from The Times
A great port city swallowed by the sea is about to float its secrets, writes Adam Fresco.
As a great port on the East of England, Dunwich was nothing short of a medieval metropolis. Eight churches, 80 ships, five religious orders — including the Benedictines, Dominicans and Franciscans — and prosperity from its trade in wool, grain, fish and furs to rival London. Such was the city’s prestige that, under Edward I, it was granted two seats in parliament.
But that was before Dunwich was swallowed by the sea. This month , more than five centuries after the last of a succession of storms and sea surges battered the Suffolk city into little more than a village, a research team set sail to discover the secrets of a British Atlantis.
Using the latest acoustic imaging technology — designed to penetrate the high silt levels that have reduced visibility in the water at the site, 1.6km off the coast, to centimetr es — the researchers hope to reveal Dunwich in its prime.
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