Town in Suffolk, England
Ipswich
Britain's last warm spell before the Ice Age is named after Ipswich, and so is a famous 1962 league title won by a team that had only just been promoted.
Key information
- County
- Suffolk
- Nation
- England
- Population
- about 139,000 (2021 Census)
- Known for
- Ipswich Town, Cardinal Wolsey, the Willis building, Ransomes ploughs and mowers, the Ipswichian interglacial
- What locals are called
- Ipswichians; Ipswich Town fans are the Tractor Boys
- Famous people
- Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Kieron Dyer, Thomas Gainsborough (lived here)
- Football clubs
- Ipswich Town (Portman Road)
About Ipswich
The town that gave a name to a warm spell in the Ice Age
Around 125,000 years ago, Britain was warmer than it is today, with hippos wallowing in the Thames. Geologists call that stretch of time the Ipswichian interglacial, after fossil-rich deposits found at Bobbitshole in Ipswich. It's a fitting honour for one of England's oldest continuously inhabited towns. Anglo-Saxon settlers were trading on the River Orwell by the 7th century, and the town's early pottery, Ipswich Ware, turns up across eastern England. King John granted a charter in 1200, and the port grew rich on wool and cloth.
The butcher's son who ran England
Thomas Wolsey was born in Ipswich around 1473 and rose from the town to become Cardinal, Lord Chancellor and the most powerful man in England after Henry VIII. He planned a grand college in his home town in 1528, meant as a feeder for his Oxford foundation. Wolsey fell from favour before it was finished, and almost all of it was lost. All that remains is Wolsey's Gate, a small brick archway near the river that is still one of the town's best-loved relics. A statue of the Cardinal now stands on St Peter's Street. The town has other literary and artistic connections. Thomas Gainsborough lived and painted here in the 1750s, and Charles Dickens sent Mr Pickwick to the Great White Horse Hotel, where he famously wandered into the wrong bedroom.
Ploughs, mowers and a very Suffolk nickname
Ipswich was an engineering town. Robert Ransome moved here in 1789 and patented his self-sharpening chilled cast-iron ploughshare in 1803, a blade that kept its edge as it wore. Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies went on to make ploughs, threshers and lawnmowers that were sold around the world. That farm-machinery heritage is behind the football fans' nickname. Rival supporters jeered Ipswich as a team of farmers, and Ipswich fans turned it into the Tractor Boys, which they now sing proudly. Beer mattered too. The Cobbold family brewed in the town from the 18th century, and Tolly Cobbold became one of East Anglia's best-known beers.
Alf Ramsey's miracle and a cup-winning Robson
Ipswich Town's greatest story is one for the quiz books. In 1961-62, under manager Alf Ramsey, they won the league title in their first-ever season in the top flight. Ramsey went on to manage England to the 1966 World Cup. Bobby Robson ran the club from 1969 to 1982 and turned it into a proper force. Ipswich won the FA Cup in 1978, beating Arsenal 1-0 with a goal from Roger Osborne, and the UEFA Cup in 1981. Both men have stands at Portman Road named after them, and both have statues outside it. Another sport worth a mention is speedway, where the Ipswich Witches have been racing since 1950.
A glass building that turned heads
Ipswich has a modern landmark that architecture fans travel to see. Norman Foster's building for Willis Faber & Dumas opened in 1975, with a dark glass skin that curves along the medieval street plan and a grass roof on top. In 1991 it was listed Grade I, only 16 years after it was completed, which was remarkably young for such protection. The older streets are worth a wander as well. The Ancient House on the Buttermarket is covered in elaborate pargeting, the decorative plasterwork Suffolk is known for. Christchurch Mansion, a Tudor house in Christchurch Park, holds fine collections of Gainsborough and Constable paintings.
Docks, bridge and Suffolk plates
The Wet Dock opened in 1842 and was among the largest of its kind in the country. Today the old waterfront is lined with marinas, flats, bars and restaurants, with the Custom House of 1845 as a reminder of the trading days. Stretching over the Orwell is the Orwell Bridge, opened in 1982, which carries the A14 high above the estuary and is one of the best-known sights as you approach by road. Food leans on the Suffolk countryside: black-treacle-cured ham, good sausages, and plenty of seafood from the coast down the road. A dozen medieval churches remain as a reminder of how important the port once was.