Ipswich
From Freepedia
- For other uses, see Ipswich (disambiguation).
| Borough of Ipswich | |
|---|---|
| Image:Ipswich - Suffolk dot.png | Image:SuffolkIpswich.png Shown within Suffolk |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Borough |
| Region: | East of England |
| Admin. County: | Suffolk |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 320th 39.42 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Ipswich |
| ONS code: | 42UD |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2003 est.) - Density | Ranked 167th 117,405 2,978 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 93.4% White 1.8% S.Asian 1.8% Afro-Carib. |
| Politics | |
Ipswich Borough Council http://www.ipswich.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | |
| MPs: | Michael Lord, Chris Mole |
Ipswich is the county town of Suffolk in East Anglia, England, and a local government district on the estuary of the River Orwell.
Contents |
History
Ancient Ipswich was successively a Stone Age, Iron Age, Roman, and Anglo-Saxon settlement known as "Gippeswick".
King John granted it its first charter in 1200, and in the next four centuries it made most of its wealth trading Suffolk cloth with the Continent.
The area around Ipswich, or Gippeswick, was sparsely settled until the withdrawal of the Romans. Afterward, its position as a convenient harbour on the North Sea made it convenient to Saxon settlers, and it is claimed to be the first Anglo-Saxon town. The kingdom of East Anglia for a time centered around Ipswich.
The Ipswich Museum houses replicas of the Mildenhall treasure and the Sutton Hoo treasure, as well as Saxon weapons and jewellery.
During the Middle Ages the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Grace was a popular pilgrimage destination, and attracted a number of royal pilgrims. The statue was taken away to be burned, although it is now believed to have survived and still to exist in 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 is now known as Ipswich School. He remains one of the town's most famed figures.
In 1555, the Ipswich Martyrs were burnt at the stake for their Protestant beliefs.
From 1611 to 1634 Ipswich was a major centre for emigration to New England. This was organised by the Town Lecturer, Samual Ward. His brother Nathaniel Ward was first minister of Ipswich, Massachusetts.
The painters John Constable and 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.
Modern Ipswich
Ipswich is still a flourishing port today, handling several million tonnes of cargo each year. The town used to feature a small grass-runway airport (ICAO code: EGSE) with regular flights to the Netherlands, but this has now been re-developed for housing.
Modern figures with Ipswich connections include musician Nik Kershaw, the children's TV presenter Brian Cant, the punk rock band The Adicts, and cartoonist Carl Giles.
Tolly Cobbold Brewery, built in the 19th century and rebuilt 1894–1896, is one of the finest Victorian breweries in the United Kingdom. There has been a Cobbold Brewery in the town since 1746. Felix Thornley Cobbold presented Christchurch Mansion to the town in 1896.
Ipswich Centre contains the all glass building owned by Willis Corroon, 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 become the youngest Grade I listed building in Britain in 1991, ironically standing right next to the oldest extant building in Ipswich, the Friends Meeting House.
Ipswich is the last place in the area to have an independent bus company which has the unusual practice of naming its buses.
Ipswich has undergone an extensive gentrification programme in recent years, principally centred around the waterfront. Though this has turned a run-down dock area into an emerging residential and commercial centre, it is being completed at the expense of much of the town's industrial and maritime heritage and in spite of efforts made by a local group, The Ipswich SocietyA new residential district to the southeast of Ipswich is Ravenswood, Ipswich.
Industry
Industry around Ipswich has had a strong agricultural bias with Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies Ltd, one of the most famous agricultural manufacturers, located there.
There was a sugar beet factory at Ipswich for many years; it was closed in 2001 as part of a rationalisation by British Sugar.
Sport
Ipswich is very proud of its football team, Ipswich Town Football Club. Established in 1878, the team enjoyed great success in the era before the advent of Sky money, winning the Division 1 Championship in 1961/62 (as well as ending runners up in both the 1980/81 and 1981/82 seasons), the FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA cup in 1981. Their main rivals are Norwich City F.C.. During the 2005/06 season both teams have established themselves in the same division re-awaking the fierce local rivalry. Ipswich Town also produced Englands two most succesful managers, with Sir Bobby Robson taking the national team to the World Cup semi's in 1990 and Sir Alf Ramsey winning the World Cup in 1966. Sir Bobby Robson began the youth system at Portman Road, which has produced many great players over the years and is renowned as one of the best in the country.
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.
External links
Ipswich Institutions
- Ipswich Town Football Club
- Evening Star (Local Newspaper)
History
Projects and Initiatives
- Ipswich Arts Festival (Annual festival of Dance, Music and Art)
- ICE Oral History Project: recording experiences of Caribbean immigrants to Ipswich
- Curiosity Collective Art Project: making Ipswich interesting
Other
- Truly Open Directory Listing of sites with an Ipswich interest (dead link? offline at 1st Oct 2005)
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Categories: Towns in Suffolk | English county towns | Local government in Suffolk | Ports and harbours of the United Kingdom
