England's Atlantis: Images of a Lost Medieval Town

St. Peters Church

Saint Peters church in Dunwich — (Image credit: University of Southampton)

Saint Nicholas Church

The abandoned ruins of medieval Dunwich's Saint Nicholas Church likely slid into the ocean around the year 1700.

Saint Katherine's Chapel

These ruins may belong to medieval Dunwich's Saint Katherine's Chapel, which likely fell into the sea between 1550 and 1650 after the city was abandoned.

Saint Katherine's Mortar

Mortar blocks from what may be the medieval chapel of Saint Katherine in Dunwich, seen resting on the seabed.

Dunwich Map

Map of medieval Dunwich — (Image credit: University of Southampton)

University of Southampton researchers have built the most detailed map of the sunken city of Dunwich ever.

Map of Dunwich

Dunwich ruins map — (Image credit: University of Southampton)

The medieval port city of Dunwich was partially flooded and swept to sea beginning in the 1200s. This map shows where the ruins sit now, in relatively shallow water off the Suffolk coast.

Eroding Dunwich

All Saints Church in Dunwich — (Image credit: J. C. Docwra Collection and the EA Shoreline Management Group.)

As coastal erosion ate away at Dunwich, the town was gradually abandoned. The ruins of the medieval town's All Saints Church eventually fell into the sea as the cliffs nearby crumbled.

The Real Atlantis?

a 1669 map by Athanasius Kircher places Atlantis in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Atlantis is a legendary "lost" island subcontinent often idealized as an advanced, utopian society holding wisdom that could bring world peace. The idea of Atlantis has captivated dreamers, occultists, and New Agers for generations. Here, a 1669 map by Athanasius Kircher places Atlantis in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The map is oriented with south at the top. [Read more on the Lost City of Atlantis]

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.