The beach at Happisburgh - looking south toward another victim of the sea... beneath the pounding waves, stand the remains of another village called Eccles. In the 17th Century, during the reign of Charles I, it was claimed by the sea. One storm destroyed over seventy houses and took three hundred lives. It is said that parts of the village are visible beneath the surface at low very tide; local fishermen have long claimed to hear the submerged bells of Eccles Church when the waters are turbulent - hearing them toll is believed to presage storms and death. Skeletons from the drowned churchyard are still washed ashore from time to time. In 1986 large portions of Eccles were exposed by a temporary fall in sea level. The tower of the church (which has a distinctive octagonal belfry) was visible during that period...
This picture was taken 11th August 2009
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