Brian Jepson (1932-2014)

As many members will already know, Brian Jepson died unexpectedly on 27 October.He was a very valued contributor to The Ipswich Society for most of its existence. With his detailed knowledge of his home town and his wide experience as an architect, he could be relied upon to help in many ways.

He was a most useful planning monitor when the Society depended on a number of members sharing the responsibility for studying planning applications and making sound judgments on them. Similarly and more recently, he was an important witness in the Public Inquiry into Rights of Way around the Waterfront.

Cartoon by Brian Jepson

It was Brian's own designed blue plaque commemorating the Dutch artist Cor Visser, who had lived in the same house in Fore Street, which suggested to me that he was the person to design and advise on the Society's Blue Plaque scheme which we started in 2001.

Our Homes by Brian Jepson

Moreover, Society members of some years standing will remember that Brian's drawings sometimes graced our Newsletter pages. Especially memorable is the cover which he designed for our half-century in April 2010, depicting in his own radical way four old and three new key buildings in Ipswich.

Half century Newsletter cover by Brian Jepson

If those of us who attended Brian's funeral were astonished at the number of mourners, it was a true reflection of the esteem in which he was held and also evidence of his great range of interests and activities, as professional architect, as distance runner, golfer, member of several societies and, above all, family man and husband of Jill. He will be greatly missed by many people and by many organisations, not least The Ipswich Society.

Neil Salmon

Limited edition autobiography by Brian Jepson