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Hidden East Anglia: Landscape Legends of Norfolk & Suffolk
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Treasure at the gate
"Beneath a post of a high gate in Dallinghoo lies a hidden treasure; the ghost of its former owner haunts the spot and twelve clergymen have unitedly failed to lay the spirit".
Source: Lady E. C. Gurdon: 'County Folk-Lore. Printed Extracts No.2. Suffolk' (published for the Folklore Society by D. Nutt, London, 1893), p.93.
The Groaning Stone
Leading west out of the north end of Debenham is a long sunken track known for the first part of its length as The Butts, then as Stony Lane, and along it at certain times trickles the Derrybrook, a tributary of the river Deben. I have walked the complete length of this path, but could find no trace of the Groaning Stone that is said to stand here, somewhere between the town and Brice's Farm (now called The Firs). I also have a (now-dead) weblink that says "The Groaning Stone - a flat stone down the road from Robert Hitcham's Primary School." It is supposed to turn over and groan when it hears the church clock strike
midnight.1
Sources: 1. W. A. Dutt: 'The Ancient Mark-Stones of East Anglia' (Flood & Sons, 1926), p.21.
Blood Hall and the Bloody Field
Tradition says that Blood Hall (TM184648) near Debenham was built on the site of a clash with the Danes. Others say the Hall was used as a hospital while the battle raged close by. Bloody Field (TM176640 area) here was once two, Big and Little Blood Fields, the supposed battle site. During field leveling in 1859, a large quantity of bones, both human and horse, were found here, plus an iron spur and other oddments, confirming the local belief. Probably speculation rather than genuine tradition, it has even been suggested that this is the site of King Edmund's final and fateful battle with the Danes in 869 AD. (See also 'Edmund of East Anglia').
Source: 'The Eastern Counties Magazine & Suffolk Note-Book', Vol.1 & 2 (Aug.1900-May 1901), p.77.
St. Andrew's church is said to have disappeared before the 13th century, and nothing of its site remains except perhaps the tradition of a religious building having stood in Priory Field (TM176635), a little east of the modern cemetery. Several feet beneath the field there are said to be the foundations of a large and ancient building, and a local man named Samuel Dove recorded in the 19th century the legend of an earthquake swallowing both the church and the Sunday congregation there, as well as an anonymous poem on the subject:
"On yonder hill tradition says A structure stood in former days, Whose walls immense and scowling brow Frown'd shadowy over the vale below. In cell immured full often there The monks have muttered many a prayer, And there the sad devoted nun Hath often dismal penance done, By superstition vainly driven Thus to benefit themselves for heaven. But Gothic arch and moss green stone Or wide walls remaining none, No vestige of the pile remains Upon the hills and round the plains, And only by its name alone Of Priory Field the spot is known".
Source: Pauline Heywood: 'A Short History of Debenham' (Debenham Heritage Committee, 1977), p.2.
The Civil War mound
"Denston. Circular mound (round barrow?), 1.2m high, 20m diameter. Local legend has it that the mound (TL758538) covers the dead from a Civil War battle at Wickhambrook".
Source: 'Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology', Vol.34 (1980), p.214.
Secret tunnel
Greyfriars Monastery (TM478704) was originally established before 1277, but encroachments of the sea forced it to be moved further inland in 1289. Now a long wall threading through the woods named after it, and an arched gateway by the roadside are all that are left, again getting perilously close to the cliff edge. A secret tunnel from here to the Ship Inn (TM478706, about 200 yards from the gateway) in the main street is said to be confirmed by a bricked-up entrance in the pub cellars.
Source: Jean Carter & Stuart Bacon: 'Ancient Dunwich' (Segment Publications, 1975), p.8. |
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