Welcome to the website of Dunwich Parish Meeting

This site is provided for the benefit of the people of Dunwich and for visitors and others interested in the village.

Dunwich is these days a small and picturesque village with a permanent population of around 60 people, but proud of a rich heritage, for once it was one of the largest and most prosperous towns in England. It stands on the Suffolk coast, its past and future shaped by the North Sea, which has been eroding its cliffs for thousands of years. The present village stands at the extreme western end of the rich medieval town, which extended some half mile off the present shoreline.

A quick tour of Dunwich. Most visitors to Dunwich arrive by the old Roman road from Westleton. Please travel slowly and carefully through the village - there are sharp bends, the roads are narrow, pavements are few and pedestrians are many. There is a Free car park at the beach - much better to park there than on the street. Entering the village you pass the cluster of houses on High Street and Long Row, After the sharp bends the right fork in the road will bring you past the ruins of the medieval Franciscan monastery and down the hill to The Ship Inn. A right fork here will bring you to the beach car park and Dunwich's famous Flora Tearooms - fish and chips, cafe and icecreams. Forking left at The Ship takes you down St James Street, to the Museum, and on to St James Church. In the churchyard lie the ruins of the Norman-period chapel of the leper hospital. Turn right at the church and across the Dunwich River is the delicious Bridge Tearoom, and its plant nursery. Driving on will take you out of the village towards Dunwich Forest and Blythburgh, but a footpath to the right by the entrance to the Tearoom will lead you out on the Dingle track across the marshes to Walberswick. Back where you first entered the village, on the Westleton Road, a signposted road takes you, in a mile, to the National Trust site at Dunwich Heath (cafe, lovely walks) and to the campsite at Cliff House Holiday Park.

Parking. There is a large carpark at the beach (follow the signs). Parking is FREE, though a donation to local charities in one of the boxes will be appreciated. Visitors are requested to park here rather than on St James Street (between The Ship and the church) which gets very congested on busy weekends. The beach car park, whilst free, is privately owned and overnight use by campervans and caravans is not permitted. A new carpark has recently opened, opposite the church at the western end of St James Street. Again, parking is free but a box on the gate invites you to make a donation to the church whose land this is.