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October 2014  Issue 197 


Contents 

Editorial 

Flickr update      

Chairman’s remarks    

Subscriptions/standing orders 

St Mary-at-the-Quay rescued    

Ipswich Maritime Trust   

Planning matters       

Review: ‘100 best buildings’   

Northern Fringe: a personal view   

Review: ‘Cobbold and kin’  

Putting north-west Ipswich on t’map   

Suffolk College Nuclear Sciences

Deserts on the Cornhill   10 Letter to the editor  

Snippets     

The Wolsey angels   

Tales from the riverbank   

Albion Wharf     

Suffolk Local History Council 

Houses of Parliament outing  

Our back pages 

Diary dates   


See page 20: Albion Wharf


Editorial 

Firstly, and most importantly,  on behalf of the Ipswich Society, a big thankyou to 

all the volunteers and voluntary organisations involved in making the Heritage Open weekend 2014 such a great success. Such are the vicissitudes of the calendar that this issue of the Newsletter appears each year a few weeks after the event, rather than before it. Having joined a fascinating guided tour of buildings at risk by the Ipswich 


The Courgettes play a storming set of food-based songs Building Preservation Trust’s Margaret 

in the evening sunshine at Maritime Ipswich 2014: God Hancock (including the privilege of a 

gave sausage rolls to you and I know it’s only sausage look inside parts of Curson Lodge), I  

roll (but I like it) are just two of the highlights of their set. was struck by how much we rely on our  

volunteers – and that includes the work  of the Executive Committee, folks – as  well as those who sit for hours keeping buildings available to those keen to find out about Ipswich and its past. A highlight for me was The Wheatsheaf in Fore Street with its oriel windows and creative use of space to provide offices for businesses. So I mustn’t forget to thank the owners of the buildings for making them available. Every year the Society’s learns a bit more and, I feel, the weekend gets better as we learn. 


A huge amount of work goes into coordinating the venues and events and the production of a 

booklet which advertises the weekend and acts as a guide to the opportunities presented. This is the 

first full year the weekend has been organised without the help and guidance of the late Dianne 

Hosking. It is clear to those responsible for this year’s event just how much work and effort she put 

in, almost single-handedly, over so many years. 


As ever, a big thankyou (this is beginning  to sound like an Oscars acceptance  speech) to all the contributors to this  Natural History from Dale Rumbold issue of the Newsletter. “Sitting outside reading the latest Ipswich Society Robin Gaylard Newsletter, I was joined by a Red Admiral butterfly : it took 


five landings before I was able to snap this quick pic.”


New Members 


Chairman’s remarks 


I write this after a day’s cycling around Ipswich town centre, an event promoted by Sky (the 

communications people), and Ipswich Borough Council.  There is clearly considerable 

expenditure in the temporary infrastructure required for an event like this, with pedestrian barriers 

the full length of the Waterfront, and in Tavern Street and Star Lane.  Stewards at every junction, 

some with ‘Stop-Go’ boards to prevent cars running into the multitude of cycling families, some 

ensuring cyclists keep to the designated route. 


Is it worth it?  Sky obviously thinks so and they promote similar events across the country 

throughout the summer.  They give away bright yellow tabards for cyclists to wear on the day, to 

keep and wear whenever they are out cycling, and it works.  Thousands of cyclists are pedalling 

around wearing an endorsement for the sponsor the rest of the year. 


This event was the culmination of a whole summer of events promoted and organised by Ipswich 

Borough Council, most of which were free to enter and lots of fun for the participants.  My only 

gripe is that the Maritime Festival should be called a Waterfront Festival, that’s not to criticise the 

event, which attracted magnificent crowds but to point out  that there were lots of attractions on 

the quayside but very little activity on the water.  


Friends of St Margaret’s Church and others resident close to the junctions at Bolton Lane and 

Major’s Corner are very concerned about air quality hereabouts.  Rightly so; this is one of the 

most polluted traffic routes in Ipswich.  But it is not only air quality that is an issue.  Motor 

vehicles, particularly large diesels, throw out with their exhaust gasses lumps of pollutant of 

measurable size – dirt.  Black dots that become a film that sticks to pavements, windows, 

buildings and pedestrians.  Next time you pass check the state of the front of the Phillips and 

Piper building and suggest what we can do about it. 


The first planning application for the Northern Fringe (sorry, Ipswich Garden Suburb) has arrived 

as expected – before the Supplementary Planning Document has been agreed by the Ipswich 

Borough Council Executive (there is still some work to do, notably on traffic).  The planning 

application (by CBRE and Mersea Homes) is an ‘Outline Application’ for 735 homes, a primary 

school and a new district centre with shops and community facilities.  There will be land set aside 

as public open space, some of which will be the green barrier between Westerfield Road and the 

new estate.  The application is accompanied by a full application for the first 80 homes on the 

east side of the site (close to Westerfield Road). 


I was interested to hear that an Ipswich Borough Councillor and a couple of officers attempted to 

cycle from the town centre to the site of the Northern Fringe to experience the problems and 

difficulties that will face resident cyclists when the first homes are completed.  Out on your bike 

with the children on a Sunday you can probably tolerate deviations and delays as you cross the 

main roads, but an everyday commute requires a more direct route without the interruption of 

toucan crossings, traffic lights that prioritise motorists and roundabouts (which are  

particularly dangerous). 


Needless to say, they had difficulties throughout their journey – they took different routes there 

and back – and established that it will take time and effort to increase the number of people 

cycling to work in Ipswich.  It’s a similar problem to the one along Main Road, Kesgrave: do 

commuters on their way to and from BT cycle on the road at the mercy of the traffic or cycle on 

the adjacent pavement stopping at every side road?  The bicycle ride, with which I started this 

page, is a great idea but it was a Sunday, most town centre roads were closed to motorists and the 

route was chosen to be anything other than a regular commute. 

John Norman  


St Mary-at-the-Quay: 

rescuing an old, 

infirm friend 


St Mary-at-the-Quay has had a chequered recent 

history. One of the twelve medieval churches in Ipswich and the middle of the three 

dockland churches, it was perhaps a surprise when news was published that the building was to 

be saved, given the sorry state of the fabric and the fact that it was originally built on marshy 

ground – a problem faced by 2014’s archeologists there with trenches filling with water. It 

ceased to be used as a regular place of worship after World War II, although it remains 

consecrated. Many will recall the building used by the Ipswich Boys Brigade from the 1950s to 

the 1970s and, more recently, as home to the Key Arts group of visual and creative artists. 


In November 2012, The Churches Conservation Trust (which owns the building) and Suffolk 

Mind secured a £3.6 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant for St Mary-at-the-Quay after two 

years of work on the bid. 


The church will be converted into a Wellbeing & Heritage Centre: ‘Quay Place’, that will 

provide a quiet and beautiful sanctuary in a busy, historic market town. It should have a 

flexible and welcoming community space which is open to all. It will offer wellbeing and 

heritage activities, a centre for local events, complementary therapy as well as a café. 


The project obtained funding on the basis that it will: restore and rejuvenate an ancient 

building, create a sanctuary with a sensory medieval garden, reinstate significant heritage 

features making them accessible to all, link wellbeing and heritage in an innovative way, tell 

the diverse history of Ipswich waterfront in an engaging and interactive way and provide 

restored and modern facilities for community wellbeing and heritage activities. There will be a 

glazed extension and mezzanines within the church, as shown on the visualisation image. 


The project is due to be completed by autumn 2015.                  R.G.  


For more information about Quay Place ring 0300 111 6000 or email sue.gray@suffolkmind.org.uk


Visualisation of the new interiorcourtesy Suffolk Mind


Planning matters 


Eastway Business Park (off Sproughton Road). This application for 34 flats and 60 houses 

had problems with the Section 106 agreement for monies for education and affordable 

residences. All parties agreed that the original proposal was not viable. Ipswich councillors 

wished to reduce the educational precept and maintain the affordable housing content. 

Understandably Suffolk County Council were not pleased and asked for a Judicial Review. 

IBC's legal advice is that the original recommendations should be reconsidered at Committee 

where it was agreed. This highlights the current problems with Section 106 agreements. 


West Villa, Woodbridge Road East. Two large GP practices, Woodbridge Road and Lattice 

Barn, currently have 25,000 patients and rising. Their premises were once houses and are no 

longer fit for the purpose and are looking for a new centre. The first Ipswich Workhouse was in 

Great Whip Street. In the 1880s it moved to the Woodbridge Road East site; gradually 

extended to become the Ipswich Borough General Hospital and during WWII was an 

emergency hospital with two ems wards with operating theatres (they lasted until 1986). In 

1948 it became the Heath Road Wing of Ipswich Hospital. The West Villa remained in IBC 

ownership and became the Homeless Families Unit and latterly the Women's Refuge and is 

now vacant. The remaining buildings will be recorded and demolished. The proposal is well 

thought out for a modern, clean-lined two storey building for at least fifteen doctors, nurses, 

ancillary staff, a pharmacy and a treatment area and so on. More comment on the design next 

time but KLH (timber construction) have done a good job. 


Redecoration of the Town Hall interior. The presence of leaks and the fact that no work has 

been done since 1970, together with IBC's intention to use the building more, means that 

redecoration is overdue. Paint research showed nineteen layers in places. It is thought the 

original 1868 scheme was inappropriate (brown walls) so a second layer of white walls with 

timber grained (oak) woodwork was applied. 

  

Neptune Marina: Five more fingers proposed to be added on the western side of the last 

pontoon on the quay outside Isaac's. There is very little space for public water activities and the 

time has come to draw a halt. It was noticeable that during the recent Ipswich Maritime 

Festival there was absolutely nothing actually on the water for public 

engagement. 


Tower Ramparts Centre:-   

a) Tavern Street façade: a new entrance with a high “porch” and a roof 


protruding into the street. Universally disliked as out of scale and keeping.                                                             

b) Bus station elevation: to be renovated with new signage and an 


encompassing scheme of rendering and painting. Too much white 

rendering. 


c) Renaming to The Sailmakers to make connection to the Waterfront. Far-

fetched and unsatisfactory. 


Mike Cook 


The Northern Fringe: a  personal view 

  

The cost of purchasing somewhere to live in Britain has so outstripped wages that it is the 

major driver of the country's economy.  In a market economy the solution is to build more 

homes and this need is driving our planning system as well as our politicians as a general 

election looms into view.  So Ipswich, like every other town in the UK, is bent on building 

dwellings. And understandably so. 


Ten years ago the ill-fated East of England Regional Spatial Strategy was in the consultation 

stage; The Ipswich Society accepted that, in due course, the Borough would have to build on 

the green fields between the Henley and Westerfield Roads, north of Colchester Road.  3,500 

new houses could be planned as a garden suburb with all the necessary infrastructure on  

the site. 


Eight years ago, on behalf of the Ipswich Society, I spoke at the Examination in Public and 

suggested adopting a strategy whereby Ipswich should continue to use Brownfield sites and 

only then should we utilise Greenfield sites.  At our then current rate of house building that 

would be about 2021.  A recession, a complete change in our shopping habits and a fall in 

house completions has confirmed what we said then, only more so. 


I now believe this proposed development is the wrong one in the wrong place at the wrong 

time.  We need residential developments, yes, but not in a place that is distant from jobs, that 

causes unsustainable traffic problems and overwhelms other infrastructure.  The change in the 

last decade in the way we live, work, shop and travel tells us that creating a new suburb will be 

seen as the height of folly in fifty years time.  In Ipswich we have many acres of Brownfield 

sites, never going to be used for the employment or retail use they are now zoned for.  It is 

thought that there are more than fifty extant planning permissions in the waterfront area upon 

which not a sod has been turned.  They are close to, if not in the town centre with most of the 

required infrastructure in place. 


We should return to the concept of town centre living; daily shopping and schools close at hand 

so people walk and cycle thus solving at least four problems at one blow (less CO² emission, 

better air quality, more exercise, and more social interaction). The insoluble part of the solution 

is that 90% of the land is privately owned and its profitable development is essential for the 

owners’ survival but also for our private pensions.  


This personal view is utopian. In the real world, the ‘Ipswich Garden Suburb’, proclaimed by 

the Borough Council and supported by the Society, could never be a true garden suburb as in 

the early twentieth century model since their land was owned by autonomous development 

corporations and not private developers.  Here, the Borough has behaved with courage, 

decency and injected some money into the concept. They employed a Senior Planner, Phil 

Sweet, to work solely on the scheme and hired David Lock Associates, an excellent and 

respected firm of large scale town planning. Public consultations were carried out and a 

Northern Fringe Community Steering Panel formed consisting of the landowners, the town 

planning consultants, the Borough Council Planning Department, Suffolk County Council, 

Ipswich Borough Councillors, the Ipswich Society, the Northern Fringe Protection Group, Save our Suffolk Country Spaces, Westerfield Parish Council and others.  The purpose of the Group 

was to hammer out a Special Planning Development (SPD) document containing a Design 

Guide.  This document will largely have the agreement of all parties and will eventually be 

ratified by the full Ipswich Borough Council.  It will contain the plan for the dwellings, their 

numbers, sizes, shapes, gardens and parking.  It will describe the roads and the entrances and 

exits, the schools, the medical services, libraries and community halls.  It will deal with water 

supplies and drainage of different types of waste.  It will also lay down the principles of the 

architectural design of all the buildings. 


Thus we will have in the near future a blueprint on how the inevitable Northern Fringe 

Development will work. But somebody will always jump the gun; Mersea Homes have hired 

CBRE, the largest global property developer to push forward; in turn they have used the very 

town planners that IBC have used to draw up the master plan, David Lock Associates.  And this 

some months before the SPD and its design guide have been agreed.  There is now no way that 

The Ipswich Garden Suburb development will not be built in some form and at some time. 

Mike Cook  


The Recession finally catches up with the Society.

Your Executive Committee has searched the town for potential nominations for the 

2014 Awards, but realises that there are insufficient to run a competition. The buildings 

which have been nominated will be considered in 2015.  The evening will remain on 

the programme and our Vice-Presidents will present an alternative view of our town.

See Dates for your diary on page 23.


Ipswich Building Preservation Trust brief AGM followed by a talk by Dr Geraint Coles, 

Lecturer in Cultural Heritage at UCS Business School  

‘HERITAGE AND REGENERATION IN IPSWICH’  


 Isaacs, Wednesday 29 October 2014, 7pm  

Please book your place by email njacob@njarchitects.co.uk or phone 01473 221150


The Longship Screens by Antony Robinson


Putting North West Ipswich on the map 


The North West Ipswich Big Local Trust has been awarded one million pounds of lottery money 

to spend in the Whitton, Whitehouse and Castle Hill areas.  A partnership of residents has 

already approved nearly forty grants and you can find details of our activities on our website:  


http://www.nwipswichblt.co.uk    


The one million pounds of lottery money will be spread over ten years and is being distributed 

against community bids which meet specific criteria.  As the chairman of the North West Ipswich 

Big Local Trust I have said: ‘I am very keen to put our area on the map and we have a number of 

initiatives to achieve our goals.’ 


I thought I would share some thoughts on the area. 


1 Early historical finds include the Roman Villa at Castle Hill (also featured in a Time 

Team programme) and the Saxon cemetery at Boss Hall, as well as other minor finds.  

Lots of information on these in the Ipswich Museum. 


2 For a long time much of the area up to Whitton Village was open farmland with a range 

of grand houses – the White House, which is still standing, Lovetofts Hall, Boss Hall, 

Springfield House, Brooks Hall, Holly Lodge and the Rosary, as well as the house at 

Castle Hill which is now the Community Centre.   It has been suggested that the actual 

castle stood somewhere beyond Brooks Hall.  I am still seeking pictures of Springfield 

House and Holly Lodge. 


3  The late nineteenth century saw the building of the rows of houses in the Bramford Lane 

and  Bramford Road area partly, it is thought, to house people coming off the farms.  

Many of these houses carry plaques naming them after persons and events of the time 

such as the battles of Omdurman and Tel-el-Kebir.  Look out for the effigy of Baden 

Powell in Bramford Lane.  Heigham Villas in Bramford Road are opposite the site of the 

Rosary where Major Heigham, one time Chief Constable of Suffolk, used to live. 


4 I have been pleased to see that North West Ipswich has produced some illustrious people.  

These include Trevor Nunn, who among other things has been Director of the Royal 

Shakespeare Company, Gary Avis and Liam Scarlett, both leaping high in the ballet 

world, Kieron Dyer, and several other sportspersons and artists. 


5 I am particularly interested in the churches and schools in the area.  Westbourne 

Academy’s early log books are fascinating reading as they start in 1939 with trench drills 

and gas mask inspections and pupils being sent home after visits from the ‘nit’ nurse.  

The first name in the punishment book is one John Watkins who received ‘one stroke on 

the hand’ for bringing a dead rat into school.  Later in life he served as Chair of 

Governors for many years! 


In putting the North West forward these are only brief glimpses.  I would be glad to hear from 

anyone with information or pictures relating to the area.  Likewise, please contact me if you are 

interested in the work of the Big Local Trust. 


Ron Impey        ronimpey@hotmail.com 


Deserts on the Cornhill 

‘To encourage walking in the town and an interest in the built environment’ - a splendid way 

was on the Ipswich Society walk on 19 June, 2014. 


Starting at Northgate Street Library we saw red bricks made from London Clay at Dales Road 

brickworks and Ancaster Limestone from Lincolnshire. In Tavern Street beautiful St John’s 

Travertine from Italy was lost when McDonalds went ‘green’.  However, Tower Ramparts 

Centre provided us with two Italian rocks, green Verde Issorie from the Val d’Aosta, and 

Botticino Limestone which we tested for its loading and wear characteristics as a floorstone. 


The Town Hall and Corn Exchange were viewed in Princes Street, with their fine Portland and 

Bath Stones.  The red sandstone pillars on the Town Hall are of Mansfield Stone, an ancient 

desert sandstone for our Cornhill!  A stop in Queen Street enabled us to see the splendid white 

feldspar crystals in the granite kerbstones. 


At St Peter’s Church we said hello to the Ipswich Society members on duty and then admired 

the Tournai Limestone fonts.  Outside we saw a wall made of septaria, the ‘Harwich Cliff 

Stone’ that Cardinal Wolsey wanted for his Ipswich College, but failed to get. 


In Stoke Bridge Pocket Park we viewed the Ipswich Society promoted artwork – the three local 

sarsenstones (a sandstone) arranged by Bernard Reynolds in the 1970s.  This impressive 

feature has since had an interesting history – it has been painted (graffiti/‘street art’), 

mechanically distressed, and urinated on (by humans).  But that seat should surely be moved – 

it is not an original feature and adds nothing to the artwork. 


The Little Gipping River continues to run, in a culvert to the right of the wheelie bins, between Jewsons and Liquid night club at Cardinal Park.


Had we started this walk (at the Library site) 20 centuries earlier we would have been standing 

on the bank of the Ipswich Brook.  But having reached the River Orwell in 2014 we saw the 

modern outfall of the Ipswich Brook near Stoke Bridge, having already passed over its (man-

made) course under Star Lane.  We also saw the outfall of the Little Gipping River, which we 

then traced by its underground course behind the Cardinal Park restaurants to the ‘bump’ in 

Wolsey Street. 


Our last stop of the walk was at St Nicholas Church with its show of septaria and where 

Caroline showed us a ‘cone of percussion’ in one of the flints.  We concluded by considering 

the recycling processes within the graves giving rise to ‘corpse candles’, pale flitting glows as 

gases rose from the grave and perhaps providing ghostly sightings to the living inhabitants of 

our town. 

Bob Markham  


Flickr update 

The Ipswich Society website on Flickr is developing slowly but very well.  The most recent additions have been images from the awards ceremonies of recent years. The best way to access it is through the Society website [shown at the top of page 23]. Look for the Links button: there’s a connection straight through. 

There are 6,335 images from various slide collections donated to the Society, as well as albums relating to special events.  We really are particularly indebted to Tony Hill, Chris Wiltshire and Ruth Serjeant for their early work on the slide collection and the digitisation; these ‘Masterminds’ have a neat shot to themselves.  More recently another member, Pete Cooper, spent a swift month or two adding descriptions 8 Princes Street, May 1966 to a vast number of the images;  Richard and Jean Attenborrow have Demolition, removal of  assisted in this process, too. doorway sculpture

A recent diversion for use of the images on the website has been by one of the members of the 

Executive Committee: Tim Leggett who has trawled the collection and matched ancient and 

not so ancient slides with modern ones which he has taken during the course of the summer. He 

calls this collection Ipswich Society Comparison Photos. You are able to view the two images 

at once and to make real comparisons between how things used to be and how things are today. 


Tim has taken a very clever idea and developed it and one can only hope that other members 

might care to come up with new approaches to the use of the archive and bring them to our 

notice.  Tim’s Flickr site can be found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/46225552@N03/ 

A final thing that makes the archive so special is the reaction of people finding the images. One 

only has to go onto the website and read the comments to see how well appreciated we are by 

lots of people in the town, and beyond: 


Awesome archive, congratulations! I'm working professionally with individuals from 

Ipswich in profound disassociative states and this archive is bringing back both the joys 

and pain of controlled remembering for them. These photos are very powerful tools; 

keep up the good work, thanks for the memories. 


Tony Marsden 


Subscriptions & standing orders 


The first increase in subscriptions for many years was agreed at the AGM last April. It 

applies immediately to new members joining the society and to existing members when subscriptions are next due on January 2nd 2015. The new rates are as follows: Many members pay by standing order and, Individual membership £10 as I’m sure you will appreciate, we need Family membership £15 to ask those members to change the Corporate membership £50 instruction to their bank. Please do so Corporate membership  before 2 January 2015, so that the  (not for profit  correct amount is transferred  organisations) £25 on the due date.We would be grateful if as many members as possible made payment by standing order, as it makes administration much simpler but, of course, you may still pay by cheque if you prefer. If at any time you decide to move from paying by cheque to payment by standing order, please contact me either by telephone or email (the details are on the inside back cover). 


Alternatively you can pay or set up your own standing orders by using the following Ipswich 

Society Bank Account details: 

Barclays Bank Princes Street Ipswich Branch 

Sort Code: 20 44 51 

Account Number: 80489018 

Liz Brain 


The Ipswich Society summer excursion to east London, ‘Crossing the Thames’ where we 

looked at possible new bridge and tunnel sites, proved to be extremely popular (a fourth 

should have taken place by the time you read this).  Our Chairman is open to suggestions as 

to a suitable visit for next year: a place that is not normally open to the public or is perhaps 

the site of future development that will, in some way, affect us here in Suffolk.  For 

example, Sizewell C together with the construction workers’ Park & Ride sites, a possible 

bypass for the four villages and the access arrangements from the A12 is one possibility. 


Ipswich Maritime Trust 


Ipswich Star journalist David Vincent 

photographing the "Window Wizards" of IMT 

during their last window set up.


Time flies by.... it will soon be time to change the IMT Window Museum display yet again. 

During the summer there has been an exhibition on "Navigation of the River Orwell" with 

photographs and old charts explaining how the river's course has changed over the years, a 

display of navigation equipment of years gone by, some of those years not so long ago but 

beyond the memory of younger inhabitants and visitors to Ipswich who may never have heard 

of a Walkers Log (*p.14). The centre of the display was a model of the River Orwell by Peter 

"Ben" Bendall complete with the Orwell Bridge, Freston Tower and the Ganges Mast. 


Bob Pawsey has made a successful bid to purchase a remarkable bound inventory of the 

Ipswich Dock Commission's Specification, Conditions, Bill of Quantities, and Tender 

documents for the construction of new quays in Ipswich Dock 1902-5. This big volume has 

been purchased for Leonard Woolf's collection and is fully illustrated with high quality 

photographs showing the work in progress. Stuart Grimwade has started scanning these 

fascinating images for the IMT Archive. 


As usual the Trust had a stand at the Ipswich Maritime Festival with a display of old 

photographs of the docks from the Leonard Woolf collection and a selection of nautical books 

on sale by local authors. The stand helped to raise an awareness of the Trust and was visited by 

many well known names in Ipswich as well as making many useful new contacts. 

                         (continues 


The IMT once again occupied the Old Customs House during the Heritage Open Weekend on 13th and 14th of September which included a display of photographs and artefacts from the IMT reserve collection and photographs of historic lettering from around the port, taken byBorin Van Loon. 


On 21 August 21 there was a day trip down the 

River Orwell in the Thames Sailing Barge ‘Victor’ which included morning coffee and biscuits, a two course lunch with wine and an afternoon cream tea. These events are open to friends of the IMT as well as members. 


The monthly 2014 Autumn Talks start on 1 October about the Ipswich-based Fred Olsen Cruise Line's largest ship: 'Balmoral' and the BBC, by speaker Cathy Shelbourne, in a ground floor lecture theatre at the UCS 


The Window Museum model of the River Waterfront Building. Further details of all the Orwell by Ben Bendall IMT lectures and events can be found on the 


IMT website and Facebook page by searching   for ‘Ipswich Maritime Trust’. 


Tim Leggett


[*A WALKERS LOG was a propeller streamed behind a vessel on a long chord.  As the ship moved through 

the water the propeller turned, spinning the chord attached to the back of a gaugefixed to the stern of the ship, and by the number of turns the gauge would read how far the ship had moved through the 

water.  Allowing for current, the navigator could then estimate the distance over the bottom run and the average speed of the vessel. With modern GPS this is no longer needed.] 


Mini review 

The successful Suffolk-based architect, Tim Buxbaum’s fascinating and richly illustrated book Suffolk’s hundred best buildings will be the subject for his Winter Illustrated Talk on Wednesday 15 October. With Ipswich clocking in at eleven notable buildings, perhaps the talk will give members the opportunity to review those outside our town and challenge Tim about their favourite Ipswich buildings which he hasn’t included. The book is just big enough to fit in the pocket; the fine colour photographs by Ignacio Glez.-Riancho balance and illuminate the textual entries. [http://www.imemlifts.co.uk]                              

R.G. 


Cobbold & kin: life stories from an East Anglian family by Clive Hodges 

Boydell, 2014, £25 


With an introduction by John Blatchly, this volume – intended to be the first 

of several on different aspects of the Cobbold dynasty – has chapters on 

industry & agriculture, faith, the arts, empire, public service, science and 

academia, sport and military service. This gives us a flavour of the huge range 

of personalities to be found attached to the Cobbold family tree. The family so 


intimately associated with Ipswich and its history is deserving of study both penetrating and 

sympathetic and we find both here. 


Going back to Thomas Cobbold (1680-1752), the founder of the once-famous brewery, the 

Cobbolds are definitely ‘trade’, that is, ‘new money’. Growing in commercial success, wealth 

and power over the decades these Cobbolds had the knack of diversifying into politics, 

religion, banking and many other activities and marrying into all strata of society. Thus it is 

that we find Lady Evelyn Cobbold (1867-1963), daughter of a Scottish Earl and the first 

British-born Moslem woman to make the Hajj, rubbing metaphorical shoulders with the actress 

Lillie Langtry, who was – by the by – also mistress of Bertie, Prince of Wales. 


Cobbold family members spread to parts of the Empire and distinguished themselves (or 

otherwise). Horace William Cain (1831-1914) became a builder, benefactor and Mayor of 

Melbourne. Charles Cobbold Farr (1851-1914) was, after many misfortunes, a pioneering 

venturer and founder of Haileybury, Ontario. Which one of us hasn’t wished we could say the 

same? His statue – and his dog’s – was belatedly erected in Haileybury in 2004 to celebrate the 

town’s centenary. 


This is a book rich with anecdote and arcana. Harry Smith Parkes (1828-1885) was a diplomat 

in Japan when that country was leaving the era of the Shogunate and only beginning to open up 

to the outside world. It isn’t so much Harry’s meteoric rise through the consular service which 

impresses, but the fact that his three daughters and their governess (their photograph is in the 

book) climbed to the summit of Mount Fujiyama in 1880, following in the footsteps of their 

mother Lady Parkes, who was the first woman to achieve the same feat in 1867. 


It was not always crystal clear to this reviewer just how every character is related to the 

Cobbolds, but this turned out to be a flaw in my concentration (and eyesight). Referring back 

to Anthony Cobbold, I learnt that: “Lillie Langtry (Emilie Charlotte Le Breton) is my first 

cousin, three times removed (1C3R).  The three removes is, of course, just three generations. If 

you have the tree in the book you need Big John’s second wife and the sequence in the 

Hammond / Le Breton table, bottom right is: my mother, Mary Selby Parkin to Laura Annie 

Hammond to Lawrence Nicholas Dijre Hammond to Jane Penrose Le Breton to William Le 

Breton and then down to William Corbet Le Breton and hence Emilie Charlotte Le Breton. My 

mother had Lillie’s bright violet eyes!” So, remember to consult the family trees on pages x-xi, 

O Best Beloved… and this book becomes even more splendid. 


Anthony Cobbold, Keeper of the Cobbold Family History Trust, will no doubt be touching on 

some of these and other Cobbold-related characters in his Winter Illustrated Talk to the Society 

on Wednesday 17 December 2014 at the Museum Street Methodist Church, Ipswich.         R.G. 


The  Suffolk  College  Nuclear  Sciences  Department:  

a  national  training  success 


In 1967 the UK began to develop a civil nuclear power programme based on the Magnox design of 

nuclear reactors. The senior health & safety manager at Sizewell A power station, Bernard Willcox, 

approached the Ipswich Civic College, later to become the Suffolk College, to develop and teach 

two City and Guilds Radiation Safety Practice Courses: Stages I & II.  


The syllabus was written and examinations set and marked by industry radiation safety 

professionals including Bob Gardiner at CEGB Berkeley, John Clifton at AEA Winfrith and Bernard 

James at the MOD. The courses were eight weeks long comprising two four-week blocks 

culminating in a three-hour written examination and a 40 minute oral practical examination.  Over 

thirty practical exercises were developed. The courses became the industry standard for those 

working as health physics monitors, surveyors and supervisors in nuclear power plants (including 

the later generation of AGR reactors), nuclear research establishments like Harwell, Windscale and 

Dounreay, and nuclear submarine dockyards like Rosyth, Devonport and Chatham. Students 

attended from all over the UK. Ipswich’s hotels and pubs benefited too! Technicians from other 

areas of industry, the inspectors, and medical fields also attended the courses in order to take a 

formal, internationally recognised course in radiation protection. After the accident at Chernobyl the 

British Council placed the Deputy Director of Nuclear Safety for the Republic of Byelorussia on a 

City and Guilds Radiation Safety Practice Course course. 


The facilities at the Suffolk College, named the Nuclear Sciences Department, occupied the whole 

of one side on the third floor of the main building on the former Rope Walk site. Specialist 

contamination suite laboratories with industry standard instruments and sources, including two 

medical X-ray sets were installed. Glove boxes, fume cupboards and specialist detectors were 

purchased and over the thirty-three years until the department closed in 2000, industry-trained 

graduate lecturers were employed – and then went back to industry after their time in Ipswich. 


With the cutbacks in the nuclear industry, Suffolk College stopped running the course. However, 

other UK centres still offer the course to approximately 100 students a year. This is but one example 

of Ipswich providing training to a national standard to a cohort of students from all over the UK.  

 

I am sure there are other examples.       Monty Guest 


Letter to the Editor

The Regent refurbishment and St Peter’s Wharf from Margaret Woolard 

I read in our Newsletter and the Ipswich Star that the Regent [Theatre] is being refurbished. I wrote 

to the newspaper thus: 


“I enjoy going to the theatre and although the Regent has a system for getting disabled people up to 

the circle, it is humiliating and takes time as it holds up others getting up the stairs. I often go to the 

New Wolsey Theatre and am very grateful that they have a proper modern lift. I am sure that this is 

one of the more important items for improvement of the Regent.” 


Since writing this I discovered that the Corn Exchange, which is a building run by the Council, has 

a lift so why not a lift for the Regent which holds so many shows now but doesn’t care enough for 

the members of the public who cannot climb the several flights of stairs? And despite the large 

amount it costs to see a show they expect us to travel on the contraption to get to the circle. 


My next comment is about the Waterfront article in the Star, 14 August. It seems that the Council 

are planning to develop the old Paul’s burnt-out property. I noticed that John Norman [Chair of the 

Ipswich Society] has welcomed the development proposals. I do hope that somewhere in these will 

be a car park for the public, as this area – now used as a car park – is almost always full. It will be 

great for this area to look good, but we need people to be able to park their cars; and Ipswich is 

lacking in parking spaces. 


Snippets 

Suffolk Record Office 

Storage space in the present Gatacre Road buildings will soon be insufficient.  For the county’s 

main record office to be in the county town would be very appropriate.  Two very different new 

locations have been mooted.  One is a linkage with UCS on the Waterfront; the other in County 

Hall, St Helen’s Street, which would clearly need a great deal of re-construction internally.  We 

await with great interest a possible decision in December. 


Memorial 

The impressive granite memorial featured on last issue’s cover commemorates the Merchant 

Navy’s achievements and losses of life. It is the result of a long campaign and fund-raising 

effort and erected on Orwell Quay by the Ipswich branch of the Merchant Navy Association; it 

continues to draw visitors and residents to read the inscriptions and ponder. 


Seats 

The re-modelling of Barrack Corner to create a cycle route and to aid pedestrians has led to a 

nice open paved area but at the expense of the seats. So in the west end of the town centre, 

seats have been removed here, and at the Berners Street/St Matthew’s Street junction and at St 

Matthew’s/Westgate Street.  Food for thought. 


Birketts to move 

It is understandable that this big law firm should want to move into purpose-built premises, on 

the site of Riley’s Pool Hall in Princes Street.  The numerous buildings they occupy at present 

in Museum Street may not be easy to fill but we hope they will find good uses in this  

attractive street. 


Croydon’s 

Tesco’s intention to create a new ‘Express’ store in part of the formers jewellers’ premises in 

Tavern Street has produced mixed reactions.  It might seem an odd newcomer in this prominent 

‘period’ building, but predictable regular use is arguably better than another empty shop, 

especially in this location.  More food for thought! 


Languages 

One may well be astonished that apparently 130 different languages, some of which most of us 

have never heard of, are spoken by pupils in Suffolk schools.   Even though some are probably 

variants of better known languages and some may only involve a handful of children, it must 

be a headache for teachers! 


Waterfront 

Publicity for Ipswich has lately been for ‘East Anglia’s Waterfront Town’ because that is indeed 

our unique feature compared with Norwich, Cambridge, Colchester et al.  So it is encouraging 

to hear of possible progress in dealing with some of the remaining eyesores.  The new local 

owner of the ‘Wine Rack’ is planning its real future (see page 20).  And IBC seems determined 

to push for progress for the even worse west end of the Waterfront – the site of the burnt out St 

Peter’s malting and the Paul’s concrete silo.  (A pity it’s not likely to include the derelict 

Burton’s building next to DanceEast.)  We wish them well. 


Brett’s furniture store 

One of the last locally owned shops in the town centre is set to close.  The business will be 

concentrated on their modern shop in Bramford Road.  The higher business rates in ‘the high 

street’ are partly to blame.  There is surely a case for a national re-assessment of town centre 

costs if politicians are serious about towns retaining their character.  


Tower Ramparts shopping centre 

The specific historical associations of the name will be lost if it is to be called ‘Sailmakers’.  

But it is encouraging that the new owners intend to invest substantially in our town centre.  The 

Tavern Street frontage needs to be appropriate for the street scene and the crucial importance of 

the main lift should be recognised for a centre with, unusually, two equally well-used levels.  


The Wolsey Angels 

Cardinal Wolsey’s fall from favour meant that the tomb he had planned for himself was never 

completed.  Four bronze angels, three or four feet tall, were to stand at the corners of the tomb.  

They were commissioned from and made by the Florentine sculptor Benedetto da Rovezzano; 

their elegant athleticism reminds us that he was a contemporary of Michelangelo.  Then Henry 

VIII wanted the angels to be used for his own tomb but his successors failed to honour his 

wishes.  Elizabeth I moved the incomplete tomb to St George’s Chapel in Windsor and then 

during the Civil War parts of it were sold off and the angels went to a country house in 

Northamptonshire.  They were later separated as pairs and went ‘missing’.  


Now that their provenance has been established, the Victoria and Albert Museum is appealing 

for financial contributions from the public to supplement various grant applications†.  The 

Ipswich Society Executive has decided to make a donation because of the Wolsey connection.  

Although the tomb was never completed, something of such historical and artistic importance 

associated with Ipswich’s most famous son seemed an appropriate cause for the Society to be 

involved. 


At present the angels are mounted on pedestals and I think look rather lost in the V&A’s big 

Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture Gallery.  But spaciously displayed with a mock-up of the 

impressive original stone chest (which now, minus angels, houses Nelson’s body in the crypt of 

St Paul’s Cathedral) they could be a spectacular sight and a visitor attraction.  I would hope 

that they could be seen in Ipswich, even if only for a brief visit.  

Neil Salmon 

[†Website – http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/w/wolsey-angels-appeal/] 


Tales from the river bank: a success story and a mystery 

As part of Suffolk Walking Festival in May, Ipswich Tourist Guides contributed eight guided 

walks to encourage visitors to Ipswich. Themes included The French Connection and History 

& Art in Ravenswood as well as my personal contribution Tales from the River Bank. During 

preparation for the walk I was reminded of two things that I would like to share with  

Society members. 


Back in 1999 the River Action Group (RAG) published its vision and strategy of a ‘River for 

All’ stating that “by 2010 there will be a wide, green, lively well-used river corridor at the heart 

of Ipswich”. RAG was chaired by Tom Gondris, a stalwart of so many local organisations 

including the Ipswich Society, and supported by volunteers from other interested groups – 

Ipswich Wildlife Group and the Greenways project to name but two. My walk in mid-May 

included the section of river from Yarmouth Road to Stoke Bridge and it was with immense 

pride that I was able to demonstrate to our visitors (and some locals) that this vision has been 

very successfully achieved. The river bank looks beautiful: wild flowers, butterflies and birds 

abound and we met very many people walking and cycling along the well maintained paths. 

This truly is a ‘River for All’ and we can now enjoy the benefits of hours of work put in by 

volunteers over the last fifteen years. 


My walk also included a look at Alderman Canal, again managed by volunteers, and close by I 

discovered a mystery which perhaps a Society member might be able to answer. In the 1990s 

Ipswich was one of seven towns to receive EU funding to develop a ‘shared space’ scheme on 

Handford Road. The idea, pioneered in Holland, was that roads should be shared with no 

particular hierarchy of users i.e. pedestrians should have similar priorities to car drivers. With 

hindsight, perhaps Handford Road was not a good choice for this sort of scheme. More recent 

schemes are now working well, for example Oxford Circus in London and, locally, parts of 

Ravenswood estate.  


At the Handford Road entrance to Alderman Road recreation ground is an information board 

explaining the scheme. It also describes the adjacent artwork, funded as part of the work as 

follows:- 

“The local and natural history of the area have inspired the design and artwork of this project. 

Within the triangular meadow the orchard trees ripple above a carpet of ground lights 

outlining the delicate shape of a dragonfly’s wing. The lighting spells out a poetic message 

relating to the dragonfly in dot dash components of Morse Code.” 


Unfortunately, the lighting component has suffered much over the intervening years and my attempt to 

decipher the words was not entirely successful. The first two lines are reasonably complete – I have ‘Dancing’ (alongside path) followed by ‘Rainbow’, the fourth line may be ‘Aged’. Can anyone help, please? Answers on a postcard via the editor would be much appreciated. 

Margaret Hancock 

[Margaret recently spotted a kingfisher over the river between Stoke and Princes Street bridges. -Ed.] 


Albion Wharf 

There has been a planning application to tidy up the Key Street frontage of the Regatta Quay 

development (the Wine Rack).  Block B should have filled the empty space that remains on the 

site and was likely to be a hotel.  Rumour suggested even a Premier Inn.  This building will not 

now happen for the foreseeable future and so the exposed gable end of the former maltings 

(Cambria) is to be clad in weather boards and the exposed reinforcing steel on the corner of 

Block C – under the banner – removed and the rough concrete made good. 


Block B shown dotted on the plan gives an indication of where the ‘making good’ will  

take place. (See our wraparound photograph on pages 1 and 24.) 


K e y   S t r e e t Block B Block C Block Customs House A Cambria Wine Buildings Rack Pizza Express  Albion Wharf 


 The Suffolk Local History Recorder's Scheme 


In the July 2014 edition of The Ipswich Society newsletter, I introduced readers to the purpose and 

requirements of this project culminating in a plea for volunteers in many of the Ipswich wards. I am delighted to inform you that David Nunn contacted me and is now the Local History Recorder for Westgate Ward.   


There are several long serving recorders in the Ipswich area but overall the town hasn't been covered sufficiently 


and I would like to appeal again for volunteers in the following wards: Alexandra, Bixley, 

Gainsborough, Gipping, Holywells, Priory Heath, Rushmere, St. Margaret, Sprites  

and Whitehouse.   


So, if you are considering it, please contact me on janette1407@hotmail.co.uk to find out more 

or look on the website (www.slhc.org.uk, click on 'Recorders', then click on 'Recorders Pack' 

within the text on the left hand side) to read the guidelines on what is involved in the role.  It is 

not an onerous task; you are not required to do research for other people or to do historical 

research of your area, just to observe and record what is happening today as that will become 

tomorrow's history. 

Janette Robinson 


Houses of Parliament: an Ipswich Society trip, 4 August 2014

By coach to Westminster, arriving before 11; luckily there wasn’t the gridlock that had affected 

our Mayfair trip in March. With time to spare, I looked at the two Battle of Britain memorials on 

the Embankment, with their dramatic sculptures. Then to St Margaret’s Church, the MPs’ 

church, to view the numerous memorials to parliamentarians over the centuries and round 

Dean’s Yard, home to Westminster School and the Abbey Choir School. 


I passed the long façade of the Church House, opened by the king and queen in 1940; the United 

Nations held its early meetings there in ’45-’46. Over the busy road to the Supreme Court, Listed 

Grade II*, neo-Gothic style, built in 1913 and internally renovated in 2009. This is the highest 

court in the U.K. hearing civil and criminal cases of the greatest public importance. Lunch in the 

café was a welcome refuge from the hustle and bustle of the tourist-thronged streets. 


We meet outside the Palace of Westminster, so-called because in medieval times a royal palace 

stood here until a major fire in 1512, after which Henry VIII moved up the road to what became 

Whitehall Palace. Our knowledgeable guide met us in Westminster Hall part of which, built by 

William Rufus, dates from 1099. It is the largest surviving medieval hall in northern Europe: the 

roof spans 67 feet and 80% of the splendid hammer-beam roof is original. 


Our guide led us through the entire building to start our tour at the Royal Staircase. After another 

major fire in 1834 Charles Barry, with Pugin as interior designer, rebuilt the palace as a more 

purpose-built structure. We stood at the head of the staircase, which the queen ascends on her 

way to the Robing Room and the State Opening of Parliament.  


The House of Lords half of the Palace is Pugin at his most opulent and Prince Albert also had a 

say in the decorative scheme. The Royal Gallery leads through to the House of Lords Chamber 

(red leather seats), where the eye is drawn to the gilded throne and surrounds: 23 carat gold! Fit 

for a queen (or king) indeed! The chamber, like that of the Commons, is smaller than one 

imagines and Lords must sometimes be at very close quarters.  


Through the Peers’ Lobby and corridor to Central Lobby where many people meet and lobby 

their MPs; this is the hub of the two houses, architecturally and personally. Through the 

Commons Corridor and Members’ Lobby to the House of Commons Chamber. In contrast to the 

Lords, this chamber is restrained in its decoration (bombed in WWII and rebuilt). It has green 

leather seats and a public gallery with a glass security screen. As before, this chamber is smaller 

than expected and crowded debates must be literally ‘heated’. The word ‘Commons’ is derived 

from ‘communities’; originally MPs came here to represent their own communities, as distinct 

from the Lords being summoned here by their king.  


Returning via St Stephen’s Hall, formerly a chapel, it was the site of great parliamentary events 

from around 1550 until 1834 (the year of the fire). The wall frescoes depict The Building of 

Britain; one panel shows our own Cardinal Wolsey in action. Back to the Hall to thank our guide 

and get a  welcome tea and cake after an engrossing and educational tour. A coachful of 

members owe their thanks to Caroline Markham for organising such a fabulous outing and to our 

Soames driver.                                       Richard Worman 

[Apologies for typographical inexactitudes which crept into Richard’s last two contributions. -Ed.] 


Our back pages 


With the Society in only its third year of existence and the achievement of Newsletter No. 2 (reviewed in our 

last issue), we move on to the next one. There is a leap in size from quarto to foolscap for No. 3, May 1963, and for the next six issues, too. Apologies are offered for the AGM and talk on ‘Planned expansion of existing towns’ by Mr Leonard G. Vincent which is postponed until June, for the Ipswich Society Exhibition delayed until October and for the Thetford visit which will now take place in July.  


A report follows of a Special General Meeting on 22 

March featuring “A short film of the Cornhill in 1930 … shown by Mr Don Chipperfield [which] caused some amused comments on the changed traffic conditions which have come to Ipswich in 33 years.”  


“The subject of ‘The Sailors Rest’ provoked the most lively discussion of the evening. There was a strong feeling among some that a campaign for the preservation of this unique Ipswich building should be a major event for the Society. This was not agreed as such, but the Hon. Secretary was asked to write to the Corporation and to the local press, making clear that the Ipswich Society was firmly in favour of the retention of ‘The Sailor’s Rest’ as a civic amenity of architectural worth.  


“Subsequent to the publication of the letter from the Hon. Secretary, the ‘Evening Star’ carried 

a very good article on the topic and, although the future of ‘The Sailor’s Rest’ is still in the 

balance, the arguments have been quite clearly stated and it is to be hoped that the Corporation 

will be successful in its attempts to find a solution to the problems surrounding the preservation 

of the building. 


“One of the most significant points about this whole matter is that ‘The Sailor’s Rest’ was 

included in a list of those buildings in Ipswich considered as important enough to preserve: a 

list compiled by the Museums Committee of the Town Council about the time that Mr 

Chipperfield’s film was made!” 


Under the heading ‘Activities of the Groups’, we read that while the Rivers Group was 

gratified that one of their suggestions (a weir to be built near Stoke Bridge) formed part of the 

Gipping Orwell Improvement Scheme approved in April by the East Suffolk and Norfolk 

Rivers Board for submission to the Ministry of Agriculture, “The Streets Improvement Group 

has not found that its suggestions for the Cornhill are immediately and completely acceptable 

to the Corporation…” 


Once again, thanks to Tony Hill for the use of his archive. Perhaps unsurprisingly, no reader 

has come forward with Newsletter No. 1; it is missing from the Suffolk Record Office file, too. 

R.G. 

The Ipswich Society 

www.ipswichsociety.org.uk 


email: secretary@ipswichsociety.org.uk 

Registered Charity no. 263322 


This Newsletter is the magazine of Ipswich’s civic amenity society established in 1960 


Executive Committee 


Dates for your diary 

Wednesday 22 April 2015: Eltham Palace, London 

Wednesday 20 May 2015: Colourful characters and fascinating facts, Ipswich evening walk 

Thursday 25 June 2015: William Morris and the Olympic Park, London.


2014/15 Winter illustrated talks at the Museum Street Methodist Church – entrance in Black  

Horse Lane – 7.30pm (followed by tea and biscuits): 

Wednesday 15 October        Tim Buxbaum, author of 100 best buildings in Suffolk (see p.13) 

Wednesday 19 November 7.30pm Winter Lecture Extra (replaces our Awards Evening): Bob  

Allen and Chris Wiltshire on 'Planning and architecture – its impact upon Ipswich’ (an  

illustrated talk). Venue for this talk only: St Peter’s on the Waterfront. 

Wednesday 17 December      Anthony Cobbold on the Cobbold Family History Trust (see p.14) 

Wednesday 21 January 2015 Tony Marsden shows the latest incarnation of our Slide Collection 

 – the remarkable historical resource created by the Society’s Flickr website (see p.11) 

Wednesday 18 February        Joy Bounds on the Ipswich suffragettes. 


 

[You may also be interested in the IBPT illustrated talk on Wed. 29 October mentioned on page 8] 


Newsletter deadlines & publication dates (the latter may vary by a few days) 

Deadline for material: 1 December;     Publication date: 22 January; 

            1 March;                 2 April;  

            1 June;                   17 July; 

            1 September;                9 October.


Additional Winter Presentation 

Planning and architecture – its impact upon IpswichYou will see elsewhere in this Newsletter a note to the effect that the Awards evening has not received sufficient nominations to make a worthwhile show.  In its place we have arranged for our two Vice- Presidents, Bob Allen and Chris Wiltshire to give us their thoughts on the good and bad buildings of Ipswich, illustrated by slides from the Ipswich Society collection and recent photographs by way of comparison. 

The date, time and venue remain the same:  

7.30pm, Wednesday 19 November 2014  

at St Peter's by the Waterfront


A panorama of Star Lane, Key Street, the bus depot, the Premier Inn and other Wet Dock 

developments (some completed, some static) and the clock tower of the Custom House just 

visible behind the hoarding. The view is from the scaffolding surrounding the east wall of St 

Mary-At-The-Quay with the camera poked through a slit in the plastic sheeting.

Issue 197 October 2014

© 2024 The Ipswich Society, Registered Charity Number: 263322

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