Sneezum's Corner

This photograph from around 1900 shows unfamiliar buildings in Fore Street, before road-widening and before the tramway was built. The Wheatsheaf Inn can be seen in the distance. To the right is the opening to Lower Orwell Street, then built up on both sides. This narrow, overcrowded street was once one of the most disreputable in Ipswich. This corner public house, with its narrow doors opening onto the sharp corner, was The Prince of Wales at number 14 Fore Street. It closed around the time of this photograph, although the union flags suggest some public, national celebration. 1900 saw the Relief of Ladysmith, The Relief of Mafeking and the birth of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. It may well have been the last of these.

Incidentally, this faceted building bears a striking resemblance to "the last building in Fore Street" which still stands on the corner of Fore Street and Duke Street - it has the same brickwork as the former Steam Packet Inn (closed 1960), which is adjacent to it. Suffolk CAMRA suggest that it was probably a pub with corner doors, too.

Tim Leggett's comparison photograph (2015) from a similar viewpoint shows a very different Fore Street. The requirements of tramways and power-line poles led to the demolition of these buildings and widening of the highway before the buildings we know today were erected in 1903: much higher at the junction with curved wall and turret (architect: Henry Winkworth). Note that all the premises down to the Wheatsheaf have been pushed back, but fortunately that fine timber-framed old inn was untouched.

William John Leggett (1856-1936 - see Links), an Ipswich signwriter, recorded many Ipswich street scenes in a semi-naive style of painting. Here we see three views of Sneezum's premises, the first showing the Lower Owell Street junction. The Sneezum were a well-known Ipswich family who had a fine house close to the church of St Mary-At-Quay. They ran a number of businesses in Fore Street: jeweller, pawnbroker, clothier, also stocking cameras, sports gear, bicycles and fireworks.

See also the Brian Jepson paintings of these buildings.

See also Fore Street maps showing Listed buildings and Public houses.