Walberswick
Walberswick is a hidden gem in Suffolk - tucked away across the River Blyth from the much higher profile Southwold. Until the early 20th century Walberswick was a trading port, but today it is one of Suffolk’s top tourist attractions.
The village and surrounding beach and marshland have long attracted residents drawn from the arts, film and media. In the 1890s and 1900s it became associated with Philip Wilson Steer and his circle of English
Impressionists, and it was home to the noted artist and architect
Charles Rennie Mackintosh from 1914.
Considering its size, an inordinate number of British celebrities own holiday homes in the village including Sir Clement Freud and his wife Jill, and their daughter, Emma Freud and her husband Richard Curtis. Martin Bell, Geoffrey Palmer, maintain properties here while Paul Heiney and Libby Purves live nearby. The village is the setting for Esther Freud’s novel, The Sea House,
thinly disguised as ‘Steerborough’ - presumably a coded reference,
or in-joke, towards one-time resident, Philip Wilson Steer.
The village is famous for its annual crabbing competition - The British Open Crabbing Championship, held every August. The person who catches
the single heaviest crab within a period of 90 minutes is declared
the winner. The proceeds go towards strengthening Walberswick's sea defences.
The village has tea rooms, restaurants, two public houses, an art gallery, original crafts and gift shops.
