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Southwold
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Southwold is a seaside town in the Waveney district of Suffolk, East Anglia, England, at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is within the parliamentary constituency of Suffolk Coastal.
hwold was mentioned in the Domesday Book as an important fishing port, and it received a town charter from Henry VII in 1489. Over the following centuries a shingle bar built up across the harbour mouth, preventing the town becoming a major port.
Southwold was the home of a number of Puritan emigrants to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early seventeenth century.
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Encyclopedia
Southwold is a seaside town in the Waveney district of Suffolk, East Anglia, England, at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is within the parliamentary constituency of Suffolk Coastal.
History
Southwold was mentioned in the Domesday Book as an important fishing port, and it received a town charter from Henry VII in 1489. Over the following centuries a shingle bar built up across the harbour mouth, preventing the town becoming a major port.
Southwold was the home of a number of Puritan emigrants to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early seventeenth century. Richard Ibrook, born in Southwold and a former bailiff of the town, emigrated to Hingham, Massachusetts, along with Rev. Peter Hobart, son of Edmund Hobart of Hingham, Norfolk. Rev. Hobart was formerly an assistant vicar of Southwold's St. Edmunds Church after his graduation from Magdalene College, Cambridge. (Hobart married as his second wife in America Rebecca Ibrook, daughter of his fellow Puritan Richard Ibrook.) The immigrants to Hingham were led by Robert Peck, vicar of St. Andrews' Church in Hingham and a native of Beccles, Suffolk.
In 1659 a fire devastated most of the town and damaged St Edmunds Church, whose original structure dated from the 12th century. The fire created a number of open spaces within the town which were never rebuilt. Today these greens, and the restriction of expansion because of the surrounding marshes, have preserved its genteel appearance.
On the green just above the beach, descriptively named Gun Hill, the six eighteen-pounder cannon commemorate the Battle of Sole Bay, fought in 1672 between English and French fleets on one side and the Dutch (under Michiel de Ruyter) on the other. The battle was bloody but indecisive and many bodies were washed ashore. Southwold Museum has a collection of mementos of the event.
It has always been held that the cannons were captured from the Scots at Culloden and given to the town by the Duke of Cumberland but they are much larger than those used in that campaign.
Railway
The narrow-gauge Southwold Railway connected to Halesworth and ran from the 24 September 1879 to April 11 1929 (Mitchell and Smith, 1984). In 2007 the Southwold Railway Society submitted to build a new line running between the parish of Easton Bavents and Henham Park, with the intention of creating a link from the town to the nearest mainline service at Halesworth. However, these plans were criticised for having no relation to the original route of the railway and, amongst other reasons, environmental concerns. In July 2007 the plans were rejected by both Waveney and Suffolk Coastal District Councils..
As at December 2008, the Railway Society has introduced a new proposal for a Railway Park, including railway track and a museum, on a site at present occupied by a car-breaker's yard.
Lighthouse
Southwold lighthouse was constructed in 1887 by Trinity House. It stands as a landmark in the centre of the town. It replaced three local lighthouses which were under serious threat from coastal erosion. It began operation in 1890 and was electrified and de-manned in 1938. The lighthouse is unusual in that the light itself is switched on and off in sequence (four flashes every 20 seconds), rather than the more usual lenses to create a rotating beam. Trinity House organises visits during the summer.
Other town features
In 1890 the Adnams Sole Bay brewery was re-built on a site occupied by a brewery since 1660. Notable pubs in the town include the Sole Bay Inn, Lord Nelson, Harbour Inn, Kings Head, Red Lion, The Swan, The Crown, and the Blyth (formerly Pier Avenue) Hotel.
Southwold Pier was built in 1900, was practically destroyed by a gale in 1934, and had a major refurbishment in 2001. Whilst many English seaside piers are in decline, Southwold Pier is enjoying renewed popularity. It includes a collection of modern coin-operated novelty machines made by Tim Hunkin.
The Old Water Tower, which stands proudly in the middle of Southwold Common, was built in 1890. The tank held 40,000 gallons of water and was powered by huge sails. In 1899 The Old Water Tower experienced a tragedy. George Neller, a respected local man, died on St. Valentines Day when his coat got caught in its machinery. In 1937 a new water tower was built next door that was capable of holding 150,000 gallons. The then Southwold Borough Council bought the Old Water Tower before it went into the hands of successive water companies. It was returned to the Town Council for a nominal fee of £100 in 1987. The Old Water Tower has since been used as the Lifeboat Museum and was later used by Adnams for a number of years.
During World War II, the cannons on Gun Hill meant that Southwold gained the status of "fortified town". Despite their being filled with concrete and unable to fire, Southwold became the target of many bombing raids by Germany.
There is a model boat pond just to the North of the pier, where the Southwold Model Yacht Regattas are held during spring and summer months. The Electric Picture Palace cinema was opened in 2002, a pastiche of the original 1912 cinema that stood nearby. The town also contains an Amber Museum.
The Church of St Edmund
The parish church of Southwold is dedicated to . It is a large magnificent church, that has amazing architecture and is lovingly maintained. The whole church was rebuilt in the 15th Century and was and is all under one continuous roof. St Edmund is all of a piece. It was built over about 60 years from the 1430s to the 1490s. It replaced a 13th century, smaller church that had been destroyed by fire. The earlier church dated from when Southwold was a small fishing hamlet of larger . But by the 15th century Southwold was an important town and the church was rebuilt to match its power and wealth. Southwold is renowned for its amazing East Anglian flushwork, especially that of the tower. Knapped and unknapped flints are arranged in patterns, textures and designs and create wonderful stone work. The curving letters over the west window are most famous: SCT. EDMUND ORA P. NOBIS (St Edmund pray for us). Each letter is crowned, and set in knapped flints. The church has a copper clad roof with an easily recognisable bell turret. The bell turret was purely for diplay and never actually contained a bell. The architecture is so magniceint the church is recognised to be one of the finest in the county. Southwold does not have any surviving medieval glass, thanks to in 1644. In fact the only windows in the church that have stained glass are the East windows over the altar and the West window below the grand tower. Southwold is renowned to have what is the finest screen in the county. It stretches all the way across the church, and is three separate screens; a rood screen across the chancel arch and parclose screens across the north and south chancel aisles. The church was narrowly missed by a German bomb in World War 2 that flattened all the houses on St Bartholomew’s Green that is directly in front of the church. The bomb did not do much damage to the building itself but did blow out lots of the windows. This is another reason why the church has very little stained glass. The church was tidied very quickly for the funerals of the people killed by the bomb a short while later. A clock jack stands at the west end. He has an axe and bell which he uses to strike the time. He has a twin at . The Southwold one is special because he has a name - he's called Southwold Jack, and he is one of the symbols of the Adnams brewery. The font has been badly mutilated but is still very impressive with its large ornate cover. The roof is painted in the chancel and the sheer height of it gives the church a very open feeling. The arcades are very impressive and again help give the open welcoming atmosphere. The tower has no parapet and is a very fine piece of architecture, with its large bell openings. The roof of the nave is so high it makes the tower seem shorter than it really is, but it is at least 100 feet high. Southwold church is a must see for any keen church enthusiast or just a casual visitor. The church community life is extremely diverse and makes good use of St Edmunds Hall to the rear of the church. The church is open regualy everyday and there is always someone on hand to help answer your questions and make your visit all the more enjoyable. The Parish of Southwold is part of the , along with the Parishes of , , , , ,, , , , and .
The Church Bells of St Edmunds
Southwold tower contains a ring of 8 bells hung for . The tower held 5 bells in 1553. These bells would have been recast over the years and others added to make the current 8. The current 4th and 5th are likely to be recasts of the originals, being cast in 1668 by John Darbie. The current 3rd was cast in 1820 by William Dobson. In 1828 one bell was recast and a further two added. The bell that was recast is the present tenor which was cast by William Dobson. The 6th and 7th are the bells that where added and are likely to have come from . Both are medieval bells. The 6th was cast around 1538 by William Barker and the 7th was cast by Brasyers of Norwich in approximately 1513. Two trebles where added in 1881 by Moore, Holmes & Mackenzie of Redenhall to bring the total number to 8. The tenor (the largest bell) weighs 10 and ¾ hundredweight or 551kg and the treble (the lightest bell) weighs just over 5 hundred weight. The bells are rung from a ringing chamber some 52 steps up the tower. The chamber has many ringing mementoes remembering the achievements of previous years. The bells themselves hang in a wooden frame at bell opening level. The bells were rehung in 1990 on new fittings in the original strengthened frame by the world famous . There is a large amount of space surrounding the frame which allows easy access and maintenance. The clock uses the 7th bell to strike the hours as it is the oldest bell in the tower. There are no other bells in the tower other than the ringing peal. The tower is affiliated to the . The bells are rung for Sunday services, weddings and other special occasions; and for practise during the week.
Southwold Harbour
Southwold Harbour lies south of the town on the River Blyth. It extends from the river mouth to nearly a mile upstream and serves mainly fishing and small pleasure boats.
Situated at the seaward end of the harbour are the RNLI Lifeboat Shed, and the Alfred Corry Museum. Housed in the former Cromer lifeboat shed, the latter is home to the former Southwold lifeboat "Alfred Corry", which was in service from 1893 to 1918. The boat is currently being restored to her original state.
The river can be crossed on foot or on a bicycle by a public footbridge (partly the old railway bridge) close to The Harbour Inn giving access to the nearby village of Walberswick. This bridge, known as the Bailey Bridge, is based upon the footings of the original railway bridge. It replaced that bridge, which contained a swinging section to allow the passage of wherries and other shipping, and which was largely demolished at the start of the Second World War as a precaution when German invasion was expected.
Towards the mouth of the River Blyth, a rowing boat ferry service runs between the Walberswick and Southwold banks. The ferry has been operated by the same family since the 1920s, when it was a chain ferry that could take cars. The chain ferry ceased working in 1941, but some small vestiges remain at the Walberswick slipway.
The beach is a combination of sand and shingle. In 2005/6 it was further protected by a coastal management scheme which includes beach nourishment, new groynes on the south side of the pier and riprap to the north.
It is overlooked by brightly painted beach huts.
Other notable features
Southwold in popular culture
The fictional Southwold Estate, seat of the equally fictional Earls of Southwold, is the country estate of the family of Lady Marjorie Bellamy in the ITV British drama "Upstairs, Downstairs". The town and its vicinity has been used as the setting for numerous films and television programmes, including "Iris" about the life of Iris Murdoch starring Dame Judi Dench, "Kavanagh QC" starring John Thaw, "East of Ipswich" by Michael Palin and Little Britain with Matt Lucas and David Walliams also a 1969 version of David Copperfield.
Julie Myerson set her 2003 novel about a brutal murder of a young woman, Something Might Happen, in Southwold, or as she described it, "a sleepy, slightly self-satisfied seaside town". The town isn't named in her book, but Myerson stated that setting a murder in the car park did make her feel as if she "was soiling something really good". She holidayed in the town as a child and said in an interview that while everything else in her life had changed, only her mother and Southwold had remained the same. She lives in London but owns a second home in the town.
George Orwell
The writer George Orwell (then known as Eric Blair) spent time as a teenager and in his thirties in Southwold, living at his parents' home. A plaque can be seen next door to what is now the fish and chip shop at the far end of the High Street.
From January to June 1922 he attended a cramming establishment in Southwold to prepare for his Indian Police Service exams and his career in Burma. In 1929 after eighteen months in Paris he returned to the family home at Southwold and spent most of the next five years based at Southwold. He tutored a handicapped child and a family of three boys during this time and wrote reviews and developed Burmese Days. During this period he spent nearly eighteen months teaching in West London until he had a serious bout of pneumonia. His mother then insisted that he stay at home instead of carrying on teaching and he spent the time writing A Clergyman's Daughter. The novel is partly set in a fictionalised East Anglian town called "Knype Hill". His final visit to Southwold was in 1939.
Second home owners
In recent years, an increasing number of houses have been bought by people as second homes. It has led to Southwold being categorised as the least affordable town in Suffolk. Celebrities who own second homes include Julie Myerson, Esther Freud, Bill Nighy and P. D. James.
Cultural events
In 2005, Southwold launched Suffolk's "answer to the Turner prize", the "Flying Egg" competition. This event also ran in 2006 and 2007, but was not repeated in 2008.
Southwold Museum
Southwold Museum holds a number of exhibits focussed on the local and natural history of the town. The museum is owned and managed by the Southwold Museum & Historical Society. It is part of the Maritime Heritage East programme which unites 43 maritime museums on the East Coast.
External sources
- Mitchell, V. and Smith, K., (1984), Branch Line to Southwold, Middleton Press, ISBN 0-90652-015-0.
- Munn, Geoffrey, 'Southwold: An Earthly Paradise', Antique Collectors Club, (Woodbridge, 2006) ISBN 1-85149-518-5 90000
See also
External links
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