Galloper Wind Farm Project - National Infrastructure Planning

This area also fostered the first converts to Christianity,
when St Felix established the first East Anglian bishopric at
Dommoc (Dunwich or possibly Felixstowe) in the 7th
century. For a time, Dommoc became the ecclesiastical
centre of East Anglia. Dunwich also became a thriving
medieval port, before succumbing to the sea: 400 houses
and three churches were swept away in one flood, while
the last of nine parish churches tumbled into the sea earlier
this century. Until recently human bones could be picked
out of the soft, crumbling sand cliff that lies behind the
narrow, shelving pebbly beach, a ghoulish reminder of
Dunwich’s past. Elsewhere the remains of numerous
monastic houses can be seen, Anglo-Saxon in origin at Iken
and Blythburgh, somewhat later at Leiston, Butley,
Dunwich and Campsey Ashe.
Farmland at Ramsholt. Irrigation and modern practices such as
growing under plastic have significantly increased the productivity of
soils in the area and changed the character of the land.
During the Middle Ages the Suffolk coastal ports gained
importance as centres for trade, shipbuilding and fishing,
although ports such as Aldeburgh and Orford suffered the
effects of longshore drift and deposition. Yarmouth
developed as a major sea port, exporting grain, wool and
cloth and, in its 19th century heyday, herring. Imports
included Baltic timber, iron and furs. The town still has a
huge marketplace and the largest parish church in the
country, some 23,000 square feet in area.
Lowestoft never rivalled Yarmouth as a trading port, as its
access to Norwich was more difficult, but it thrived until
this century as a fishing port and shipbuilding centre.
Woodbridge, at the head of the Deben, thrived on wool
and shipbuilding in the Middle Ages and has a legacy of fine
buildings from that period.
Trade with Northern Europe and the Baltic ports assisted
and influenced the development of these major ports and
the banks of the larger estuaries provided a fine setting for
a number of imposing houses and large estates: Wherstead
Park and Broke Hall (influenced by Repton), Freston
JOHN TYLER/COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY
(diapered Tudor brick tower), Woolverstone Hall and
Orwell Park along the Orwell; Stutton Hall (Elizabethan),
Crowe Hall (Charles II turned baronial gothic), Holbrook
(naval school) and Erwarton, with its redbrick Jacobean
fantasy gateway and 16th century hall, on the Stour.
Elsewhere within the area three rural parks are included in
the English Heritage National Register – Campsea Ashe
Park, Henham (part) and Heveningham Hall and Gardens.
A dozen other parks and gardens, all situated close to the
A12, are also historically important.
Orford’s 12th-century castle keep was built for Henry II in
septaria and freestone and acts as a landmark for miles around.
The town decayed from an important port due to siltation in
the 16th century but attracts many tourists, especially sailors
who can navigate the treacherous entrance to the Ore/Alde at
the southern end of the 12-mile Orford Ness spit.
At times of war, defence against the enemy across the
North Sea was required and survives most notably in the
string of Martello towers that dot this coastline, mementos
of the feared Napoleonic invasion. More recently the area
became home to numerous airfields and military
installations of which one, Orford Ness, played an
important part in the development of radar. It is the
largest above ground monument to the Cold War in the
UK, being the site of various nuclear tests as well as the
site of a major early warning system. It has now been
bought by the National Trust for its natural history
interest, as the largest vegetated shingle spit in Europe, as
well as its historical value.
Subsequent centuries have had little effect on the
relatively unspoilt seaside towns and the area has long
supported a large number of artists attracted by the
quality of the light, the huge open skies and unspoilt rural
tranquillity. The poet Crabbe’s poem The Borough, about
the citizens of Aldeburgh, was the basis of Peter Grimes the
first opera by Benjamin Britten. Britten settled there in
1948 and helped establish the annual Festival which has
been bringing music and visitors to the town and the
concert hall at Snape ever since.
On the major estuaries yachtsmen have to beware of
commercial ships carrying cargo to and from Ipswich,
Felixstowe and Harwich. The scale of these vessels
contrasts with the many small yachts moored in areas such
as Pin Mill, where memories of Arthur Ransome’s We
Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea and the huge red-brown sails of the
Thames barges evoke a more traditional sailing history.
Both on the coast and inland, nature conservation is now
significant with English Nature, Suffolk Wildlife Trust,
RSPB and the National Trust responsible for major tracts of
marsh, heath and shingle. Controlled access is welcomed
and allows public enjoyment of an internationally valued
matrix of habitats.
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