Editing Ipswich (section)

==History==
Ipswich is one of England's [[Oldest town in Britain|oldest towns]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Medieval Ipswich |url=http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/ipswich1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613120046/http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/ipswich1.html |archive-date=13 June 2007 |access-date=13 June 2007}}</ref><ref name = town/> and is claimed to be the oldest still continuing town to have been established and developed by the [[English people|English]],<ref name = town/> with continuous settlement since early [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] times.

===Roman settlement===
A large [[Roman fort]], part of the coastal defences of Britain, stood at [[Walton, Suffolk|Walton]] near [[Felixstowe]] ({{convert|13|mi|km}},<ref>Fairclough J. and Plunkett S. J. 'Drawings of Walton Castle and other Monuments in Walton and Felixstowe', ''Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History'' 39 Part 4, 419–459. See also Fairclough J. ''Boudica to Raedwald: East Anglia's Relations with Rome'' (Malthouse Press, Ipswich 2010), 174–77.</ref> and the largest [[Roman villa]] in Suffolk (possibly an administrative complex) stood at Castle Hill (north-west Ipswich).<ref>The so-called 'Whitton' villa, see Fairclough J. ''Boudica to Raedwald'' (cited above), 134–145.</ref>

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Ipswich Ancient House.jpg|thumb|[[Ancient House, Ipswich]] is decorated with a particularly fine example of [[pargeting]].]]

The modern town took shape in Anglo-Saxon times (7th–8th centuries) around the [[Port of Ipswich]]. As the coastal states of north-western Europe emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, essential [[North Sea]] trade and communication between eastern Britain and the continent (especially to [[Scandinavia]], and through the [[Rhine]]) passed through the former Roman ports of [[Lundenwic|London]] (serving the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Mercia|Mercia]], the [[Kingdom of Essex|East Saxons]], [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]]) and [[York]] (Eoforwic) (serving the [[Kingdom of Northumbria]]).

''Gipeswic'' (also in other spellings such as ''Gippeswich'')<ref>Bowen, Emanuel "An Accurate Map of the County of Suffolk Divided into its Hundreds c. 1760"</ref> arose as the equivalent to these, serving the [[Kingdom of East Anglia]],<ref name=":0" /><ref>Hodges, R. ''Dark Age Economics: The Origins of Town and Trade AD 600–1000'' (London 1982)</ref><ref>Plunkett S. ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'' (Tempus, Stroud 2005), 76–78, 129–133, 148–52, 156–58, 200–202</ref><ref>Gardner, Rhodri "Ipswich, Cranfield's Mill", in "Archaeology in Suffolk 2005", ''Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History'' 41 Part 2, 2006, p.251</ref><ref>Verhulst A. E. ''The Rise of Cities in North-Western Europe'' (Cambridge University Press 1999), pp. 27–30</ref><ref>Malster R. ''A History of Ipswich'' (Phillimore, Chichester 2000), pp. 5–13.</ref> its early imported wares dating to the time of [[Rædwald of East Anglia|King Rædwald]], ruler of the East Angles (616–624). The famous ship-burial and treasure at [[Sutton Hoo]] nearby ({{convert|9|mi|km|disp=semicolon}}) is probably his grave. The [[Ipswich Museum]] houses [[replica]]s of the Roman [[Mildenhall Treasure|Mildenhall]] and [[Sutton Hoo treasure]]s. A gallery devoted to the town's origins includes [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] [[weapon]]s, [[jewellery]] and other artefacts.

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The seventh-century town was centred near the quay. Around 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.<ref>K. Wade, "Gipeswic – East Anglia's First Economic Capital 600–1066", in Salmon N. P. and Malster R. (Eds), ''Ipswich From the First to the Third Millennium'' (Papers from an Ipswich Society Symposium), (Ipswich Society, Ipswich 2001), 1–6, at pp. 3–4.</ref><ref>Plunkett S. J. ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'' (Tempus, Stroud 2005), 130–133, 201.</ref> 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.<ref>Wade 2001.</ref> 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.<ref>Wade 2001, 5.</ref><ref>Malster R. ''A History of Ipswich'' (Phillimore, Chichester 2000), 13.</ref> They were unsuccessful. The town operated a [[Mint (coin)|mint]] under royal licence from King [[Edgar I of England|Edgar]] in the 970s, which continued through the [[Norman Conquest]] until the time of [[John of England|King John]], in about 1215.<ref>North J. J. ''English Hammered Coinage'' (Spink and Son, London 1980), ''Volume I: Early Anglo-Saxon to Henry III'', "Mint Towns" (p 194), Ipswich, Suffolk: Edgar to John. Example figure:[[Aethelred II]] first hand type, Plate X no. 23, Cat. 766 & p. 120.</ref> The abbreviation ''Gipes'' appears on the coins.

King John granted the town its first [[Municipal charter|charter]] in 1200, laying the medieval foundations of its modern civil government.<ref>Martin, Geoffrey "The Medieval and Early Modern Borough" in Salmon N. P. and Malster R. (eds), ''Ipswich From the First to the Third Millennium'' (Papers from an Ipswich Society Symposium), (Ipswich Society, Ipswich 2001), 7–17.</ref><ref>Text of charter (translated into English) and image of 1200 Town Seal, see [[John Wodderspoon|Wodderspoon, J.]], ''Memorials of the Ancient Town of Ipswich'' (Pawsey (Ipswich): Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans (London) 1850), 'Ancient Incorporation of the Town', pp 75–130, at pp 75–85.</ref> Thenceforth Ipswich strongly maintained its jurisdiction over the Liberty of Ipswich, an administrative area extending over about 35 square kilometres centred on the town.<ref>Briggs, Keith "The bounds of the Liberty of Ipswich", ''Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History'' 44, 19-38 (2017)</ref>

In the next four centuries it made the most of its wealth. Five large religious houses, including two [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] Priories (St Peter and St Paul, and Holy Trinity, both mid-12th century<ref>Malster 2000, 41–45.</ref><ref>Briggs, Keith "The rentals of Holy Trinity Priory in Ipswich", ''Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History'' 44, 456-461 (2019)</ref>), and those of the [[Ipswich Greyfriars]] ([[Franciscans]], before 1298), [[Ipswich Whitefriars]] ([[Carmelites]] founded 1278–79) and [[Ipswich Blackfriars]] ([[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], before 1263), stood in medieval Ipswich. The last Carmelite Prior of Ipswich was the celebrated [[John Bale]], author of the oldest English historical verse-drama (''Kynge Johan'', {{circa|1538}}).<ref>B. Zimmerman, 1899, 'The White Friars at Ipswich', ''Proc. Suffolk Institute of Archaeology'' 10 Part 2, 196–204, at p. 199.</ref> There were also several hospitals, including the leper hospital of St Mary Magdalene, founded before 1199.

During the Middle Ages the [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Marian]] Shrine of [[Our Lady of Ipswich|Our Lady of Grace]] was a famous [[pilgrimage]] destination, and attracted many pilgrims including [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] and [[Katherine of Aragon]].<ref>Wodderspoon 1850, 331–332.</ref><ref>Malster 2000, 43–47, 63–67.</ref> 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.<ref>Malster 2000, 67.</ref>

Around 1380, [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] satirised the merchants of Ipswich in ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]''. [[Thomas Wolsey]], the future [[cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]], was born in Ipswich in 1473 as the son of a wealthy landowner. One of [[Henry VIII of England|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]].<ref>Blatchly J. M. ''A Famous Antient Seed-Plot of Learning'' (Ipswich School 2003), 27–41.</ref> He remains one of the town's most famed figures.

===Early-modern era===
[[File:Early map of Ipswich published in 1780.jpg|thumb|Early map of Ipswich from Hodskinson's 1783 Map of Suffolk|alt=|left]]

During the 14th to 17th centuries Ipswich was a [[kontor]] for the [[Hanseatic League]], the port being used for imports and exports to the [[Baltic region|Baltic]].

In the time of [[Mary I of England|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]]. Ipswich was a printing, [[Bookselling|bookseller]] centre, and an entrepôt for continental books in the 16th century.<ref>King, John N. (1982) ''The English Reformation Literature: the Tudor Origins of the Protestant Tradition'' Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 100f. {{ISBN|9780691065021}}.</ref> From 1611 to 1634 Ipswich was a major centre for emigration to [[New England]]. This was encouraged by the Town Lecturer, [[Samuel Ward (minister)|Samuel Ward]]. His brother [[Nathaniel Ward]] was first minister of [[Ipswich, Massachusetts|Ipswich]], Massachusetts, where a promontory was named 'Castle Hill' after the place of that name in north-west Ipswich, UK. Ipswich was also one of the main ports of embarkation for puritans leaving other [[East Anglia]]n towns and villages for the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] during the 1630s and what has become known as the [[Great Migration (Puritan)|Great Migration]].<ref>Thompson, Roger, Mobility & Migration, East Anglian Founders of New England, 1629–1640, Amherst: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1994</ref>

[[File:View of Ipswich from Christchurch Park c.1746-9.jpg|thumb|''View of Ipswich from [[Christchurch Park]]'' by [[Thomas Gainsborough]] {{circa|1746}}-49]]

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 later became known as the [[Great White Horse Hotel]]. Dickens made the hotel famous in chapter XXII of ''The Pickwick Papers'', vividly describing the hotel's meandering corridors and stairs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dickens-online.info/the-pickwick-papers-page196.html |title=The Pickwick Papers|first=Charles|last=Dickens|publisher=Charles Dickens online|page=196}}</ref>

===19th and 20th centuries===
[[File:1810 Ransome & Son - painting - outdoor ten pin bowling.jpg|thumb|A ''circa'' 1810 painting of outdoor bowling near Ransome & Son Foundry, an early embodiment of Ipswich's longtime agricultural equipment maker [[Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies]]]]

In 1824 Dr [[George Birkbeck]], with support from several local businessmen, founded one of the first [[Mechanics' Institutes]], which survives to this day as the independent Ipswich Institute reading room and library.<ref>[http://ipswichinstitute.org.uk/ Ipswich Institute reading room and library]</ref> The building is located at 15 Tavern Street.

In the mid-19th century [[coprolite]] (fossilised animal dung) was discovered; the material was mined and then dissolved in [[acid]], the resulting mixture forming the basis of [[Fisons]] fertiliser business.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fisons at the root of modern agriculture |url=http://www.yara.com/en/about/history/stories/fisons_inter.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060520151251/http://www.yara.com/en/about/history/stories/fisons_inter.html |archive-date=20 May 2006 |access-date=17 June 2007}}</ref>

The [[Tolly Cobbold]] brewery, built in the 18th century and rebuilt in 1894–96, is one of the finest [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[brewery|breweries]] in the UK. There was a Cobbold brewery in the town from 1746 until 2002 when [[Ridley's Brewery|Ridley's Breweries]] took Tolly Cobbold over.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tolly Cobbold Heritage |url=http://www.harwich.net/tolly/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060424044119/http://www.harwich.net/tolly/ |archive-date=24 April 2006 |access-date=18 June 2006}}</ref> [[Felix Thornley Cobbold]] presented [[Christchurch Mansion]] to the town in 1896. Smaller breweries include St Jude's Brewery, situated in an 18th-century [[coach-house]] near the town centre.

Ipswich was subject to bombing by German [[Zeppelin]]s during [[World War I]] but the greatest damage by far occurred during the German bombing raids of [[World War II]]. The area in and around the docks was especially devastated. Eighty civilians died by enemy action in the Ipswich county borough area during the latter war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CWGC Cemetery Report, Ipswich County Borough civilian war dead |url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/4005036/IPSWICH,%20COUNTY%20BOROUGH |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416181508/http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/4005036/IPSWICH,%20COUNTY%20BOROUGH |archive-date=16 April 2015 |access-date=16 April 2015}}</ref> The last bombs to fall on Ipswich landed on Seymour Road at 2{{nbsp}}a.m. on 2 March 1945, killing nine people and destroying six houses.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 February 2016 |title=Ransomes & Rapier WW1 & WW2 Memorials, Bourne Park Ipswich |url=http://www.ipswichwarmemorial.co.uk/ransomes-bourne-park/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220182457/http://www.ipswichwarmemorial.co.uk/ransomes-bourne-park/ |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=12 December 2016 |website=Ipswich War Memorial}}</ref>

The [[Willis Building (Ipswich)|Willis Building]] is a glass-clad building owned by [[Willis Group Holdings|Willis]]. Designed by [[Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank|Norman Foster]], the building dates from 1974, when it was known as the Willis Faber & Dumas building. It became the youngest grade I [[listed building]] in Britain in 1991, being at the time one of only two listed buildings to be less than thirty years old.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 1995 |title=Pioneering Management Guidelines for Modern Listed Buildings |url=http://ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/47/williscarroon.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104011711/http://ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/47/williscarroon.htm |archive-date=4 November 2007 |access-date=26 October 2007 |publisher=Context }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ipswich – Arras |url=http://www.ipswich.gov.uk/Partnerships/Ipswich+-+Arras.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080330213916/http://www.ipswich.gov.uk/Partnerships/Ipswich%2B-%2BArras.htm |archive-date=30 March 2008 |access-date=6 May 2008 |publisher=Ipswich Borough Council }}</ref>

Ipswich formerly had a [[Ipswich Airport|municipal airport]] to the south-east of the town, which was opened in 1929 by the [[Ipswich Corporation]]. The airport was controversially closed in 1996. The site was redeveloped for housing as the Ravenswood estate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ipswich Airport History |url=http://www.ipswichairport.info/history.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929021103/http://www.ipswichairport.info/history.html |archive-date=29 September 2011 |access-date=3 September 2011}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:RS1497 Waterfront location (32)-lpr.jpg|thumb|The [[Ipswich Waterfront]]]]

Ipswich has experienced a building boom in the early part of the 21st century. Construction has mainly concentrated around the [[Deindustrialization|former industrial]] dock which is now known as the [[Ipswich Waterfront]]. Regeneration to the area has made it a hub of culture in Ipswich, the area boasts fine dining restaurants, a boutique hotel, and the new regional university, the [[University of Suffolk]]. The new high rise buildings of the Regatta Quay development has topped the list of the [[List of tallest buildings and structures in Ipswich|tallest buildings in Ipswich]]. The mixed-use high rise building, [[The Mill (building)|The Mill]], is currently the tallest building in Suffolk.

Ipswich has made several unsuccessful bids for [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Geater |first=Paul |title=Suffolk to start new bid to bring city status to county town of Ipswich |url=https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/suffolk-backs-ipswich-city-bid-1-5301212 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224062411/https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/suffolk-backs-ipswich-city-bid-1-5301212 |archive-date=24 February 2019 |access-date=23 February 2019 |website=Ipswich Star |date=30 November 2017 |language=en}}</ref> The town does not have a cathedral, so the [[Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich]] is based at [[Bury St Edmunds]], the former [[county town]] of [[West Suffolk (county)|West Suffolk]].

Ipswich is the largest town in Suffolk, followed by [[Lowestoft]] and [[Bury St Edmunds]],<ref>{{Cite web  |date=2021 |title=Ipswich Guide |url=https://www.thesuffolkcoast.co.uk/suffolk-coast-towns-and-villages/ipswich |access-date=11 July 2021 |website=www.thesuffolkcoast.co.uk|publisher=The Suffolk Coast }}</ref><ref name="allabout">{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Explore Ipswich |url=https://allaboutipswich.com/ |website=All About Ipswich |access-date=12 July 2021 |language=en |date=11 July 2021}}</ref> and the third-largest population centre in [[East Anglia]], after [[Peterborough]] and [[Norwich]]. It is {{convert|50|mi}} northeast of [[London]] and in 2011 had a population of 144,957. The [[Ipswich built-up area]] is the fourth-largest in the [[East of England]] and the 42nd-largest in England and Wales.<ref name="BUA">{{Cite web |title=2011 Census - Built-up areas |url=http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/747.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921045319/http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/747.aspx |archive-date=21 September 2013 |access-date=7 August 2013 |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics|ONS]]}}</ref> It includes the towns and villages of [[Kesgrave]], [[Woodbridge, Suffolk|Woodbridge]], [[Bramford]] and [[Martlesham Heath]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/adhocs/13053midyearpopulationestimatesbybuiltupareasincludingsubdivisionsbyagegroups2001to2019|title = Mid-year population estimates by built-up areas (Including subdivisions) by age groups, 2001 to 2019 - Office for National Statistics}}</ref>