520 



ENCROACHMENTS OF THE SEA ON 



[Ch. XX. 



to documents, beginning with. Doomsday Book, that the cliffs 

 at Dunwich, Southwold, Eastern, and Pakefield, have been 

 always subject to wear away. At Dunwich, in particular, two 

 tracts of land which had been taxed in the eleventh cen- 

 tury, in the time of King Edward the Confessor, are men- 

 tioned, in the Conqueror's survey, made but a few years 



* 



afterwards, as having been devoured by the sea. The losses, 

 at a subsequent period, of a monastery, — at another of several 

 churches, — afterwards of the old port, — then of four hundred 

 houses at once, — of the church of St. Leonard, the high-road, 

 town-hall, gaol, and many other buildings, are mentioned, 

 with the dates when they perished. It is stated that, in the 

 sixteenth century, not one quarter of the town was left stand- 

 ing ; yet the inhabitants retreating inland, the name was 

 preserved, as has been the case with many other ports when 

 their ancient site has been blotted out. There is, however, 

 a church, of considerable antiquity, still standing, the last of 

 twelve mentioned in some records. In 1740, the laying open 

 of the churchyard of St. Nicholas and St. Erancis, in the 

 sea-cliffs, is well described by Gardner, with the coffins and 

 skeletons exposed to view — some lying on the beach, and 



rocked 



In cradle of the rude imperious surge, 



Of these cemeteries no remains can now be seen. Ray also 



says 



gs make 



and a half to the east of Dunwich, the site of which must at 

 present be so far within the sea. ? *" This city, once so flourish- 

 ing and populous, is now a small village, with about twenty 

 houses, and one hundred inhabitants. 



There is an old tradition, ' that the tailors sat in their shops 



Yar 



Nes 



tween these places, we cannot give credit to the tale, which, 



much 



prom 



their taste for the marvellous. 



Gardner's description of the cemeteries laid open by the 



* ( 'onsequences of the Deluge, Phys. Theol. Discourses. 



