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July 2018                                     Issue 212 


1924-5


ST PETER’S DOCK SPECIAL


Sailing Barge Victor leaves St Peter’s Dock via New Cut


Contents Editorial 

Editorial/ New members           

A recent upgrade in the web-hosting 

Chairman’s remarks       

Planning matters             


Contents:

Editorial/NewMembers

Chairman's remarks

Planning matters

Snippets

Green & Hatfield's building

Cambridge Cemetry/King's College outing

Gateway to the Wet Dock

Bridge over troubled water

Suzanne Buck talk at the AGM

Letters to the editor/Two blasts from the past

Ipswich: memories of a special town

General Data Protection Regulations

Royal Wedding at Ipswich 1297

Ipswich Building Preservation Trust

Ipswich traffic issues

Oak tree Low Carbon Farm

Blue plaque Candidate Percy Edwards

The secret signs of Ipswich

Society Awards call for nominations

Circus poster

New guide booklet: St Clement Church


Editorial

A recent upgrade in the web-hosting software has resulted in all sorts of amusing anomalies and errors on the Society's website. While churning through the online versions of our Newsletter issues - changing fonts, checking links and repositioning images - your Editor came across two items from the April 2008 issue, reproduced on page 12. Serendipity can have some surprises up its metaphorical sleeve.


Many thanks to all our contributors this issue; we couldn't do it without you.

Robin Gaylard


New members 


Brian Mateer’s aerial photograph of the Orwell (1980s) moving westwards from St Peter’s Dock at lower left, past Stoke Bridge, Princes Street Bridge, the station and Gippeswyk Park. Note also St Mary-at-Quay and St Peter 

churches in the centre foreground, the lack of the Novotel by the St Peter roundabout, the Greyfriars block and the football ground stands at the upper right.


Chairman’s remarks 

A somewhat disjointed Remarks column this month in that my first attempt was rejected by the 

Editor because of duplication – my fault in rushing to get copy in before my holidays.  This 

reworked version reaches you from a Scottish island. 


We are touring Scotland by train and ferry and, having reached the end of the line at Mallaig, 

have crossed the sea to Skye.  My first impression of the journey here is: ‘what a marvellous, 

valuable asset the Victorians left – the permanent way’.  Since it was first dug we've had new 

rolling stock, new engines using alternative power sources and, in the majority of places, new 

track but the route is everlasting. The tunnels and embankments, the bridges and viaducts would, 

in most cases, be too expensive to create today but we are certainly using what we have and 

moving people (and goods) swiftly, safely and efficiently. 


By the same score we should support investment in infrastructure in the 21st century: a new 

Upper Orwell Crossing, for example, but I remain unconvinced that a new bridge will solve 

Ipswich's traffic problems – in fact it could make them worse! 


Additional traffic in Cliff Lane and Station Street puts additional pressure on the junctions where 

those roads meet the existing radials (Nacton Road and Belstead Road) by way of example.  The 

traffic models I've seen don't take into account vehicles from north east Ipswich using the new 

bridge to avoid Chevallier Street. 


They do make an assumption, however, about the reduction in traffic in Key Street/College Street 

and suggest the latter could be closed to enhance the setting of Wolsey's Gate.  A great idea… if 

only.  Clearly there is much to be discussed, please let me have your thoughts. 


You will recall that I asked, by way of a tick box questionnaire at our AGM in April, which 

building (or building site) in Ipswich you considered to be the biggest eyesore. It wasn’t a very 

scientific survey and, to make it less so, I suggested some 25 possibilities to get you started.  I 

deliberately omitted the former Odeon cinema at the beginning of Woodbridge Road which gets 

mentioned by many in casual conversation as being a contender, but nobody gave it a tick in the 

replies. 


Clearly those sites close to the Church of St Margaret are top of many people’s list for want of 

improvement; a couple of you even suggested better uses for the former Kwikfit garage site. 


The results – Bar Fontaine, St Margarets Street (30); Kwikfit site, St Margarets Green (25); 

County Hall, St Helens Street (26); The Mill (23 Storey tower block) above St Peter’s Wharf 

(25): Peter’s Ice Cream, Grimwade Street (17); St Peter’s Wharf and environs (14). 


There are other ideas afoot, confusingly by two separate consultants. Allies and Morrison, 

architects and urban planners have produced Ideas for Ipswich for Ipswich Central, whilst Steer 

Davies Gleave, transport and planning consultants, have produced a Public Realm Strategy for 

Ipswich Borough Council. The latter comes at the end of a lengthy period of consultation with 

numerous ‘stakeholders’ and parts of the document are likely to be adopted by Ipswich   

Borough Council. 


Both documents contain ideas for the ‘Gateway’ to the Waterfront: St Peter’s Wharf, Bridge 

Street and College Street in front of Wolsey’s Gate. I think a considerable number of vehicles 

will pass Wolsey’s Gate before College Street is closed to traffic. At least a large proportion of 

the Gateway building sites are now in the possession of the Borough Council. 


Have a good summer.                    

John Norman 


Planning matters 

Velsheda (The Wine Rack). The crane is up and John Howard has grants totalling £20m from 

various Government departments. 150 apartments will be built but will be there be buyers? 

57 Henley Road. A second attempt to build a house in the garden of 57. This is a small, L-

shaped cottage, simple and boringly plain. Being smaller it takes rather less of the six flats 

amenity space and has a bit more for itself. We objected to the loss of garden of a large house and 

to the unpleasant little design itself and the general loss to the Conservation Area, particularly of 

the brick boundary wall to St Edmunds Road and permission was refused. However, the owners 

have appealed; the decision is awaited. Meanwhile, the owners have marketed the house which 

does have permission to convert to flats. 

Thurleston Cricket Hall, Henley Road. This derelict site has reappeared as a 68-bed care 

home. Quite exciting plans for similar enterprises of decent architectural expectancy have been 

approved but never built. The site has now been sold on with change-of-use permission to a large 

scale developer LNT which sells them on to Ideal Care Homes. It is a routine, off-the- computer 

set of plans which were done better by Victorian Local Authorities building municipal hospitals 

and asylums. Considering that it is opposite a listed 1811 mansion, Sparrowe’s Nest, and a group 

of listed farm buildings makes it all the worse. We shall oppose its design but not its use. 

Planning permission has been granted, against the views of the Urban Design Officer and the 

Conservation and Design Panel, to a somewhat modified design. 

41 Cowper Street.This proposal to demolish a nice early Victorian three-bay two-storey 

detached house and replace it by a three house terrace has been granted permission. Because the 

house is not listed, nor in a conservation area, nor locally listed and not on the Society's 1984 list, 

it was not possible for the planners to resist the application. In a Local Planning Authority where 

there is insufficient land for houses, it would have failed on appeal. Interestingly, The Society has 

just been requested to make suggestions for buildings in such a category to be added to the 

Borough's Local List. 

15 Warrington Road. This application to build a modern single-storey, two-bed dwelling in the, 

admittedly, spacious rear garden of this 1938 large detached house with access by foot and 

parking on the donor house front space, was withdrawn at the last moment. There is much 

neighbourhood opposition as well as by the Conservation and Design Panel and The Ipswich 

Society. The objective grounds are: the question of the suitability of utilising the rear garden for a 

dwelling; the foot only access; the turning of the front of the donor house into a gravel car park 

for a minimum of four cars which would be very destructive to the street scene of a Conservation 

Area. The matter has not ended there, I feel sure. 

There have been some changes to the way in which planning applications are announced to the 

public. Firstly, a local Notice of the Application is no longer required to be posted on walls or 

windows or lamp posts near the site. This will mean that neighbours more than two houses away 

will no longer become aware of an application which might be of importance to them. Close 

neighbours will still receive letters. This does save the Council Enforcement Officer a 

considerable amount of time and hence they are available to do their real job. 

Secondly, only important applications including all Conservation Area and Listed buildings will 

be printed in the local press; householder applications for extensions and conservatories and such 

minor works will no longer appear in the Archant papers. However, a full list will continue to be 

published on line. Those members who do look at the weekly applications should therefore put 

the IBC recent planning page on their favourites list:  

https://www.ipswich.gov.uk/content/planning-applications-received 

The number of applications received by the Borough in the last eight weeks has fallen by nearly 

50% compared with the similar period last year. Neither I, nor the Planners, have an explanation 

for this decline; it is not related to the changes in notification noted above. 

Mike Cook 


Snippets 

Velsheda 

Observant readers will have noticed from this issue’s Planning matters column that the skeletal 

building on the Wet Dock known for years as ‘The Wine Rack’ was given a new name on the 

planning application. Far from being named after a Nordic goddess, as your editor thought, it is 

named after a large yacht. Designed by Charles Nicholson and built by Camper & Nicholson in 

1933 for Mr W.L. Stephenson, the owner of the Woolworth shop chain, she was built in 1933 at 

Gosport. She was Nicholson’s second design for a J Class and Stephenson’s second big yacht. 

‘Velsheda’ was named after Stephenson’s three daughters, Velma, Sheila and Daphne. So, 

perhaps quite an appropriate name for a site near ‘Regatta Quay’ (ugh!), sorry, Albion Wharf. 


Graffiti (or tagging) 

While a debate can be had about whether there is a difference between these two words, there 

have been spates of spray-can and marker-pen writings on buildings, street furniture and even 

road surfaces in Ipswich. It is a form of permanent litter spread by residents or visitors who, 

presumably want to ‘make their mark’. The Borough Council’s Graffiti Team has to navigate 

property-ownership, legal indemnity and relevant permissions, in addition to the use of correct 

solvents and steam-cleaning, to remove marks. In these times of shrunken budgets, and given 

the growing problem, we have to be patient and encouraging of our authority. We can all play 

our part by reporting new graffiti online or by telephone. The quicker it is cleaned off, the less 

likelihood there is of further marks at the same site (the same principle applies to litter). 


Which brings us to… 

Cable ties: the new litter 

Let’s not be too negative, but street advertisers/fly-posters are using more of these nylon 

fixings to attach placards and notices to railings, fences and posts. If they remove posters after 

an event, they often leave the almost unbreakable cable ties attached. Perhaps we should all 

carry a pair of scissors/snippers in our pocket and remove these blighters when we spot them. 


Photoeast festival  

Photoeast returned to Ipswich in May-June 2018 for its second biennial festival of 

photography. We should be grateful that this regional celebration is based at the University’s 

Waterfront Building, not least because it enables the use of much of the Wet Dock quays for 

events: the photography/dance/video performance Carte postale in DanceEast, billboard 

exhibitions on the northern quays, Mark Power’s Shipping forecast exhibition, lectures, slide- 

shows in a (very hot) container near the Cult Bar, shows in the reopened La Tour Café etc… 


“Them bridges agin…” 

Our photograph shows Ipswich Society Chairman, John Norman, Ipswich Mayor Cllr. Sarah Barber and our AGM speaker, Suzanne Buck SCC Team Leader on ‘The Bridges’ who summarised progresson the Upper Orwell Crossings projects on April 18, 2018 in the UoS Waterfront Building. This was certainly a topic of great interest and concern to attendees and a fuller account of the evening appears on page 11. 


Buildings in St Margarets Street/Old Foundry Road 


Illustrations by ‘L.R.S.’ – Leonard Russell Squirrell (1893–1979). Source: Ipswich County 

Borough of Ipswich Official handbook 1965. 


Previous page: these fine line illustrations of the buildings at the corner of St Margarets Street 

and Northgate Street show the street scene in 1950 with two men carrying a grandfather clock 

into the large double gates in Old Foundry Road: that redbrick elevation was, for many years, the 

home of Cake Supreme (now in Tacket Street). Many will remember Green & Hatfield – in 1979 

Mr Green was a neighbour of your Editor, who kept his car in the timber-built chaise-house next 

door – but also the more recent ‘Alexandria Hair Artistry’ on the corner. 


The handbook in which the advertisement appears comments: 

‘Well known all over the world for its antiques is the shop of GREEN AND HATFIELD, a 

business started in 1880. The shop itself, in Northgate, occupies historic ground for it is built 

over the actual ramparts and ditch of the town’s northern boundary. 

Ever since Samuel Green opened his shop – then in Spring Road – the business has been noted 

for the range of products sold and to their variety and value to the connoisseur of historic and 

beautiful things. All manner of antiques are stocked but more especially old designs in fine china 

and glass and period furniture. Customers come here not only from all parts of this country but 

also from the U.S.A., Sweden, Denmark, Italy and the various Commonwealth lands. Long a 

family business Green and Hatfield intend giving their unique personal service in the years to 

come.’ 


In May 2018, after languishing unloved for years the timber-framed, Tudor-style buildings at 

16-18 St Margarets Plain, once the Dolce Vita night club and Bar Fontaine, designed by local 

architect J.A. Sherman in 1936 (see also Croydons shop façade), plans were announced to 

convert them into thirteen apartments. The rear of the building is on Old Foundry Road, which 

will be renamed Foundry House. The developer and builder previously worked on the conversion 

of the former E. Brand & Sons store in Tacket Street into 17 apartments. 

R.G. 


American Cemetery, Cambridge and King’s College Chapel 

an Ipswich Society outing, 21 April 2018 


Our coach took us on the Madingly Road to Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial: the 

only World War II American cemetery in the U.K. Cambridge University donated the site; the 

British government authorised use of the land in perpetuity as a permanent burial ground, 

without charge or taxation. General Pershing promised that ‘Time will not dim the glory of 

their deeds’. The cemetery has a simple design, giving it a severe and impressive dignity: two 

malls at 90 degrees to each other, with the gravestones exactly spaced in the enclosed quarters. 

The Great Mall, with reflecting pools of water, stretches eastwards from the flagstaff. The Wall 

of the Missing extends along its length to the Memorial at the far end. The Memorial interior 

contains a large battle map and small chapel; it has a mosaic ceiling. 


After lunch, we convened at King’s College Gatehouse for our guide to show us the glories of 

the world-famous Chapel; everyone knows it from the Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols. On a 

sunny afternoon the light flooded through the Flemish stained glass windows and we could 

marvel at the soaring beauty of the fan-vaulting. The eastern end is fairly plain – it started to be 

built in 1446 – but the western end (Ante-Chapel) is much more ornate, with plenty of Tudor 

devices. The Chapel was completed in 1515. 


We met for tea at Michaelhouse. St Michael’s is the oldest college chapel in Cambridge (early 

14th century). After a long and eventful history, the church was ‘converted’ in the 1990s for use 

by the wider community, hence its café. Many thanks to our guide and to organiser June Peck. 

Richard Worman 


Gateway to the Wet Dock 


St Peter’s Dock from the ‘viewing platform’ (from left): Novotel, Trinity House buoy, 

St Peters Street, St Peter’s-on-the-Waterfront, R&W Paul silo, Burtons building,


E.R.&F. Turner foundry, Foundry Lane and the  Jerwood Dance House.


St Peter’s Dock* and its environs are seen by The Ipswich Society and others as a vital gateway 

into the historic waterfront. To this end, Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) has purchased buildings 

and land between Foundry Lane and Bridge Street, including the Benet Aldred 16th century 

merchant’s house at 4 College Street. At the time of writing, purchase of  the ‘R&W Paul’ 

maltings silo is still to be finalised. IBC’s enlightened position is eventually to offer all the 

buildings to a developer and monitor/encourage a suitable scheme to revitalise this gateway area. 


St Peter’s Dock plaza (St Peter’s Dock and Bridge Street) 

Funding from the Coastal Community Fund has been secured to create an improved area of 

public realm alongside the River Orwell flowing under Stoke Bridge. This area should be turned 

into a new destination public space in conjunction with redevelopment of adjacent buildings, 

providing sitting-out space and prioritising pedestrian movement and people activity  

over vehicles.  


The visual impact of the flood wall could be softened and turned into a feature referencing the 

maritime heritage of the area. Paving could match the quays to east. One idea is to create a ‘wall-

walk’ in concrete to visually tie in with quay wall material, which allows people to see over the 

wall and provides informal seating at places. Handrails on the existing wall with integrated, 

concealed lighting would aid access. The exposed concrete on the wall could be enhanced by 

adding small details in steel or corten (weathering steel), referring to local maritime heritage: as 

an opportunity for public art. Raised planters would add much needed greenery.  


A more radical solution would be to remove the raised concrete flood defence because of the 

protection now provided by the new Tidal Barrier – or flood-gates might be installed in the wall 

to enable vessels to disembark easily from the dock. Another imaginative idea would be to 

investigate the installation of a wooden boardwalk over the water between Albion Wharf and 

New Cut East, potentially stepping down to water level from the road. 


Two-way vehicular access through the space will need to be retained for access to and from the 

Wet Dock Island, but treated in special materials which encourage sharing of the space, similar to 

rest of the Waterfront route. The removal of vehicle parking would reduce pollution and free up 

public spaces for café-type seating and all sorts of activities. 


On Stoke Bridge, the pedestrian crossing could be realigned (potentially two toucan crossings) to 

facilitate east-west walking and cycling. In the long term, the feasibility of a new pedestrian and 

cycle bridge between Foundry Lane and Whip Street could be investigated which would reinstate 

this historic connection; this would need to open for ship access, so long as the proposed Felaw 

Street bridge is also openable (see accompanying article).  


These ideas would assist in the visual appeal and development of the space, resolve current road 

user conflicts, celebrating the area’s maritime identity. Residents and visitors could reconnect to 

the Wet Dock and New Cut, using the amenity spaces and improved accessibility, all of which 

would supporting local businesses. 


Bridge Street gateway (Bridge Street roundabouts) 

A redesign should improve east-west and north-south connectivity, and provide a high quality 

public realm setting for waterfront development. Significant improvement requires changes to 

the Star Lane gyratory system, and depends on an ongoing wider review of traffic circulation. To 

account for this, two phases of improvements (short-term and long-term) are proposed by IBC. 


The conflict between motor vehicle movement and pedestrian connectivity remains an issue 

outside the Church of St Peter: i.e. traffic flows into Star Lane and out of College Street gyratory, 

whilst pedestrians walk from Stoke Bridge into St Peters Street. Add cyclists into the equation, as 

well as the setting of Wolsey's Gate, and the issue becomes complex but not unresolvable. Phase 

two of the Public Realm Strategy has some interesting ideas, albeit some time into the future 

involving Star Lane becoming a two-way road and College Street being closed (except for 

access) to become a high-quality pedestrian and cycle corridor with appropriate paving 

treatment. (See also page 12 ‘Star Lane traffic system’ for 2008 discussions about this. -Ed) 


The benefits would include reduced vehicular dominance creating a sense of arrival: an improved 

town image, increased useable amenity space, better air quality, noise reduction, safer roads and 

pedestrian and cyclist connectivity; enhancing the overall ‘legibility’ of the area – at the moment, 

first-time visitors to the town must be really confused, not to mention some residents. 


[*Nomenclature: Ipswich Maritime Trust describes the land side quay as a ‘wharf’, and the water 

as ‘St Peter's Dock’ (occasionally ‘Stoke Bridge Dock’). Please also note that this article contains 

some notes from the IBC’s preliminary Ipswich Public Realm Strategy. -Ed.] 


Bridge over troubled water? 

Suffolk County Council’s current proposals for three new bridges to, and to the south of, the 

Island site were shown at DanceEast early in March.

The alignment of the main bridge (A) has now been settled. Discussions are continuing on the 

regime for opening the centre section, vital for taller craft. The amended pedestrian/cycle 

crossing at the lock, Bridge C, could well be the refurbished Ransomes swing bridge.

 

Bridge B is to span New Cut, from Felaw Street to the Island site. An extension of Mather Way 

would look to be a better location, but the main concern is to ensure that the proposed bridge can 

be opened. A fixed bridge would effectively cut access to St Peter’s Dock for craft much higher 

than about 1.75 metres. That would be an unbelievably short-sighted decision which would leave 

the dock practically unusable.

 

This is a very important location.

• 1. The dock is at the historic heart of the town. It is where trade across the North Sea began, 


at the point where the navigable Orwell met the lowest ford crossing. There is evidence of 

wine being imported from the Rhineland around 600 AD.


• 2. Gipeswic was the first new settlement after the Romans left Britain. St Peter’s Dock is 

where it started. It is therefore one of the most historic locations in the UK.  Its restoration 

and re-use as, for example, a ‘Heritage Harbour’ would be of significant economic benefit to 

the area and would also enhance the attraction of pedestrian links between the dock and the 

town centre via St Peter’s Street.


St Peter’s Wharf from Stoke maltings showing the Orwell busy with sailing barges, tramway trucks on 

the quay, the Burtons works and, in the backgroud, St Mary-at-Quay Church with its tower-top spirelet. 


• 3. The dock was in regular use by commercial and leisure craft until the flood wall was put 

up in the late 1960s. That cut off access to the dock; the marina in the Wet Dock was 

developed, and the commercial port moved down river. The water remains.


• 4. The dock occupies a strategic location in the town’s regeneration plans. It lies at the 

southern end of the north-south axis and is at the entrance to the Waterfront and the Island 

site development area. If it is to fulfil the potential of that location, there must at the very 

least be retained access to the dock for historic and heritage craft. This does not mean 

exclusively craft with masts; smaller naval vessels, for example, would need much higher 

clearance than would be afforded by a level bridge over New Cut.


• 5. Emerging planning guidance for the area envisages a footway raised to flood wall level 

alongside the dock  and an enhanced viewing area on Stoke Bridge. Ipswich Borough 

Council now own two of the three critical freeholds which will unlock development of the 

site running back from the major double roundabout to Foundry Lane.


• 6. It would not be necessary for the proposed bridge to be opened frequently, in that the 

historic/heritage craft would be in the dock on a semi-permanent basis. Thus the main 

purpose of the bridge, to provide a traffic link to the Island site, would not be compromised.


Ipswich Maritime Trust has put out its own ‘Vision’ showing how the dock could be transformed. 

Only access down to the water and some pontoons would be required, none of which would need 

major expenditure.  We commissioned well-known local artist Reg Snook to envisage how the 

dock might look against a back-drop of the redeveloped ‘IBC’ sites. [see the painting in the 

article The changing Waterfront in our January 2018 issue, No. 210].


Within recent memory the dock has contained Thames barges, paddle steamers and a range of 

leisure craft. The vision is readily achievable. The dock is there. We will lose its potential if the 

New Cut bridge is to be a fixed one.


Geoffrey Dyball (Chairman of Ipswich Maritime Trust)

[Photographs on the previous page and on the front cover courtesy Stuart Grimwade (IMT).] 


AGM talk by Suzanne Buck 

On Wednesday April 18 2018 at 7.30pm the 58th Annual General Meeting of The Ipswich 

Society was held in the 2nd floor lecture hall in the University of Suffolk Waterfront Building in 

the presence of our President, the Mayor of Ipswich, Councillor Sarah Barber.


Over 150 members turned out for the evening.  After the AGM Suzanne Buck, Team Leader and 

Highways Engineer at Suffolk County Council, spoke to members on the proposed Upper Orwell 

Crossings. Our speaker gave us a summary of progress so far and a question-and-answer session 

followed. Questions came thick and fast.  

  

Although not intended as an alternative to the Orwell Bridge when it is closed, but an alternative 

for local traffic under normal conditions – particularly intended to help free up Star Lane – some 

were concerned that the Landseer Road and Cliff Lane areas would become gridlocked when the 

main Orwell Bridge is closed. Suzanne pointed out that this already happens; people are already 

using all the rat-runs they know when the Orwell Bridge is closed. 

  

Members were concerned that with the new bridge these roads would become much busier under 

normal conditions and are not currently suitable as major through routes. Suzanne agreed that, as 

traffic increases over the years, all roads are going to get busier. Many of the people who will use 

the new bridge are going to these areas anyway and will use the bridge instead of Star 

Lane. People entering town from Bourne Hill and wanting Felixstowe Road are more likely to 

use Duke Street and probably Pownall Road via the new bridge, rather than the Star Lane route.  

The concerns continued. 


There was also worry that a fixed bridge over the New Cut (from Felaw Street) would make it 

inaccessible to craft in the future, should St. Peter's Dock be restored as part of the Waterfront 

development and perhaps become a berthing area for historic and heritage vessels etc. for public 

display. Suzanne said that an opening bridge was not currently planned here. 


We are going to hear much more of this as it progresses when everyone will have a chance to air 

their views. The evening ended with canapés and wine when members were able to socialise. 

Tim Leggett 


Letters to the Editor 

The Wolsey tondo by Alan Bellis from Pat Wootton 

I was very interested in the article about the Wolsey Tondo. Some eighty-five years ago when 

we were both children Ruth Bellis took me to the garden behind Christ Church Mansion and 

pointed to the Wolsey plaque and said "My father did that".  I never knew quite what she meant 

but now I realise that Alan Waddington Bellis was, in fact, the designer.  The Bellis family 

were our next door neighbours in Gainsborough Road and Alan taught at the Ipswich Art 

School.  He was a well-known artist and sometimes took us with him on his painting 

expeditions.  I remember the Wolsey Pageant and the little red books published at the time.  

Well done to Bob Allen for finding the tondo.  We are so fortunate in the officers of the Ipswich 

Society for their enthusiasm and expertise.  Thank you. 


Blast from the past 

A letter from Ann Petherick from the Ipswich Society Newsletter, April 2008 [Issue 171]: 

‘How can anyone in Ipswich – or anywhere else – seriously believe that building  

more roads* reduces congestion? The point has been proved so many times that  

increasing road capacity, whether in town or outside, generates additional journeys.’ 

[*Or, dare one suggest, bridges? -Ed.] 

… and the following article from the same issue… 


Would you Adam & Eve it? Dept. 


Star Lane Traffic System 

The Society believes that the current Star Lane gyratory is the most important problem 

that the Borough and County Councils have to solve. At the time of writing there is only 

one mode that can go from east to west – the internal combustion engine. The west to 

east is little better. Whenever there is an obstruction elsewhere gridlock ensues. We 

think the following points need to be taken: 

• Northern By-pass: At a very high cost, a project that is not in Suffolk CC's strategic 

transport plan and hence not in the Highways Agency's thoughts will not be built for 

the foreseeable future. 


• The East Bank Link Road will also never be built whilst the Highways Agency feels 

its junction with the A14 is dangerous. 


• The only relief is therefore a Wet Dock crossing. We feel that the best route is across 

the lock and thence to Bath Street. The yacht traffic can be coped with by a swing or 

lifting bridge. If the Dutch can do this there's no reason why we can't. 


• We do not see why strategic infrastructure need wait upon the finalisation of the 

redevelopment of The Island site. 


• Star Lane itself should be two-way, widened by land acquisition from properties on 

the north side as they are developed. It should be boulevardised with trees to prevent 

it turning into an in-town motorway. 


• The traffic lights at the junction with Grimwade Street should be for pedestrian 

control only. 


• Key Street/College Street should be for buses, taxis, access vehicles and bicycles 

only. It should be a 20mph paved, shared space area. 


• There should be a frequent east-west bus route along Key Street/College Street. 


Architectural exhibition from Ms Indu Varma 

I'm a member of the Ipswich Society and thought you may wish to know about a current 

exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts perhaps for a mention in the Newsletter, in 

case you are not already aware of it. 


It's the 'Superstructures: the new Architecture 1960-1990’, 24 March to 2 September 2018.  

There is a model of the Willis building and quite a lot of information about it too.  I found the 

whole exhibition extremely interesting and other members of the Society may do too. 


I continue to find the Newsletter very informative and a consistently good read. Many thanks. 


Book Review  

Ipswich: memories of a special town by Barry Girling. 


This is a new publication written by a local resident born and bred in Ipswich. On retirement, Barry Girling, together with his wife Elaine, sorted and categorised box after box of collected newspaper cuttings and ephemera; these, together with his memories, have resulted in an incomparable study of the town of Ipswich. 


The Ipswich Society, the Ipswich Maritime Trust and the Ipswich Institute jointly sponsored the production of this book. Barry writes, ‘I am especially grateful for the generous assistance afforded by both The Ipswich Society and the Ipswich Maritime Trust in the use of their photographic archives. For the good ol' boys of Ipswich with whom I have enjoyed such splendid company together with their reminiscences which have gratefully been deployed.’ 


‘A mid twentieth-century view of Ipswich. Powerful local families, enterprise and hard labour. The coming of the dock, followed by the great works, giant mills and maltings, the arterial railway system and the home fleet of sailing vessels. Not forgetting the change in provincial culture. My personal playground of Holywells, the Barge Yard, the Lock, Orwell Works and Quayside. Of the Ipswich men that manned the machines and crewed the ships. In all a diverse, unique town.’ 


This could be described as a ‘coffee table book’ which can easily be picked up and browsed.  Packed full of photos, this publication will bring back many nostalgic memories to the longer term residents of Ipswich as well as being an informative and fascinating induction to those who don't remember Ipswich in the twentieth-century.  

Tim Leggett 


Copies of the book are available at £10 each from the Ipswich Institute and a number of local outlets. 

Postal copies from Bob Pawsey, 82 Westerfield Road, Ipswich, (£10+£3 p&p). Tel. 01473-252893. 


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Royal wedding at Ipswich 

In the year of a royal wedding, it is appropriate to remember an earlier royal wedding which 

took place in Ipswich, 721 years ago. However, Ipswich was not an obvious place for a royal 

wedding; there is a shortage of information and disagreement over the actual date and location 

in the town. 


On 8 January 1297, Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, the daughter of King Edward I and Eleanor of 

Castile, married John, Count of Holland at St Peter and St Paul’s church, Ipswich, now known 

as St Peter’s by the Waterfront. In attendance at the marriage were Elizabeth's sister Margaret, 

her father, Edward I King of England, and her brother Edward, (later King Edward II). Queen 

Eleanor was already dead. The great nobles of the land and the low countries would also have 

been in attendance.  


There is a rival claim to the location of the wedding: the now demolished Chapel of Our Lady, 

which until the reformation was a chapel on the corner of St Matthews Street and Lady Lane. It 

was a major site for pilgrimage; its attraction was the miraculous healing powers of the statue 

of The Virgin Mary. It is likely that the actual wedding took place in the larger church of St 

Peter, but that the royal party made a devotional visit to the Chapel of Our Lady as part of the 

overall wedding proceedings. 


Elizabeth was 15 when she married, and her husband was 13. The marriage with Count John 

was dynastic and political. Holland had close trade links with England. They were betrothed 

when John was only 1. As part of the agreement, John was raised in England at Edward’s court; 

effectively a hostage for his father’s continued allegiance. 


The context for this wedding was a complex proxy military and trade war between England 

and France, involving Holland and Flanders. The essence of the conflict was substantially 

about Edward’s control of Gascony, which was the remaining province of England’s 

possessions in France, and his assertion of control over Scotland. In both areas Edward was 

being challenged by France. It was a great power conflict between England and France, which 

drew in the Low Countries, because it was also about control of the wool trade. Wool was 

England’s main export and the greatest source of tax revenue. 


By the time of the marriage, John’s father Floris V Count of Holland, had been murdered in a 

botched kidnap attempt in 1296, because he had changed allegiance in favour of France. 

Edward I was implicated, but it is unclear how much he was actually involved. Edward 

condoned the murder as it suited his purposes: he now had the successor, John Count of 

Holland, in his power. 


The marriage between Elizabeth and John would have become very urgent and was brought 

forward to immediately after the Christmas feast. Edward would have been keen to establish 

his control over Holland through John who would become his son-in-law, to stabilise the all-

important wool trade, and secure the alliances against France. King Edward invited a number 

of nobles from Flanders with English sympathies, to witness the wedding and the king’s power 

in the Low Countries. After the wedding John of Renesse (one of these lords) was appointed 

regent by Edward I, on behalf of John count of Holland who was a minor. 


St Peter’s in Ipswich would have been chosen as the location for the wedding for symbolic 

reasons. In medieval times Ipswich was an important trading town and port it was crucial to the 

economic and political power of the country. In particular it was the major cloth and wool 

exporting port for England. The wool trade was an important source of royal revenues through 

taxes on exports. Edward probably chose Ipswich to demonstrate his power over the wool trade 

to the French, his own people, and his allies.  


It was an Augustinian Priory of St Peter and St Paul which occupied a six-acre site. As a large 

priory, it would have had the necessary buildings to accommodate the king and his retinue. 

Much of the town would have been taken over for the lodgings of other notables and all the 

attendant clerks, servants, soldiers, priests and others,  as guests or functionaries. 


Importantly for this event was that it was easily accessible by sea. It is likely that the king, his 

retinue and the bride and groom travelled by sea; it being quicker and easier than by road. The 

royal ships would have been able to moor very close to the priory, where College Street and 

Key Street are now, which would have been the original quay. The foreign guests from Holland 

and Flanders would have found it conveniently accessible by sea. It is of course also possible 

that the king travelled by road from London after the Christmas feast. It is likely that much of 

the king’s baggage and retinue travelled by road and arrived ahead of the wedding to prepare 

the accommodation at the priory, and to finalise the arrangements for the wedding. The royal 

baggage train would have brought everything for the king’s comfort; furniture, the king’s bed, 

tapestries for wall hangings, plate, clothes jewellery. 


After the wedding John, Count of Holland was sent to Holland to establish his authority as 

ruler, although he was made to promise to heed the council of Edward’s Regent: he was 

effectively under the power of Edward I. Elizabeth was expected to go to Holland with her 

husband, but did not wish to go, or Edward I did not want her to go; it is not clear.  


Elizabeth did join her husband in Holland in 1298. Edward I travelled with her, through the 

Low Countries with her two sisters Margaret and Eleanor. This can readily be seen as a royal 

progress with Edward demonstrating the extent and reach of his power. They remained for 

several months and celebrated Christmas there in 1298. 


On 10 November 1299, Count John died of dysentery, though there were rumours of his 

murder. No children had been born from the marriage. His usefulness to Edward had been 

served. Edward had negotiated a peace treaty with France. To seal that, Edward himself 

married again to Margaret, the half-sister of Philip IV, King of France. 


Elizabeth is only connected with Suffolk through this marriage. She was born at Rhuddlan, 

north Wales in 1282, and died in childbirth, in 1316, and was buried at Walden Abbey, Essex. 

She was born in north Wales because Edward was at war with the Welsh rulers of Gwynedd, 

and Eleanor of Castile his wife was accompanying him as she always did.  


But for all this, we have a royal wedding which took place in Ipswich for strategic reasons: 

these explain its choice for a royal wedding. When Elizabeth married her second husband, 

Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford in 1302 it was at Westminster Abbey. 

Trevor Cooper 

[The name King Street originated from the King's Head Inn (opened in 1531 and demolished 

1880/1 to make way for the Corn Exchange), which was possibly on or near the site of a building 

called the King’s Hall where Edward I feasted at the time of the marriage of his daughter in 1297. 

So the street could indirectly have been named after the ancient 13th century hall. -Ed.] 


Many of you will already know that we have a Building Preservation Trust in Ipswich, but I 

suspect there are also many readers who will be wondering what the Trust is actively involved in 

these days. We were set up in the 1980s with generous interest-free loans from Ipswich Borough 

Council with the object of restoring and bringing back into use buildings of historic interest 

within the Borough. Over the years we have acquired and renovated a number of significant 

properties, the last one being Curzon Lodge at the bottom of Silent Street which was completed 

several years ago. These schemes were made possible by assistance from the Architectural 

Heritage Fund and by selling on the current project to finance the next one.  

We have been looking for our next project for some time. This is a challenge for the Trust. Fewer 

suitable properties have become available, although some large properties in the town cry out for 

investment. The housing market has seen huge price inflation and our funding now seems very 

modest in relation to the costs of purchase and renovation. Partnership working may well be a 

possibility for the future. We continue to monitor and assess all historic properties at risk in 

Ipswich, and in this we work closely with colleagues from the planning department of Ipswich 

Borough Council. There is considerable expertise and experience within the IBPT committee 

available to support our next scheme. 

Perhaps this will be the restoration of a Freehold Land Society (FLS) property. The FLS was 

historically of huge importance in providing Ipswich housing, and some of you will be aware of 

the many high quality buildings still standing with their ‘FLS’ plaques. The successor to the FLS 

is the Ipswich Building Society and we are working closely with them to identify and secure a 

suitable property. Our restoration would be an exemplar of what can be done to preserve the 

architectural features of the past and to include real upgrades in insulation and specification. We 

hope to include opportunities for apprentices from Suffolk New College to be involved, and there 

is considerable scope for the scheme to involve the local community and all those interested in 

heritage.  

We also make sure that our headquarters – Pykenham’s Gatehouse – is open for visitors every 

first Saturday of the month from May to October, and arrange visits and activities for members 

and friends. We expect to be visiting Broomhill Pool in the summer and the restored headquarters 

of the Ipswich Building Society (Mutual House) on July 10th, and we will again be participating 

in Heritage Open Days in September. Our AGM in October is open to the public and all are very 

welcome. Further details will be included in the next Newsletter. 

In the wider field of conservation last year we hosted a very successful event at Quay Place (the 

splendidly restored St Mary at the Quay Church) for our East Anglian Heritage Trust Network. 

We welcomed representatives from ten other trusts from the region; in addition we heard from 

speakers representing English Heritage, The Heritage Trust Network, and The Architectural 

Heritage Fund. We were also well supported by local bodies including of course The Ipswich 

Society, Ipswich Historic Churches Trust, and Ipswich Archaeological Trust. The day included a 

guided tour of the developments around the Wet Dock which included the panoramic view from 

the island site. Altogether we felt that we had presented a vision of our town which might in 

some quarters help to promote Ipswich as an excellent destination and a hub for a region with 

unparalleled delights to savour. 

You may be interested to know that we have vacancies on the committee. If you would like to be 

involved in the future of the Ipswich Building Preservation Trust and have some time to spare we 

would very much like to hear from you.  

Please contact Bob Allen (Vice-Chairman) (robert.w.allen@btinternet.com or 01206 252474). 


Ipswich traffic issues  


I continue to be frustrated by our inability (or Suffolk County Council’s inability) to understand 

that making minor adjustments to traffic light timings or moving kerb lines on the approach to 

roundabouts does not make any noticeable difference to Ipswich’s traffic delays. 


Generally what has happened, and is still happening, is that junctions are tweaked for the benefit 

of the motorist but at the expense of public transport and the occasional cyclist. 


Take for example the junction of Civic Drive and Princes Street; when the roundabout was first 

taken out motorists complained that getting through the lights was taking too long.  The timings 

were changed to allow for right turns, but this was at the expense of the buses trying to negotiate 

the junction from the length of Princes Street alongside Willis, and more importantly for those 

buses descending Museum Street. 


At 5pm on a weekday afternoon, and again on Saturday morning there are so many stationary 

buses in Museum Street that others are diverted down Civic Drive.  Half of the buses in Museum 

Street are bound for Dogs Head Street and the bus station rather than the Princes Street junction 

and are thus delayed unnecessarily.. 


Changes to the junction of Nacton Road and Maryon Road (outside the Golden Hind public 

house) have resulted in what is regarded by the cycling organisations as being particularly 

dangerous for two wheel users.  The recommendation from Suffolk County Council (SCC) is to 

cycle on the pavement.  The junction is heavily used by primary school children going to 

Ravenswood and by their older siblings going to the Ipswich Academy (Holywells). 


Clearly SCC don’t learn, and by the time you read this the cycle lanes will have been taken out 

from Felixstowe Road (Sainsbury’s to St Augustine’s) and cyclists forced on to the pavement. 


The traffic problems are the result of one single issue: too many cars making too many journeys 

and until we understand this – and do something about it – the situation will only get worse.  

What we should be doing is encouraging motorists, particularly those that are young, fit and able 

to use alternatives: public transport, pedal cycles or Shanks’s pony. 


Before you leap to a conclusion that it can’t happen, it has – in Holland and Denmark.  In 

Copenhagen near 60% of all journeys in the rush hour, for work or education, are by bicycle or 

public transport.  In Ipswich cycling accounts for just 2% of the commute. 


I recommend that the money which we are currently spending on road-works to speed the 

motorist could be spent on alternative infrastructure, cycle lanes, bus priority junctions and an 

integrated public transport network, not one with four bus stations, all some distance from the 

railway station.   


SCC, in making excuses for the lack of investment in cycling provision, suggest that it is because in Ipswich people don’t cycle owing to the hills. For me, that argument doesn’t hold, but there is probably some truth in the 

statement so let’s start improving the infrastructure for cycling in the river valley. 


There are one thousand-plus houses between Bramford Road and Norwich Road, between London Road and Handford Road and all along Wherstead Road.  From every one of these houses it is an easy cycle into town, or it 

would be if there was a dedicated cycle lane. 

John Norman 


The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm 

The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm is located just outside Ipswich, in the village of Rushmere St Andrew.  It was established as a social enterprise in 2012 and featured on BBC TV’s Countryfile and Escape to the Country last year. It offers something quite unique: a 


Community Supported Agriculture scheme. Food is grown in an environmentally sustainable way without the use of artificial chemicals such as pesticides or herbicides. Thegrowing is led by part-time staff and supported by members 

of the local community. There’s a happy, positive feel about the place as people work together to grow the food. 


The scheme is educational and pioneers new ways of farming. It uses low-carbon techniques that improve the soil rather than deplete it. And this in turn improves the nutritional quality of the food. Hand tools and people-power are at the heart of what it does rather than heavy machinery which can damage the soil.  


In his ‘Farming for the Next Generation’ speech back in January, Environment Secretary Michael Gove admitted that many soils had been over-farmed and needed restoration. He noted that ‘significant and destructive soil erosion cost the economy around £1.2 billion a year’ according to one study. He supported a move towards sustainable farming methods in post-Brexit Britain. And one driver for this is the warning from scientists that our soils only have a limited number of harvests left... something has to be done. 


The Oak Tree Farm is ahead of the curve in this respect. It is actively improving the soil/soil 

ecology, encouraging wildlife, providing high quality food to local people and also 

reconnecting people with the land where their food is grown.  


But the Farm struggles financially because food-growing is simply not profitable. Without 

government (DEFRA) farm subsidies many smaller farms would not survive.  Yet because the 

Oak Tree Farm is less than 5 hectares in size it is deemed to be ‘too small’ to receive farm 

subsidies.  So it has to look elsewhere to plug the gap in its finances.  


Currently it has support from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and a Big Lottery grant to enable 

it to work with a wider community beyond its membership. It has also benefited from the 

generosity of County Councillors Inga Lockington and Stuart Lawson who provided Locality 

funding for much-needed farm equipment. The Farm’s key income is from membership which 

it is expanding to sixty households this year. And it has diversified into running events and 

selling cut flowers. 


British-grown cut flowers are increasingly popular as seen at the Royal Wedding. The Oak Tree Farm grows its own 

flowers from seed. So whether you are a creative bride-to-be looking for DIY wedding flowers, a local company 

looking to improve its green credentials or a household wanting to buy beautiful, chemical-free flowers with no 

air-miles – you might just find what you are looking for at the Oak Tree Farm this year and you would be helping the farm too.  For details see: www.the-oak-tree.co.uk or email: hello@the-oak-tree.co.uk  Sue Hall [An update to the article on Oak Tree Farm in the Newsletter January 2014, Issue 194. -Ed.] 


Blue plaque candidate: Percy Edwards MBE Following the AGM in April I was approached by an Ipswich 

Society member who suggested that the noted performer and ornithologist, Percy Edwards, should be considered a worthy recipient of an Ipswich Society blue plaque.  I asked for a little more information but, unfortunately, I have heard nothing from our member since. 


I have done some research myself and I would like to take this proposal further. Would the member who spoke to me please contact me either by telephone or email? 

My contact details can be found on page 23 of this Newsletter. 

Tony Robson  

(Blue plaque co-ordinator) 


The secret signs of Ipswich  – a walk with Borin Van Loon 


St Stephen’s Church was the starting point for our summer evening guided walk (May 27th): 

an introduction to some of the fascinating detail of Ipswich’s built heritage. The south wall of the church has a small ‘Lombardic T’, all that remains of the crest of Thomas Rush, Sergeant-at-Arms for Henry VII and VIII. ‘T’ for Thomas 

and the ‘R’ for Rush we found just a few metres away amidst the beautiful carvings of the old bressumer beam on the wall facing the east end of the church.  

Along St Stephen’s Church Lane, we learned that the Conservative Club building was the first Freemasons’ Hall in Ipswich, its curved apse still visible through the gates. We emerged on to 


Upper Brook Street for a clear view of the winged wheel Cyclists’ Touring Club sign on the 

wall above the Age UK shop (the former Coach & Horses inn) opposite.

Walking north we noted the Eade and Johns designed building on the corner of Upper Brook 

Street and the Buttermarket with 1900 displayed amongst the swags of terracotta fruit and 

flowers above the Caffè Nero banner. The Buttermarket façade of this building has a 

wonderful, large art nouveau upper window, specifically designed as a photographer’s studio.   

Nearby is the Symonds for Kodaks sign hanging in the sky for all to see - J. A. Symonds was 

an early 20th century chemist. We moved on to Dial Lane to look at the fabulous Charles 

Rennie Mackintosh-style doorway of Pickwick’s Café and the newly uncovered lettering “John 

C. Scarborow Optometrist…” on the wall to its left.  Emerging into Tavern Street we looked up 

above Carphone Warehouse at the ghost advertising of the long-gone Wootton’s Hairdressers. 

Beginning on the left with sensible items such as leather goods and stationery, they progress 

through hot baths and permanent waving to the seriously whacky high frequency treatments(?) 

on the right. 

Along Westgate Street, the Crown and Anchor designed by Thomas Cotman, has its date 1897 

and also its name carved twice into its limestone façade – the pierced capital letters above the 

coaching-door are a particularly impressive use of the limestone.  And the old Grimwade’s 

building on the corner is also dated – a lovely interlinked 1904 above the side door on the 

Cornhill. From here we walked through Lion Street with its four street signs to Museum Street, 

pausing to find the architect’s sign above the door of no. 36, ‘R C Wrinch ARIBA Architect 

1906’. Then looking opposite at the ‘F’ for Frasers on the cast iron rain hoppers of the 1920s 

building designed by Eade and Johns after the Frasers fire.  Along Princes Street there is 

another architect’s sign, this time on Britannic House, ‘Geo. W. Leighton 1901’, next to the 

elegant arched window he designed. And so we moved to finish at the fabulous Mutual House, 

another Cotman building, with the gold, chiselled lettering of the original Parr’s Bank Ltd 

newly revealed on the green metamorphic rock cartouche of its Princes Street façade.

Thank you for a most interesting evening, Borin; we learned how much evidence visible on 

today’s buildings can tell us about our town’s history.        

[www.ipswich-lettering.co.uk]

Caroline Markham


Society Awards 2018: call for nominations 

Members are reminded that we look forward to our Annual Awards evening of the 21 

November, at Saint Peter’s by the Waterfront, 7.30pm. 

We depend upon nominations from our  members to bring to our attention new  buildings, restorations or refurbishments  and practical architectural projects around  the town completed in the last two years. 


If you have any nominations,  please contact our Hon. Secretary  Caroline Markham. 


The closing date for nominations 

is September 19, 2018. 


The circus poster (on page 22) 

A contemporary account of the late 19th century reads: 

‘Gradually, as the years went by the street took on a new shape. I should think more than half 

of it was pulled down and rebuilt in its present form. My father was always talking about it but 

I never realised what was taking place. All I know is that we were lucky and that my father’s 

little house was one of the few houses left. I saw the Lyceum Theatre built. I saw the site 

cleared and a large hole dug out for its pit and after its short life I saw it demolished… 

L.J. Tibbenham whose father’s house was 34 Carr Street: John Tibbenham, carver and gilder – 

the timber-framed building is still there between the Co-op store and the former Woolworth’s. 


The Lyceum opened in 1891, but was converted to a department store in 1936. The 1890 

Kelly’s directory lists the addresses to the east of the East Anglian Daily Times offices as 

‘Building sites’. It is therefore likely that the Olympic Circus took place on Mr Harmer’s 

‘eligible ground’ at this location in mid to late-19th century, presumably under a big top 

marquee. This would have been ‘nearly opposite’ the Cross Keys Inn at 24-26 Carr Street. 


The packed typography of the poster is typical of the ‘Being for the benefit of Mr Kite’-era 

circus advertising which inspired John Lennon. The covert racism of ‘Mr Mumbo-Jumbo, the 

African’ is also typical at a time when the exotic was seen as a draw to the crowd. The 

language shows that the verbiage indulged in by Leonard Sachs in television’s The good old 

days wasn’t an exaggeration: 

‘Battout vaulting by the whole troop of flying voltigeurs, in which they will throw some lofty 

somersets 6 feet high from the ground.’ 


It quite takes the breath away. 

R.G. 


The Ipswich Society 

Registered Charity no. 263322 

www.ipswichsociety.org.uk | https://www.facebook.com/ipswichsociety | email: secretary@ipswichsociety.org.uk 

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

(views expressed in the Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Society). 



We seek a Planning Monitor (to assist Mike Cook). If you are interested, please conatct the Hon. Secretary.


Dates for your diary

Society Outings 

Saturday July 21: Penshurst Place, Kent. 

Wednesday August 2: a tour of Mutual House, Ipswich (limited to 25 members). 

Wednesday August 15: a tour of Harwich with the Harwich Society.

Thursday September 27: Holland Park, the Design Museum and Leighton House, London. 


Saturday 15/Sunday 16 September: Heritage Open Days organised by the Ipswich Society.


Winter Illustrated Talks at Museum St Methodist Church (entrance in Black Horse Lane); all 

talks start at 7.30pm and free tea, coffee and biscuits are provided afterwards. All are welcome. 

Wednesday 19 September: ‘Where have the houses gone?’ by Lisa Psarianos. 

Wednesday 17 October: Chris Green, SCC Emergency Planning Team. 

Wednesday 19 December: Brickmakers Wood, Alexandra Park – a peaceful space for cancer 

patients, people with mental or physical health problems and learning difficulties, skills 

workshops for children; by Jo Brooks. 

Wednesday November 21: Ipswich Society Annual Awards Evening. 


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.


The Church of St Clement in the summer 

photograph by Tim Leggett 


The new Guide to St Clement Church

On sale at £2 per copy at the Tourist Information Centre in the  Church of  St Stephen, 

St Clement St Stephens Lane, Ipswich


Issue 212 July 2018

© 2024 The Ipswich Society, Registered Charity Number: 263322

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