Everything about Ipswich totally explained
Ipswich (; ) is a
non-metropolitan district in and the
county town of
Suffolk,
England on the
estuary of the
River Orwell. The town of the same name overspills the borough boundaries significantly, with only 85% of the town's population living within the borough at the time of the
2001 Census, when it was the third-largest settlement in the
United Kingdom's
East of England region, and the 38th largest urban area in
England.
As of 2006, the borough is estimated to have a population of approximately 120,000 inhabitants.
History
The
Eemian interglacial is known as the
Ipswichian period in geology and occurred about 120,000 years ago.
Under the
Roman empire, the area around Ipswich formed an important route inland to rural towns and settlements via the
Orwell and
Gipping. A large
Roman fort, part of the coast defences of Britain, stood at
Felixstowe (13 miles, 21 km), and the largest
villa in Suffolk stood at Castle Hill (north-west Ipswich).
Ipswich is one of England's
oldest towns, and took shape in
Anglo-Saxon times as the main centre between
York and
London for
North Sea trade to
Scandinavia and the
Rhine. It served the
Kingdom of East Anglia, and began developing in the time of
King Rædwald, supreme ruler of the English (616-624). The famous ship-burial and treasure at
Sutton Hoo nearby (9 miles, 14.5 km) is probably his grave. The
Ipswich Museum houses
replicas of the Roman
Mildenhall Treasure and the
Sutton Hoo treasure. A gallery devoted to the town's origins includes
Anglo-Saxon weapons,
jewellery and other artefacts.
The seventh-century town, called 'Gippeswick' was centred near the quay. Towards 700 AD, Frisian potters from the
Netherlands area settled in Ipswich and set up the first large-scale potteries in England since Roman times. Their wares were traded far across England, and the industry was unique to Ipswich for 200 years. With growing prosperity, in about 720 AD a large new part of the town was laid out in the Buttermarket area. Ipswich was becoming a place of national and international importance. Parts of the ancient road plan still survive in its modern streets. After the invasion of 869 Ipswich fell under
Viking rule. The earth ramparts circling the town centre were probably raised by Vikings in Ipswich around 900 to prevent its recapture by the English. They were unsuccessful. The town operated a
Mint under royal licence from
King Edgar of England in the 970s, which continued through the
Norman Conquest until the time of
King John, in about 1215. The abbreviation 'Gipes' appears on the coins.
King John granted the town its first
charter in 1200, laying the mediaeval foundations of its modern civil government. In the next four centuries it made the most of its wealth, trading Suffolk
cloth with
the Continent. Five large religious houses, including two
Augustinian Priories (St Peter and St Paul, and Holy Trinity, both mid-12th century), and those of the Greyfriars (
Franciscans, before 1298),
Ipswich Whitefriars (
Carmelites founded 1278-79) and Blackfriars (
Dominicans, before 1263), stood in mediaeval Ipswich. The last Carmelite Prior of Ipswich was the celebrated
John Bale, author of the oldest English historical verse-drama (
Kynge Johan, c.1538). There were also several hospitals, including the leper hospital of St Mary Magdalene, founded before 1199. During the Middle Ages the
Marian Shrine of
Our Lady of Grace was a famous
pilgrimage destination, and attracted many pilgrims including
Henry VIII and
Katherine of Aragon. At the Reformation the statue was taken away to London to be burned, though some claim that it survived and is preserved at
Nettuno, Italy.
Around 1380,
Geoffrey Chaucer satirised the merchants of Ipswich in the
Canterbury Tales.
Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, the son of a wealthy landowner, was born in Ipswich about 1475. One of
Henry VIII's closest political allies, he founded a
college in the town in 1528, which was for its brief duration one of the homes of the
Ipswich School. He remains one of the town's most famed figures.
In the time of
Queen Mary the
Ipswich Martyrs were burnt at the stake on the Cornhill for their
Protestant beliefs. A monument commemorating this event now stands in
Christchurch Park. From 1611 to 1634 Ipswich was a major centre for emigration to
New England. This was encouraged by the Town Lecturer,
Samuel Ward. His brother
Nathaniel Ward was first minister of
Ipswich, Massachusetts, where a promontory was named 'Castle Hill' after the place of that name in north-west Ipswich, UK.
The painter
Thomas Gainsborough lived and worked in Ipswich. In 1835,
Charles Dickens stayed in Ipswich and used it as a setting for scenes in his novel
The Pickwick Papers. The hotel where he resided first opened in 1518; it was then known as The Tavern and is now known as the Great White Horse Hotel. Dickens made the hotel famous in chapter XXI of
The Pickwick Papers, vividly describing the hotel's meandering corridors and stairs.
In 1797 Lord and Lady Nelson moved to Ipswich, and in 1800
Lord Nelson was appointed High Steward of Ipswich.
In the mid-19th century
Coprolite was discovered, the material was mined and then dissolved in
acid, the resulting mixture forming the basis of
Fisons fertilizer business.
Modern Ipswich
Ipswich has undergone an extensive
gentrification programme in recent years, principally centred around the waterfront. Though this has turned a
deindustrialized dock area into an emerging residential and commercial centre, it's being completed at the expense of much of the town's industrial and maritime heritage and in spite of efforts made by a local
civic group,
The Ipswich Society
. Much of this development is residential and is marketed at high net-worth individuals in the
DINKY demographic. As such, some have considered it incompatible with Ipswich's existing
socio-economic mix. It could therefore be considered to be aimed at encouraging
economic migration to the town, particularly as a commutable
satellite town of
London.
The
Tolly Cobbold brewery, built in the 19th century and rebuilt 1894–1896, is one of the finest
Victorian breweries in the
United Kingdom. There was a Cobbold brewery in the town from 1746 until 2002 when
Ridley's Breweries took Tolly Cobbold over.
Felix Thornley Cobbold presented
Christchurch Mansion to the town in 1896.
The town centre contains the glass-clad building owned by
Willis Limited, properly called the
Willis Building but still often called the "Willis-Faber building" by locals, as the company Willis Corroon themselves used to be called Willis Faber. Designed by
Norman Foster, the building dates from 1974. It became the youngest Grade I
listed building in Britain in 1991 and at the time one of only two buildings to be listed and be under 30 years of age.
Ipswich is set to be the main hub for
University Campus Suffolk, which will give
Suffolk its first
university, though it's essentially a collaborative project between Suffolk College and two other regional universities. It is hoped that within a decade, a University of Suffolk in its own right will become established out of UCS.
In September 1993 Ipswich and
Arras, Nord Pas-de-Calais, France, became twin towns, and a square in the new Buttermarket development was named Arras Square to mark the relationship.
On
13 March 2007 Ipswich was awarded the cleanest town award.
Ipswich remains a 'town' despite a few attempts at winning 'city' status. It doesn't have a cathedral, so the
Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is based at
Bury St Edmunds the former headquarters of
West Suffolk.
Districts
The Docks is the area around the old commercial docks that are now devoted essentially to leisure use. The area includes extensive recent development of residential apartment blocks and includes the campus of the new University College.
Holywells is the area around
Holywells Park, a 67 acre (27 ha) public park, situated near the docks, that was painted by
Thomas Gainsborough.
Chantry is the name of a housing estate and park to the South-West of Ipswich. Its schools include Chantry High School and the Chantry Infant and Junior Schools which have merged, and been renamed 'The Oaks'. Another school that can be found in the outskirts of Chantry is
St Joseph's College.
Other districts outside the town centre include Bixley Farm, Broke Hall, California, Castle Hill, The Dales, Gainsborough, Greenwich, Kesgrave, Maidenhall, Pinebrook, Priory Heath, Racecourse, Ravenswood, Rose Hill, Rushmere, Springvale, St Margarets, Stoke, Warren Heath,
Whitehouse and Whitton.
To the east of the town is
Trinity Park near
Bucklesham the home of the annual
Suffolk Show one of the
County shows in United Kingdom. The 'Trinity' is the name given to the three animals native to the county of Suffolk, namely
Red Poll cattle, the powerful
Suffolk Punch horse and the black faced
Suffolk Sheep.
Culture
Like many other similar towns, Ipswich is home to many artists, with galleries at
Christchurch Mansion, the Town Hall, a gallery in the
Ancient House and the
Artists Gallery in Electric House being the more prominent. The visual arts are further supported with many sites of sculpture with easy accessibility. The Borough Council promotes creation of new public works of art and has been known to make this a condition of planning permission.
The town houses
Ipswich Museum and the
Ipswich Transport Museum.
Performing arts are well represented with Ipswich being home to
DanceEast which has the primary aim of advocating innovation and development of dance in the East of England. They are building new premises as part of the waterfront development. These will be the first custom built dance facilities in the East of England at a cost of around £8million.
The
Eastern Angles theatre group are based at the Sir
John Mills Theatre
(External Link) in Ipswich, named after the famous actor who lived in Felixstowe as a child.
Since 1991, there has been an annual
arts festival called
Ip-Art (External Link) which brings together many events across art disciplines and different venues, notably a free music day in
Christchurch Park, which in 2006 had over 50 different acts performing over 7 stages.
Norwich remains the regional centre for TV broadcasting, but both
BBC East and
Anglia TV have presenters and offices in Ipswich. The town has three local radio stations,
BBC Radio Suffolk covering the entire county, where the
East Anglian Accent can be heard on its many phone-ins, the commercial
SGR-FM which was founded in 1975 as Radio Orwell covering the A14 corridor in Suffolk and
Town 102 which was founded in 2006 and is the first full time commercial station specific for Ipswich. The younger audience is catered for with Suffolk based
Kiss 105-108. On
15 August 2007,
Ipswich Community Radio launched full-time after successfully gaining a licence in early 2006.
The town's daily evening newspaper is the
Evening Star (Ipswich) which is the sister title to the county's daily morning newspaper the
East Anglian Daily Times.
Buildings
In addition to Christchurch Mansion and the Ancient House, Ipswich in the 21st century has some important cultural buildings including the
New Wolsey Theatre and the
Regent Theatre - the largest theatre venue in
East Anglia where in the 1960's
The Beatles performed under its former name the
Gaumont.
There are several medieval Ipswich churches but the grandest is the Victorian
St Mary le Tower.
Modern buildings include the new
Suffolk County Hall in the area known as
Ipswich Village close to Ipswich Town's
Portman Road stadium. The stadium has hosted England under 21, under 23 and full international matches in addition to an England hockey game.
On the north-west side of Ipswich lies Broomhill Pool, a Grade II listed Olympic-sized lido which opened in 1938 and closed in 2002, since which time a campaign to see it restored and re-opened has been run.
Politics
Ipswich is governed locally by a two-tier Council System.
Ipswich Borough Council fulfils
District Council functions such as refuse collection, housing and planning and
Suffolk County Council provides the
County Council services such as transport, education and social services.
Between 1979 and September 2004 Ipswich Borough Council was under
Labour control but the town is now governed by a coalition of
Conservative and
Liberal Democrat Councillors with Labour in opposition.
Suffolk County Council was controlled by a Labour/Liberal Democrat administration between May 1993 and May 2005 but has since reverted to Conservative control, although 10 out of the 13 County Councillors representing Ipswich are Labour and only 1 is a Conservative.
The town is covered by two parliamentary constituencies –
Ipswich (UK Parliament constituency), which covers about 75% and is represented by Labour MP
Chris Mole, and
Central Suffolk & North Ipswich, which covers the remaining 25% and is represented by Conservative MP
Michael Lord.
In April 2006 the
borough council initiated public discussions about the idea of turning the borough into a
unitary authority (Ipswich had constituted a
county borough from 1889 to 1974, independent of the administrative county of
East Suffolk, and this status wasn't restored by the
Banham/Cooksey Commission in the 1990s). Ipswich,
Norwich,
Exeter and
Oxford united to campaign for unitary authority status for the four towns, hoping to use the window of opportunity presented by the October 2006
Local Government White Paper. In March 2007, it was announced that Ipswich was one of sixteen shortlisted councils and on the
2007-07-25, the Secretary of state announced that she was minded to implement the unitary proposal for Ipswich, but that there were 'a number of risks relating to the financial case set out in the proposal', on which she invited Ipswich to undertake further work before a final decision is taken. Early in December plans were thrown into doubt as the Government announced that it had 'delayed' the unitary bids for Ipswich and Exeter.
Industry
Industry around Ipswich has had a strong agricultural bias with
Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies Ltd, one of the most famous agricultural manufacturers, located in the town. It is notable that the world's first commercial
motorised lawnmower was built by Ransomes in 1902. There was a
sugar beet factory at Ipswich for many years; it was closed in 2001 as part of a rationalisation by
British Sugar.
The
British Telecom Research Laboratories were located to the east of the town in 1975 at
Martlesham Heath. They are now a
science park called
Adastral Park. The area was originally
RAF Martlesham Heath - a WW2 airfield from where
Douglas Bader fought.
Ipswich is one of the
Haven ports and is still a working port, handling several million tonnes of
cargo each year. Prior to decommissioning,
HMS Grafton was a regular visitor to the port which as special links with the town and the county of Suffolk.
HMS Orwell, named after the river, is also closely linked with the town. With the rise in popularity of the town around the
Neptune Marina and the
Wet Dock a number of ship and boatbuilders have become established, in particular
Fairline Yachts are a significant employer.
Transport infrastructure
Road
The
A12 links Ipswich to
London (84 miles),
Lowestoft,
Great Yarmouth and the
M25. The
A14 links the town with
Cambridge (57 miles), the
Midlands and
Felixstowe. The
A140(single carriageway) links the town with
Norwich.
A
Roman road originally known as
Pye Road and part of which is now the [A140], linked
Colchester with
Caistor St. Edmund near Norwich. An old
milestone in Ipswich shows London as and Gt Yarmouth north.
Rail
Ipswich railway station is located on the
Great Eastern Main Line from
London Liverpool Street to
Norwich. It is also the junction of railway lines to
Felixstowe and
Lowestoft. The station is served by
National Express East Anglia. There is another railway station serving the Rose Hill area, called
Derby Road which is on the line to Felixstowe.
Bus & tram
Bus services are operated by
Ipswich Buses and
First Eastern Counties.
Route number 66 is a partially
guided busway connecting
Martlesham Heath and
Kesgrave to the town and the railway station. It also had a
trolleybus system from
2 September 1923 until
23 August 1963.
It is the last place in the area to have an independent bus company with the unusual practice of naming its buses.
Air
The town used to feature a small grass-runway airport (
ICAO code: EGSE), opened by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on
26 June 1930 with regular flights to
Clacton,
Southend and
Jersey by
Channel Airways and later to
the Netherlands and
Manchester by
Suckling Airways. The airport was delicensed on
31 December 1996 Ipswich Airport and the area was re-developed into the residential district of
Ravenswood with the front of the
Grade 2 listed control building, designed by Heining and Chitty in 1938, integrated into new scheme.
The nearest international flights now are from
Stansted Airport and
Norwich International Airport, both approximately away. Other airports within a 2 hour drive are
Gatwick and
Luton Airport.
Port
The Port of Ipswich, operated by
Associated British Ports offers a mix of facilities for handling
containers, timber, dry bulk cargo oil as well as a
Ro-Ro terminal. It is one of the
Haven ports along with the
Port of Felixstowe and
Harwich International.
Sport
Ipswich's sole professional
football team are
Ipswich Town Football Club, who were established in 1878 and play at the 30,300 capacity
Portman Road Stadium. They have a strong rivalry with
Norwich City F.C.. Ipswich Town was home to the two most successful England managers, Sir
Alf Ramsey (who is buried in the Old Cemetery in the town) and Sir
Bobby Robson. They won the League Championship in 1962 during Ramsey's reign and an
FA Cup in 1978 and the
UEFA Cup in 1981 under Robson. They currently play in English football's second-tier league, the Football Championship. Ipswich is also home to minor-lower league football team,
Ipswich Wanderers and many others in the
Suffolk and Ipswich Football League.
Ipswich also has a very successful
Speedway team, the
Ipswich Witches, who have ridden at their
Foxhall Stadium home, on the outskirts of Ipswich, for over 50 years. Despite being one of the most successful teams in British Speedway history, crowds have dwindled to around 1,500 people per race meeting. The stadium is also regularly used for
Stock car racing.
The town has representation in both codes of Rugby. It has two amateur
Rugby Union teams, Ipswich RUFC who play in London 3 North East League, and Ipswich YM RUFC and an amateur
rugby league side,
Ipswich Rhinos, who play in the
Rugby League Conference.
Ipswich had a
racecourse which ran a mix of flat and National Hunt races from 1710 to 1911.
For her services to swimming
Karen Pickering was awarded an MBE in the 1994 New Years Honours List, although she's actually from Great Yarmouth.
Ipswich 2006 serial murders
A
serial killer or
spree killer responsible for the murders of five women in Ipswich gained notoriety in late 2006, as the
Ipswich Murderer. The five women were identified as
sex workers; their bodies were found in December 2006.
Suffolk Constabulary formally linked the murders in their investigation.
Steven Gerald James Wright, who had previously worked at the Port of Felixstowe, was arrested at his house in Ipswich on
December 19. On December 21st, Wright was formally charged with the murders of Gemma Adams, 25, Anneli Alderton, 24, Tania Nicol, 19, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29. He appeared in Ipswich
Magistrates' Court on 22 December 2006 and was remanded in custody until 2 January 2007 to appear in Ipswich
Crown Court where he was remanded in custody for a second court appearance, held on
1 May 2007. At that hearing he pleaded not guilty to all five murders. His trial began in Ipswich on
14 January 2008. The jury returned a guilty verdict on
21 February, and
the next day, Wright was sentenced to
life imprisonment by Mr Justice Gross, who
recommended that he should never be released from prison, on the basis that the murders resulted from a "substantial degree of pre-meditation and planning".
Famous residents
» See also
Probably the most famous person born in the town is the Tudor Cardinal
Thomas Wolsey. The artist
Thomas Gainsborough and the cartoonist
"Giles" worked here,
Horatio, Lord Nelson became Steward of Ipswich, and
Margaret Catchpole began her adventurous career here.
Alf Ramsey and
Bobby Robson were both successful managers of
Ipswich Town F.C.
References in popular culture
- A popular song in 1915 was
Which Switch Is The Switch, Miss, For Ipswich? by David, Barnett & Darewski.
- The
Dead Parrot sketch by the comedy troupe
Monty Python involves one of the characters ending up in Ipswich instead of
Bolton.
-
Michael Palin's 1987 comedy about provincial English seaside holidays in the 1950s was entitled
East of Ipswich.
- In 2006
The Jarvis Cocker Record contained the track
From Auschwitz to Ipswich written and performed by Jarvis.
- A film staring
Michael Caine and
Pierce Brosnan,
The Fourth Protocol shows a car chase taking place through the streets of Ipswich. One shot also shows helicopters flying beneath the
Orwell Bridge.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ipswich'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://ipswich.totallyexplained.com">Ipswich Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
