Enter
This Door
Church History
to a place of prayer for generations
An illustrated history
Aldeburgh Parish Church has a long history and yet in terms of many parish churches in England is relatively young!
How many churches have there been on this spot? It’s difficult to say but the Doomsday Book of 1086 records two churches in the adjacent hamlets of Aldeburgh and Hazelwood. There is very little of Hazelwood left but the living is still recorded with both titles. It was originally in the gift of the Benedictine Abbey of St. John Colchester.
It is likely that there was a Saxon church on the present site before the Norman one. Traces of the roof line on the rear of the chancel arch suggest that not only was the roof considerably lower than now and the previous building or buildings much smaller than the present one, but that there might have been a thatched church on this spot. The present building may well be the third to stand here. It is possible that Christians have worshipped here for at least the last thousand years.
The oldest part of the present church is the tower which dates from the 14th century. Its height made it important for navigation, standing as it does looking out to sea. The tower was built as an early warning against Dunkirkers.
The warning bell can still be seen.