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St. James, Dunwich The pipe organ at St. James is relatively new and out of place in the dark wood and white plaster of this early 19th century building. It was installed within the last 30 years, and the light-colored casement and supporting structure has a distinctively modern design. By all appearances, this small church does not look like it ever had a large organ. Usually, small churches had positive organs (cabinet-style), and in the 19th century, many churches began using pump reed organs. Unfortunately, while there I couldn't find any specifications on the organ. As on many organs throughout the centuries, the exposed metal pipes are for decoration only. History This small church was built in 1832 on the grounds of the medieval St. James leper hospital. Some ruins of the hospital can still be seen next to the church and is used as a mausoleum. You can just barely make out where the original alter used to be. Dunwich is a city that fell into the sea. During the early medieval era, within 20 years of the Norman conquest, Dunwich was one of the largest and most important seaports on England's eastern shores, with a population of over 3000 and a fleet of 80 large ships. Unfortunately, this coastline was, and still is, easily eroded. In 1328 extraordinary storms swept down from the North Sea, perhaps caused by the little ice age of the time, and started destroying the town. The first storm shifted the shingle, blocking the port and effectively cut off Dunwich's livelihood. Dunwich had six parish churches, with at least two other chapels of ease. The parishes were All Saints, St. Martin, St. Leonard, St. Nicholas, St. John the Baptist and St. Peter. Two known chapels of ease were St. Bartholomew and St. Michael. There was also a Knights Templar's church. The first storms devastated Dunwich, and fourteenth century writings stated that 400 houses, 2 churches, as well as shops and windmills, fell into the sea. Nearly all of the town was gone by 1750 and almost completely abandoned. In 1919, the remains of the last church, All Saints, collapsed over the cliff. All that remained was a single buttress that St. James rescued and set in its own churchyard as a memorial. Not too far from St. James is the ruins of the Greyfriar's Abbey. The path from town winds through part of the remaining graveyard of All Saints and comes out onto a beautiful pasture where the remains of abbey buildings and fences dot the landscape. (To see a panoramic view of the site, click here.)
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