Thirteenth century friary ruins on the Suffolk coast
Managed by the Dunwich Greyfriars Trust, this is one of the most important ancient monuments in Suffolk
Managed by the Dunwich Greyfriars Trust, this is one of the most important ancient monuments in Suffolk
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Greyfriars in the mid 1700s with a brick façade. The Downing family had converted the central monastery ruins into a house, which was also used as the Town Hall and a jail.
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| Early 19th century, ruins of All Saints in the background. The Barne family, succeeding the Downings, removed their façade but used the old buildings for farming. All Saints had been abandoned in the 1750s, as it was too big and expensive for the village to maintain. It's remains finally dropped over the eroding cliff top between 1904 and 1920, but one remaining gravestone from its churchyard still stands on the cliff edge. |  |
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Central ruin - north face. All additions later than the Tudor period have now been removed. The standing remains are believed to have been the refectory wing of the monastery. |
| South wall before 2013 restoration, tree growing within it. All the perimeter walls were in poor condition before this date. Considerable effort (and expense) has since gone into repairing them and preventing further deterioration. |  |
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Reused gargoyle in South wall. Many of the walls have been repaired and reconstructed over the centuries and the builders often used architectural fragments salvaged from older buildings. We do not know whether this gargoyle originally came from the demolished monastery church or one of the many other churches in medieval Dunwich. |
| Western gates onto Monastery Hill. The two gates, one for carts the other for pedestrians, date from the late 14th/early 15th centuries. Note the fine knapped flint facing and the niches beside the smaller gate where statues would originally have stood. |  |
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Greyfriars Wood in summer - a haven for wildlife and a tranquil place to stroll. |
| Thanks to Jason Durrant for this photo, taken in March 2019. This is the Scutum region of the Milky Way, rising in the pre-dawn skies above the Monastery and showing well due to the low light pollution over Dunwich. |  |
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Thanks to Clare Pooley for this one of a fungus starting to consume the stump of a dead Elm in Greyfriars Wood. We will check its progress over time. Can anyone identify it for us? |
