AN EAST SAXON DELIGHT

Splendid peace by the edge of the North Sea

All ready for God's service

South Essex: The Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, Bradwell-on-Sea sits alone on the edge of farmland, as it becomes marshland. Looking out across the North Sea towards Holland.

Trevor and I had come here on the way home from Canvey Island. This oldest essentially intact Christian churches in England and still in regular use. It dates from between 660–662.

According to the Venerable Bede*, a 'city' named Ythanceaster existed nearby. 

Bishop Cedd originally built this lonely, delightful place in 654. It was an Anglo-Celtic church for the East Saxons, set astride the ruins of the abandoned Roman fort of Othona, so a well ordered bit of up cycling by the Saxons. Inside is all plain and tidy, ready for service.

A delightful digression if you are in the area.

*The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in around AD 731.

FOOTNOTE 

Curious Coast Small Gems www.curiouscoast.co.uk

Now with time to reflect and revisit our 2000 photos, 5000 words and 70 drawings across 17 jaunts we’ve discovered some small places that deserve their own shout! This is one.