Leiston Abbey

 

Who lives in a house like this?  The next town to Aldeburgh, going North, is Leiston, once a major centre for railway engineering. Just outside Leiston are the ruins of Leiston Abbey, and very spectacular they are, too.  

Now managed by a combination of English Heritage and a young persons' music charity who run courses here, the abbey contains some complete structures.  This one is a patchwork of brick, flintwork, beach pebble and rendering.

The abbey itself was clearly a vast structure.

The Lady Chapel has been made weatherproof and may well be used for services, concerts, weddings...

Note the mix of brick, flintwork and timber cladding.

The remains of a Tudor gatehouse.

We left the Abbey and took a path through woodland leading out to the sea, just south of Minsmere, where we sat and had lunch.  Suddenly a black head appeared swimming parallel to the beach, submerging for a stretch and then reappearing. It was a grey seal.