church that fit inside the old medieval south aisle. You can still explore the ruins of the medieval church, well inland of the port on the road to Blythburgh.

First thing to note (as I like village signs) is the sign with the ship on it. A reminder of the past history which made it wealthy.

This is the 17th century church of St Andrew

...... sitting among the ruins of the older, grander Church.

The inside of St Andrews, simpler than, I suspect, the older one was. Courtesy of the puritan 17th century's suspicion of maintaining church buildings in their former glory

On the beach, near the harbour entrance, the waves roll in still, as they have since time immemorial.

The beach lined with sand dunes ...

...and the odd hat!!

Keith ‘Wally’ Webb helped fund this bridge to the beach to enable sea defence work to take place. As a tribute to his many local works, his name was inscribed on it.

‘Wally’ Webb, was also co-Founder (with his brother) of the crabbing competition which ran each year from 1981 to 2010, raising tens of thousands for charities including the old Blythburgh Hospital and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices’ Treehouse Appeal - Seen on a plaque near the beach.

It seems a shame that nearly 50% of the home in the village are now holiday lets, but that seems a trend for many seaside town on this coast. However, it is a beautiful place to visit, and has attracted many well known names such as Philip Wilson Steer and his circle of English Impressionist, as it did Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

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The "Retable" at Thornham Parva

`What on earth is that`? I hear you say - and me too when I heard the name for the first time. A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate structure. 

The church at Thornham Parva, which had a rare quality retable, was not too distant, so I decided to visit when in the locality. Its retable is a 15 feet (4.6 m) long and is thought to have been created in the 1330s for a Dominican Priory. It is the largest surviving altarpiece from the English Middle Ages. 

This retable survived the iconoclastic reformers of the 16th Century, who destroyed much of England's medieval culture, by being removed from its church. It was discovered in 1927 in a wood pile in a loft at Thornham Hall, belonging to a Suffolk landowner, Lord Henniker. He donated it to St Mary's Church, Thornham Parva, where his brother was parson. 

First impression of the church - it is tiny, and it is thatched - tower and all.

The sign near the church

The entrance is through this small Norman doorway on the North side of the church. None of the grand entrance stuff here! 

As you enter and look left, this is the view that greets you - it`s so small!.

This is the main reason I chose to visit here - the retable.The retable is only part of a much larger altarpiece that probably once stood in the Priory at Thetford in Norfolk. The rest of the piece can be found in the Musee de Cluny in Paris. It was rescued and hidden after the Anglican Reformation destroyed the priory, along with so many of England’s treasures. Perhaps it was taken by recusant Catholics to use in their devotions. More likely, it was simply rescued because it is beautiful. From left to right, the figures are St Dominic (Thetford was a Dominican Priory); St Catherine; St John the Baptist; St Paul; a rood group of the Blessed Virgin, Christ and St John; St Peter; St Edmund; St Margaret; St Peter Martyr (another Dominican). 

The retable dates from the height of the Decorated period, in the decades before the Black Death, so in the period about 1280-1380. 

When you enter the church, this 18 c balcony is above your head, apparently there are no others in Suffolk. 

As if the retable were not enough, the walls of St Mary are lined with some of Suffolk’s most fascinating wall-paintings. They rank with those at Wissington, and date broadly from the early years of the 14th century, and are in two ranges; on the south wall is the story of the early years of Christ. On the north wall is the martyrdom of St Edmund. This is amazingly rare; fragments survive not far off at Troston, but there is only one other sequence of the martyrdom surviving in the whole of the Kingdom. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to get any good images so will perhaps try another day. 

In the churchyard I found the grave to Sir Basil Spence who was famous for, among other things, the new Coventry Cathedral, the commission which made him the best known modern architect in the country for the remainder of his lifetime. Was not sure of his link to this small church, until I discovered that he lived up the road at Yaxley. 

A village appears non existent now, this church being one of the last vestiges of a once thriving area. I believe that in 2005 there were only 50 people in the village and the census now includes its population with the next door village. In a way, a bit sad. 

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Bramfield church with its detached tower

On wander in north Suffolk, we had intended to visit the thatched church at Bramfield.

However, on arriving, the first thing which grabbed our attention wasn`t the church. It was a  crinkle crankle wall, also known as a crinkum crankum, serpentine, ribbon or wavy wall, is an unusual type of garden wall. The crinkle crankle wall economizes on bricks, despite its sinuous configuration, because it can be made just one brick thin, also known as a crinkum crankum, serpentine, ribbon or wavy wall. It is an unusual type of garden wall. The crinkle crankle wall economizes on bricks, despite its sinuous configuration, because it can be made just one brick thin.

The crinkle crankle wall

Opposite is the glorious thatched church of St.Andrew with its attractive lytchgate. St.Andrew's, together with St.Peter's at nearby Thorington, are both round tower churches of which there are less than fifty throughout Suffolk. The round tower at Bramfield is over thirteen metres high with a wall thickness of over a metre and houses five bells, three of which date from 1440. However, Bramfield St.Andrew is unique in Suffolk in that here the round tower is completely detached from the body of the church. Remarkably, it is thought that the tower has always stood alone as there is no evidence to the contrary.

Note the lovely thatched roof. 

Another view, this time from the rear.

One of the first features which catches the attention, is the Rood Screen. The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jube) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron. The rood screen would originally have been surmounted by a rood loft carrying the Great Rood, a sculptural representation of the Crucifixion. At Wells Cathedral the medieval arrangement was restored in the 20th century, with the medieval strainer arch supporting a rood, placed in front of the pulpitum and organ. Rood screens can be found in churches in many parts of Europe. However, in Catholic countries they were generally removed during the Counter-reformation, when the retention of any visual barrier between the laity and the high altar was widely seen as inconsistent with the decrees of the Council of Trent. Accordingly, rood screens now survive in much greater numbers in Anglican and Lutheran churches; with the greatest number of survivals complete with screen and rood figures in Scandinavia.

A close up of the detail, and below are two images from the paintings at the base.

The series of panel paintings originally comprised the Evangelists and four other saints, of which five remain. From left to right, they are: Saints Mark and Matthew, (both repainted). And BELOW, Saints Luke, John and Mary Magdalene. The Magdalen with her jar of ointment is richly dressed in a pale rose robe like a Flemish grand dame, and the paintings may well have come from the same hand as those at Yaxley and Sotherton. 

The beautiful, but poignant,  memorial to Mrs Arthur Coke who died in childbirth in 1627

The Lychgate - Lych is derived from the Old English 'lich', meaning corpse. They were meeting places and shelters for the party bringing a corpse for burial, and for the priest to receive the corpse. Although some had been built earlier, the 1549 Prayer Book required the priest to meet the corpse at the churchyard entrance. This encouraged the provision of lych-gates to shelter the corpse and the funeral party for that purpose. 

Medieval lych-gates were made of timber and most have long since disappeared. 

However, many new lych-gates were erected in Victorian times, sometimes as memorials to prominent local people or as war memorials.

Not sure of the age of this one. 

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Waxwings in Ipswich

"Surprise arrival of rare ‘cartoon birds’ on random Suffolk street causes a stir" so read the headline in a local newspaper this January! 

"But these rare waxwings are causing something of a stir after flying all the way from Scandinavia and randomly picking an Ipswich street to nest for winter.

The 20 or so of the brightly coloured birds are currently camped out on telegraph poles, television aerials and in trees in Defoe Road - picking Suffolk, perhaps surprisingly, for its warmer winter climate.

They have brought with them a flock of their own - in the form of nature lovers with binoculars and cameras, who have travelled from far and wide to capture a glimpse of the rare birds famous for their plump shape and prominent crest.

In scenes watchers have described as something out of a cartoon, the creatures fly down from their perches to eat berries from trees, comically tossing the fruit up in the air before taking a bite."

Waxwings are starling-sized, stout-bodied, short-legged birds with an upstanding, pointed crest. They have black throats, black wings with white, yellow and waxy red markings and yellow-tipped tails.Just one species breeds in Europe and visits the UK erratically in winter during 'irruption years'. Irruptions occur when population increases and shortages of food, particularly rowan berries, in its normal European range trigger large movements of birds to the south and west.

What could we do but join the flock with our cameras, and many layers of warm clothing in the chill morning.?

We had not been waiting very long when down they came! I must confess we were a little surprised to see them that quickly.

The perched on tv aerials, in the trees and then onto the electric poles and wires.

From never having seen one in my life to 15 on an aerial just above me - magic. There were several more near these ones, but the lens only allowed me to see this bunch. All in all a great morning and one to remember for a long time.

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Hoar frost in Layham

On a cold clear morning, fog appeared as if by magic, and just as we were having breakfast. I returned later from a morning walk, and the trees certainly seemed to be turning white, but not to to any  great degree - until we looked closer as the sun started to poke through the mist.

Suddenly, it seemed, the world had turned white! So, armed with cameras we headed out to have a closer look at this beautiful world that had descended.

The view of the trees in front of our bungalow with a brilliant blue sky as a backdrop to this magical Hoar Frost

Hoar frost forms when the water vapour in the air comes into contact with solid surfaces that are already below freezing point. Ice crystals form immediately, and the ice continues to grow as more water vapour is frozen. On a still night, it can grow well on tree branches, where the surface temperature is unlikely to rise above zero for many hours.

The size of the frost that forms is dependent on how much water vapour is available to ‘feed’ the ice crystals as they grow. Hoar frost has a very distinctive appearance as it forms hair-like or feathery structures as it grows. 

The Layham Playing Field, looking toward the Conservation area. All these images were taken within 200 meters of our bungalow.

Ice on the Brett and the mist dispersing in the background.

 A mist view toward our bungalow

It is difficult to appreciate, but this white wonderland completely disappeared within the hour!

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