Southwold: An Earthly Paradise

Southwold is a nostalgic place where childhood memories are made from sunny holidays beside the sea, coloured beach huts lining the shore and the delicate pier straddling the waves of the North Sea. To some it is nothing short of an earthly paradise - indeed it was Southwold that inspired William Morris to write his epic poem The Earthly Paradise . Southwold - An Earthly Paradise is a collection of vividly written essays that take the reader through the evolution of the town from a mediaeval fishing community, prosperous enough to build a magnificent church, to its modern identity as a popular, yet unspoilt, holiday town. However its history is a troubled one. The sea, despite its changing moods has been the only constant in a past in which fire, famine and plague have devastated the town. A rich treasure of silver and silver gilt lies on the bottom of the coast of Southwold. It is a reminder of one of the fiercest fights in British history: The Battle of Sole Bay was fought against the Dutch in