Covehithe is a small village on the Suffolk Coast, little more than a collection of a handful of buildings. What makes the village notable is the fact that the neighbouring coastline is the fastest eroding part of coastline in the UK. The low cliffs here are made of loose glacial deposits, which are eroding at a rate of about 4m per year. As a result trees are continually falling onto the beach and their skeletal remains offer plenty of photographic opportunities.  The other consequence of erosion is that the village has lost a lot of its land and population. The large church of St Andrews was built during prosperous times in the 15th Century, but as the village’s population dwindled, this proved too large to be maintained, and was partly pulled down and replaced in 1672 by a smaller thatched church, built in the ruins of the old church. This unusual arrangement of a church within a church offers plenty of composition scope using the ruined arches of the original church.

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Location and Parking

Post Code: NR34 7JW

Covehithe is located on the Suffolk Coast, about 4 miles north of Southwold and 7 miles south of Lowesoft. Turn off the A12 at Wrentham and follow Mill Lane for 1.6 miles to reach the village. On reaching the village there is a sign saying that further access is prohibited, however there are a couple of parking spaces at St Andrew’s Church, though these have restricted parking times, so should only be used whilst visiting the church. To visit the beach, park on Mill Lane just before reaching the village and take the path leading south through some fields and past a pig farm to reach the Benacre National Nature Reserve and the beach.  Continue south along the beach to the reach the low cliffs and fallen trees.

Do not drive through the village to reach the beach as the road simply disappears over a cliff where it has been eroded away!

St Andrew’s Church

St Andrew’s Church mostly dates from the 15th Century, but as it became too large for the reduced population, the roof was demolished, and a much smaller thatched church was built to replace it. With the roof removed, the original church fell into decay, but many of the arches reman standing.

The original church tower was retained, so now appears grossly over-sized for the much smaller new church.

 

The ruined arches lend themselves to a gothic approach, which works well in mono.

Benacre Nature Reserve

Taking the path from Covehithe south towards the beach first leads to Benacre Nature Reserve. This is an area of tidal lagoons, with some large expanses of reeds. There are good views back towards Covehithe Church.

Covehithe Beach

Where the lagooons of Benacre Nature Reserve give way to the beach, there are some attractive rushes  lining the beach. Further to the north or south, and there are stretches of low cliffs where the the main erosion is at work.  To the south which we visited, the remains of toppled trees lie scattered on the beach. As the erosion continues and driftwood is moved about by the sea, this part of the beach will continue to change and evolve.

 

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