The Temple of Dagon

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd share my photographs and comments with you after visiting the "lost" fishing port of Dunwich, in Southern England.

Wikipedia's Dunwich entry; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunwich

When I arrived there in February, it was a very dank and sad place to be, the sea has clearly decimated 90% of the old fishing village, with graveyards and churches completely submerged in the dark grey depths of the ocean. Apparently the odd skeleton is found by people walking their dogs along the shore from time to time. Apparitions of Monks, and wails from the old leper colony (which I also visited) are often heard by the last few remaining villagers.

Above all, this is a must for Lovecraft fans to visit, if you haven't already...

Here's some photos I thought some of you here might like to see of my trip;


Me...




A mysterious cottage near Dunwich Church. I couldn’t figure out if it was still inhabited or not, but it had a permeable air of Victorian-era despair about it. I loved it.


A shot of the Dunwich Churchyard grounds in some disrepair, this is the last remaining graveyard of the village that boasted nearly 50 places of worship, before most sank into the sea. Surviving gravestones go back to the 1600’s.



At the back of Dunwich Church, hidden from the road, stands the scant ruins of the extremely old Leper Colony. This hole in the wall is the only window facing the Sea, and so many of the afflicted must have stood and looked out towards the water as it unleashed its cruel force on the village.



Some winch machinery found near the old fishing boats on the Dunwich shore, this contraption had clearly bore witness to the ravages of the elements.



The majority of this eerie Suffolk fishing village was lost to the sea over the course of a few hundred years, and ghostly bells from its sunken churches are still to be heard, perpetually calling out for a saviour that never came. As I say, skeletons from long forgotten graveyards are still found in the open after being left exposed by the ever-encroaching sea, and the haunted souls of despairing monks often travel through the village in ghostly procession; in other words, a very bleak, yet mesmerising village. This shot showing the sole remaining fishermen’s hut that’s very old and is extremely dilapidated and weather-beaten.

I wondered if anyone else here has been there?

Phil_jr


p.s. I also found something on Dunwich shore... see here for info...
http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search. ... wich+relic

It won't let me see the 'relic'.
But all in all, very nice find. I'm tempted to visit it sometime, but I don't know if I'd go to England just for Dunwich. How accesible would it be from London?

Nice pics!!
I will have to find a way to get over there...

JP,
Search, 'dunwich relic' in the Ebay search bar....It won't let me link.

Oops, sorry.

Try this (long) link; http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dunwich-relic-fro ... dZViewItem

If that doesn't work, if you search for both words; dunwich relic
in ebay.co.uk, it'll come up.

From London it isn't that far. As its at the very bottom of southern Norfolk, its closer to North London than you think. According to mapquest.co.uk, from Central London to Dunwich is around 120miles.

If you are ever in London for other things, and a Lovecraft fan, I'd personally recommend it. Its pretty much isolated and unspoilt, as you'd expect, and it even has a pub!

Phil_jr

Oh, and shameful plug here; If you look at my other items for sale on Ebay, you'll find a few other Lovecraft-related things for sale!

http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZphillip_jrQQhtZ-1

[end plug!]

Thanks for the kind comments. I have other digital photos of Dunwich which I can post here, if anyone's that enamoured by these!

Phil_jr.

Oh, right. That's the kind of thing I'd have kept - I still have a piece of shrapnel from the last time a bomb went off in Portadown (a town about two miles from me).

wow very cool pictures.

Ya When I went up to England I passed through there...pritty cool pics

Since I came across the ebay auction of my own accord I've been planning a trip up to Dunwich, I even bought "the men of dunwich" to read before hand... not sure if it tells much about the Ghost stories of the town, any reccomendations?... I'm thinking of driving up there at Halloween with a couple of friends. I actually first heard about the place from a friend up in scotland who had been there, she has no knowledge or interest in Lovecraft but made emphasis on the opressivem bleak and tainted atmosphere.... so it must be good! lol.

Hi all, once again.

Here's the loooong overdue second batch of photos I took in Dunwich, as promised...


The clifftop hut (side view).



The decrepid Church, opposite to the leper colony, with smashed and upturned
graveyard statues and gravestones.



The Church and village sign.



The only pub for miles, 2 minutes walk from the shoreline. Has real ales on tap.
No doubt many a tall tale and myth told by fishermen at the fireside in here.



The sign of destruction.



The clifftop overlooking the grey sea. Many a skeleton has tumbled out of these
cliffs over the years apparently, as their graves are further eroded.



I took this shot on the road to Dunwich, looking into the Sun on a chilly Sunday morn.


Just thought that some of you may be interested in having a look at a real Dunwich.


Cheers,


Phil.

Oh, and neonchris,

The usual 'South Norfolk/Suffolk Ghost Stories books' that you find in many local bookshops almost always have a chapter on Dunwich, regardless, so you shouldn't find it too difficult to pick up something from those.

Having said that, I'll look in my bookcases for ghost books that mention Dunwich, and get back to you.

Cheers,

Phil.

more great pictures! i like the first one and the last one the best. thanks for sharing

tremendous photos! fantastic job on choice photos too. Thanks for sharing.

A few years ago when I visisted Lovecraft's headstone in Providence I should had taken some black and white stills there. There used to be this huge, twisted, gnarly tree just behind it. This tree was HUGE and had a bulbous, monstrous limbs extending over quite a circumference from its trunk, which was at least 6' thick or so and just twisted and bulged upwards. It was rather cool to walk under and check out all the carvings of Lovecraft fans and read one of his stories and what not. Unfortunately they removed this tree within the last year. It looks so different now without the tree there I had trouble locating HPLs headstone. It was like this titanic beacon I used as a marker as to where the headstone was. It's a shame they removed it.

Very cool little town (dunwich) it seems over thar.

I really like that first one... it gave me some inspiration

More nice pics!