England's Satanist capital: Town in Suffolk has nation's highest number of ... trends now
A sleepy town where Britain's best cheese is made and Prince Harry's book is printed has the highest number of satanists in England and Wales.
Figures from the 2021 census show that 70 out of an estimated 8,500 people living in historic Bungay and nearby villages in north Suffolk identify as devil-worshippers.
The sinister statistic means that nearly one in every 120 people in the area claimed to be a satanist when asked in the census to state their religious beliefs.
The figure is around a hundred times the national average of only one in every 12,000 people identifying as a satanist.
The country's next highest headcount of satanists is in the Brondesbury area of north London, which has 20 of them, despite having a far higher population than Bungay.
The town sign in Bungay, Suffolk, which has the highest number of satanists in England and Wales
The ruins of the Benedictine nunnery next to St Mary's Church in Bungay
The Druid's stone outside St Mary's Church where local legend has it that you can conjure up the Devil by dancing a dozen times around the stone
Church officials in Bungay have been reluctant to comment, other than saying they have no knowledge of any animal sacrifices or devil worshippers in their midst.
Civic leaders in the town which has the ruins of a medieval castle and a Benedictine nunnery have also expressed surprise at the data.
But some suggest that there may be a link to a local legend of the devil taking the form of a black dog, known as Black Shuck, which terrorised the congregation of St Mary's church in the town in 1577.
The folklore has been enthusiastically adopted in Bungay which has a Black Dog Running Club, a Black Dog Judo Club and a Black Dog Arts group.
A black dog also features on Bungay's Coat of Arms and on the weather vane which stands in the town centre, and a Bungay Black Shuck Festival launched in the town last year.
St Mary's church which has been redundant since the 1970s also has a large rock called the Druid's Stone in its graveyard. Some local legends suggest that the Devil can be conjured up by dancing 12 times around the stone.
Bungay which dates back to Anglo Saxon times and has a number of quaint Georgian buildings is the home of printers Clays which employs 700 people and prints 150 million book a year on its 14 acre site.
The 200-year-old firm is known for printing books under the highest security and most recently printed Prince Harry's controversial book Spare.
The Fine Food Digest Awards also recently named Britain's best cheese as Baron Bigod, which is made in Bungay as a British take on classic French brie and named after the Norman knight who once ruled the town.
The streets of Bungay where the number of satanists is nearly 100 times the national average, according to the latest census
Some people in the town suggest that there may be a link to a local legend of the devil taking the form of a black dog, known as Black Shuck
Bungay dates back to Anglo Saxon times and has a number of quaint Georgian buildings
Bungay Town Council clerk Rosalind Barnett said: 'I have spoken to several councillors and none of them believe they have
