Which Cromwell Square?

Although one might sometimes be tempted to think that the shade of Oliver Cromwell stalks the streets of Ipswich, there is no record that he ever came here, or that he did the town either good or harm. Thomas Cromwell on the other hand, loyal to Wolsey until the latter's fall in 1530, could be claimed as a benefactor. When Wolsey's College school was closed by the king, the master and pupils had to return to Felaw's House in Foundation Street, but the stipends of master and usher had reverted to the Crown.

It was Thomas Cromwell who petitioned Henry VIII to re-endow them and give the grammar school a Royal Charter. The parishioners of St Peter's lost their church when it became the Cardinal College chapel, and in 1537 they successfully petitioned Cromwell, then Lord Privy Seal, to have it back.

John Blatchly