Blythburgh Church and the Devil Dog

As promised here is the story about Black Shuck...the Devil Dog of Suffolk. I was intrigued by this story as soon as my brother-in-law told me about it. It wasn't the idea that the story was scary but it was funny to me because it scared him - big time!

In Suffolk, England there is a beautiful medieval church called Blythburgh (pronounced blythburra). It is interestingly breathtaking with wonderful carved wood and amazing stonework and an incredible wooden painted ceiling full of angels. I just fell in love with the church and spent so much time walking around and soaking in the whole atmosphere.

This is a sculpture above the entrance to the church.

The ceilings are breathtaking with wooden carved angels. Here is one of my photos that you can find here in my etsy shop. The entire ceiling in the church is like this.


Rather than try to explain about the demon dog called "Black Shuck" pronounced 'shook' I am leaving it to the following quote..."One of the most notable reports of Black Shuck is of his appearance at the churches of Bungay and Blythburgh in Suffolk. On 4 August 1577, at Blythburgh, Black Shuck is said to have burst in through the church doors. He ran up the nave, past a large congregation, killing a man and boy and causing the church tower to collapse through the roof. As the dog left, he left scorch marks on the north door which can be seen at the church to this day."

Here is my photo of the scorch marks. They are said that they still smell. I didn't take a wiff... You can click on my photo to enlarge it and see the marks. They are the vertical ones above and below the top right hinge.

This is of a stained glass window located in the church. The inscription reads, "I trust in God".
You can also find this here in my etsy shop.

So I wonder...where is the grave of the man and son killed by Black Shuck?
I don't know but I will leave you with this one...

Some of my photos

Here are some of my photos that I took in England. Here is Buckingham Palace Road...a bit of a challenge to take since it is 1 story above street level but it just shows what persistence will get you.

This photo cracks me up because they are non-existent in the US and it just felt like I was in the 1950's or something. It is a cigarette snuffer that is still located on buses around England.

This is a photo of a Colchester knight, right outside Colchester Castle. Colchester is the oldest city in England. And did you know that to be classified as a city in England the location has to have a cathedral in it?

Here is my entrance to Parliament in London...


I love medieval stained glass. This is from a church in Suffolk called Blythburgh. There is an interesting story about a demon dog called Black Shuck but I will get into that another time.


You can currently find these prints in amyshort.etsy.com. I have a really cool project I am working on but I can't say anything about that at the moment because it is a surprise. :o) Off to work now. TTFN.

Back from England!!

We are back from our MONTH in England and we had a fabulous time!! We visited our family, went to castles, explored the coast, made sand castles, went crabbing, went to London, hung with royalty and ate, ate and ate, etc. It was soooo much fun and never in my life did I think that I would be so exhausted from having so much fun.

Some of the highlights of our trip included the boys going to Knight School at Framlingham Castle where they learned to joust and sword fight. Our youngest, Ben was so hilarious in that he participated without any fear and actually kept fighting the knight on his side! Here is a photo of that:


We also went to a few more castles. Here is an amazing one of a really well preserved castle keep. It is called Orford Castle:


We went to many a beach since we were very close to the coast. Here was a rocky beach and the rocks were soooo cool and colorful that I actually came home with a heavy bag since the boys kept putting the ones they liked into the bag.

We visited London and went to the Tower of London and here is the guard, guarding the crown jewels:


Near where my husband grew up is a very cool old water tower referred to as the House in the Clouds. I LOVE this. It is crazy cool in person and for as nice as this photo is it just doesn't do it justice.

And finally, it wouldn't be a trip to England without a visit from royalty. Yes we saw Prince Charles and Camilla. If you don't want to believe me...here is proof!! I have more too. I could have reached out and touched him!

And this is how we felt by the end. LOL...


All in all, there is so much to say and I was so inspired by the art around me including the churches that I will have to slowly show you things as they come up. After all I don't want to bore you with the 1000+ photos that we took! I have discovered that I am obsessed with old doors, windows, angels and of course I always knew I was crazy for sculpture!

Alas (back of hand on forhead), we did not see Johnny Depp though we were told that he moved near by. Oh well! Probably just as well because I probably would have fainted if I saw him! ha ha

More soon!