As Thorpeness contends with storms causing sudden erosion of the coastline and the loss of homes to the sea, it can be helpful to be reminded of the long view. Coastal change reshapes not just shorelines but entire communities — their economies, their social fabric, their sense of who they are. The story of Walberswick, just a few miles down our coast, shows us how profound that reshaping can be. Walberswick, at the mouth of the Blyth estuary, offers a clear example. Its seve

There are places where the land seems to hesitate, as though unsure whether to continue or to give itself up to the sea. The Suffolk coast is one of them. It is a coastline that lives with its own impermanence — a place where the horizon is both a comfort and a warning. Juliet Blaxland sensitively captured this tension in The Easternmost House  and The Easternmost Sky , books that have become quiet companions to many who live along this shifting edge. Her reflections offer m

How Communities Around the World Are Using Evidence to Regain a Sense of Control When the sea begins to creep closer each winter, when familiar dunes flatten after a single storm, when cliffs retreat by metres instead of centimetres, it’s easy to feel that nothing can be done. Across the world, coastal communities have been finding a quiet, practical way to steady themselves: they start gathering evidence about what’s happening . This does not to replace experts and the agenc

Walk through Notting Dale and into St James's Gardens in Kensington, London and among the Victorian terraces and leafy streets, you may...

The Importance of Church and Community in Victorian London St James's Gardens provides a glimpse into how Victorian London's suburbs were...

The story of St John the Baptist Church, Holland Road This article is designed to be published alongside a series of articles linked to a...

The story of the Sikhs in the United Kingdom is a tale of migration, resilience, and cultural integration. From the arrival of flamboyant...

When you look at the Synagogue in St James’s Gardens, you are looking at the culmination of a battle for survival for over 600 years, of...

The history of Notting Dale illustrates the challenges of ‘making poverty history’ and the importance of mapping the evidence to...

"The Long View," a BBC Radio 4 program presented by journalist, broadcaster, and author Jonathan Freedland, explores contemporary issues...

The answer may depend on the faiths one includes, and the period of time chosen. There are 61 places of worship in Kensington with a...

In February, a series of the storms on the East Coast of Britain changed the shoreline revealing large fragments of wrecks. What story might they tell? High resolutions images taken with a smart phone, 360 imaging taken with a compact camera and drone based photogrammetry have enabled the site and the woodwork to be shared with local historians and leading specialists from around the world. This has been done in high resolution 2D as an 'orthomosaic image' created from indiv

Half of Aldeburgh has already been lost to the sea, and more may be lost to storms, floods and changing fortunes. The Moot hall, once in the centre of the town, now overlooks the sea. But the sea also gave Aldeburgh its raison d'être, its prosperity and its identity. Aldeburgh’s fortunes have always been shaped by its river and coastline. The estuary provided a place for early settlements from Romans to Vikings. The sea not only was the source of its early wealth, but also it

Aldeburgh’s Martello tower is now one of the most exposed to England’s changing shoreline. This blog explores its history as well as the...

How can we learn from the past to gain inspiration for tackling the challenges of today? History and heritage are closely linked to a...