Discover 35 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Ipswich (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Christchurch Park, Christchurch Mansion, and St Margaret's Church. Also, be sure to include St Pancras Church in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Ipswich (England).
Table of Contents
Christchurch Park
Park in Ipswich, England. Christchurch Park is a historical area of rolling lawns, wooded areas, and delicately created arboreta close to the town centre in Ipswich, Suffolk. The park hosts various facilities such as a children's play area, tennis courts, table tennis, bowling greens and outdoor gym equipment. The distinguished Tudor house, Christchurch Mansion, is located at the parks southern entrance and holds a public museum and art gallery. The park belonged to various noble families as private land throughout its history but was purchased by the Ipswich Borough Council in 1894 and opened as the town's first public park in 1895.[1]
Address: 57-59 Fonnereau Road, Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
Christchurch Mansion
Museum in Ipswich, England. Christchurch Mansion is a substantial Tudor brick mansion house built in Ipswich, Suffolk by Edmund Withypoll around 1548–50. The Grade I listed building is located within Christchurch Park and sits by the southern gates close to the town centre of Ipswich. The mansion belonged to various noble families throughout its history but was purchased by the Ipswich Borough Council in 1884. Since 1885, the building has been used as a museum and is today run by the state funded Colchester + Ipswich Museums organisation. The museum's rooms are preserved as past inhabitants would have known them, complete with original items such as furniture, fine clothing and children's toys. The museum also holds a collection of paintings by renowned local artists including John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough. The Mansion is free to enter but due to current pandemic restrictions, visitors must book timed tickets online via the Colchester and Ipswich Museums website.[2]
Address: Christchurch Mansion Soane Street, IP4 2BE Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
St Margaret's Church
St Margaret's Church is a medieval church in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It was built in around 1300 by the Augustinian canons of the adjacent Priory of the Holy Trinity to cater for the increasing population. The building and much of the congregation was located just outside the ramparts to the north of medieval Ipswich.
The building dates from the 15th century, but the tower was rebuilt in the 19th century.[3]
Address: 22 Bolton Ln, IP4 2BT Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
St Pancras Church
Catholic church in Ipswich, England. Saint Pancras is an active Roman Catholic parish church serving the town centre of Ipswich, England. The neo-gothic church was built as part of the British Catholic revival in the nineteenth century, and was the target of anti-Catholic riots soon after completion.[4]
Address: 1 Orwell Pl, IP4 1BD Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
Chantry Park
Park in Ipswich, England. Chantry Park is a park located west of Ipswich town centre, in the Ipswich district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is the largest park in Ipswich and extends over 124 acres. Chantry Park was opened to the public on 17 May 1928 and was designated a Conservation Area in 2005.
Chantry Park itself is Grade II listed park, and it contains three Grade II listed structures: The Chantry and the gate house and entrance gatepiers (which share a listing).[5]
Address: Chantry Park, Ipswich (South West Ipswich)
Foxhall Stadium
Stadium in Kesgrave, England. Foxhall Stadium is a Stock car and speedway stadium located in Foxhall near Ipswich. The Stadium is run by Spedeworth Motorsports stock car promoters. The stadium opened in 1951 and has been in continuous operation since.[6]
Address: Foxhall Road, IP4 5TL Ipswich
Ipswich Museum
Ipswich Museum is a registered museum of culture, history and natural heritage located on High Street in Ipswich, the county town of Suffolk. It was historically the leading regional museum in Suffolk, housing collections drawn from both the former counties of East Suffolk and West Suffolk, which were amalgamated in 1974.
The original foundation of 1846, devoted primarily to Natural History, was moved to new premises in High Street in 1881. In about 1895 Christchurch Mansion, a large 16th-century house near the town centre in Christchurch Park, was given to the town. It was developed as a second venue under the same management and curatorship, devoted particularly to fine and decorative arts. Both are parts of one institution and draw on the same central core of collections. The entire service was merged with that of Colchester (Essex) on 1 April 2007 to form Colchester + Ipswich Museums. It is one of Ipswich's main features.[7]
Address: High St, IP1 3QH Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
Alton Water
Reservoir in England. Alton Water is a manmade reservoir. It is the largest in Suffolk, with a perimeter of over 8 miles.[8]
St Mary Elms
Anglican church in Ipswich, England. St Mary at the Elms is a Church of England church in Ipswich, England. Historically it was located in the West Ward,Ipswich, but is now in Alexandra Ward, Ipswich.[9]
Address: 29 Elm St, IP1 2AB Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
Orwell Bridge
Bridge in the United Kingdom. The Orwell Bridge is a concrete box girder bridge just south of Ipswich in Suffolk, England. Opened to road traffic in 1982, the bridge carries the A14 road over the River Orwell.[10]
St Helen's Church
St Helen's Church, Ipswich is an Anglican church in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The church is built from knapped flint rubble with additional stone and white brick dressings. Although some of the building dates back to the medieval period, the building was substantially altered in the nineteenth century.[11]
Address: St. Helen's St, IP4 2LS Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
Holywells Park
Park in Ipswich, England. Holywells Park is a 67-acre public park in Ipswich, England situated between Nacton Road and Cliff Lane, near to the Ipswich Waterfront.[12]
Address: Cliff Lane, Ipswich (South East Ipswich)
New Wolsey Theatre
Theatre in Ipswich, England. The New Wolsey Theatre is a Suffolk producing theatre, located in the Westgate area of Ipswich. It is a midsized regional theatre, having a seating capacity of 400. Designed by the architect Roderick Ham, construction was completed in 1979 and the theatre was opened on 31 October 1979 by Princess Alexandra.[13]
Address: Ipswich, Civic Drive
Ipswich Town Hall
City or town hall in Ipswich, England. Ipswich Town Hall is a municipal building in Ipswich, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is a Grade II listed building.[14]
Address: St. Stephens Church St. Stephens Lane, IP1 1DP Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
Landseer Park
Park in Ipswich, England. Landseer Park is a large open green space north of Landseer Road, in the eastern suburbs of Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It is home to the Ipswich BMX Club. National Cycle Route 51 passes through the park. It is designated a County Wildlife Site.[15]
Ipswich Regent
Theatre in Ipswich, England. Ipswich Regent Theatre is a theatre and concert venue located at St Helen's Street in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The auditorium was refurbished in 2007 and now holds 1,551 people, having lost around 150 seats. It is East Anglia's largest theatre. It has also been known as the Gaumont Theatre. It was designated as a Grade II Listed Building in 2000.[16]
Address: Ipswich, 3 St. Helen's Street
Willis Building
Modern 26-storey commercial skyscraper. The Willis Building in Ipswich, England, is one of the earliest buildings designed by Norman Foster and Wendy Cheesman after establishing Foster Associates. Constructed between 1970 and 1975 for the insurance firm now known as Willis Towers Watson, it is now seen as a landmark in the development of the 'high tech' architectural style. The building houses some 1,300 office staff in open-plan offices spread over three floors.[17]
Address: 15 Friars Street, IP1 1TD Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
St Mary at the Quay Church
Building. St Mary at the Quay Church is an Anglican church in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It originally served the thriving industry around the docks. The area then became run down but has more recently been redeveloped, with the dock being converted into a marina.[18]
Address: Foundation Street, Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
Stoke Bridge
Stoke Bridge in Ipswich carries Bridge Street over the point at which the River Gipping becomes the River Orwell. It carries traffic into Ipswich from the suburb of Over Stoke. The bridge consists of two separate structures and is just upstream from Ipswich dock on a tidal section of the river.
In 1789, Robert Ransome moved to Ipswich begin the “Orwell Works company employeeing 1500 men. His fourth patent in 1808 was for improvements on the wheel and spring ploughs. He was then joined in business by his two sons and the firm “Ransome and Sons” was one of the first to build iron bridges. The Stoke Bridge at Ipswich was constructed by them in 1818.
Reference: “The Historical Outline of the Ransom Family of America and Genealogical Record of the Colchester Connecticut Branch”, by Wyllys C. Ransom (page 9-10 and published in 1903)[19]
Our Lady of Ipswich
Our Lady of Ipswich was a popular English Marian shrine before the English Reformation. Among Marian shrines, only the shrine at Walsingham attracted more visitors.[20]
Unitarian Meeting House
Church in Ipswich, England. For the church building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright see Unitarian Meeting House
Unitarian Meeting House is a Grade I listed place of worship in Ipswich, Suffolk. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians.
The present building was opened by John Fairfax in 1700. Much of the original interior remains intact.[21]
Address: 19 St Nicholas Ct, IP1 1TG Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
St Mary le Tower
Anglican church in Ipswich, England. St Mary-le-Tower is the civic church of Ipswich and a Grade II* listed building. It was in the churchyard of St Mary that the town charter of Ipswich was written in 1200.[22]
Address: Tower Street, Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
Alexandra Park
Alexandra Park is situated between Grove Lane, Kings Avenue and Back Hamlet, Ipswich.[23]
Address: Grove Lane, Ipswich (Central Ipswich)
Pipers Vale
Nature reserve in Ipswich, England. Pipers Vale is a 19.7 hectare Local Nature Reserve on the southern outskirts of Ipswich in Suffolk. It is owned and managed by Ipswich Borough Council.
This site on the bank of the River Orwell is part of Orwell Country Park. Its diverse habitats include heath, reedbeds, scrub and alder carr. Over 100 bird species have been recorded, including redwings, whimbrels and bullfinches.
There is access from Gainsborough Lane.[24]
Fox's Marina & Boatyard
Sailing, Marina
Address: The Strand, Ipswich
Broomhill Park
Park in Ipswich, England. Broomhill Park is a semi-natural woodland park between Sherrington Road and Valley Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. In older times it was called Broom Hill.
The park contains many fine historic oaks and an abundance of Scots Pines. The park contains Broomhill Pool, a Grade II listed lido, which the Broomhill Pool Trust is campaigning to re-open.[25]
St Mary at Stoke
Church in Ipswich, England. Saint Mary at Stoke is a Grade I listed Anglican church in the Old Stoke area of Ipswich. on the junction of Stoke Street and Belstead Road in Ipswich, Suffolk.
The church stands in a prominent position near the foot of a ridge, just south west of Stoke Bridge and the town centre. Its parish was a small farming community which saw a great increase in population with the coming of the railway to this part of Ipswich. It was once governed by Ely, a fact lightly made much of by a politician of Stoke. In 1995 its parish was subsumed into the South West Ipswich Team Ministry in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.
The building is made up of a small medieval church and a large Victorian extension designed by William Butterfield in 1872. A church has existed on this site since the 10th Century. It is probably one of the St Marys mentioned in the Domesday Book.
The original nave (now the north aisle) has a medieval single hammer beam roof, with moulded wall plates, angels with shields at the ends of the hammer beams, and figures underneath. The angels are Victorian replacements for those destroyed by iconoclasts. The church was visited by William Dowsing. There is a medieval piscina.
Richard Hall Gower is buried in a vault of the church.[26]
Address: Stoke St, IP2 8BX Ipswich (South West Ipswich)
Rede Wood
Rede Wood is a 7.5 hectare Local Nature Reserve east of Claydon in Suffolk, England. It was formerly owned by Suffolk County Council, which sold it to a private owner in 2012. It is managed under an agreement between the owner and the council.
This semi-natural wood on boulder clay is mainly pedunculate oak and ash, with a coppiced understorey mainly of hazel. The flora includes 38 species indicative of ancient woodland.
There is access by footpaths from Claydon and Henley.[27]
Alderman Canal East
Nature reserve in Ipswich, England. Alderman Canal East is a 1.6 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Ipswich in Suffolk. It is owned by Ipswich Borough Council and managed by the Greenways Countryside Project.
A path runs along a canalised part of the River Gipping, and the site also has reedbeds, a ditch and grassland with tall herbs. There are uncommon wetland flora, and birds include spotted flycatchers, common kingfishers and reed buntings.
There is access from Alderman Road.[28]
Sandlings
Nature reserve. Sandlings is a 5.7 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Rushmere St Andrew, on the eastern outskirts of Ipswich in Suffolk. It is owned by East Suffolk council, and managed by the council together with Rushmere St Andrew Parish Council and the Greenways Countryside Project.
This site has acid grassland, a wildflower meadow and areas of scrub. Nearly 70 species of bird have been observed and 22 of butterfly, including the white-letter hairstreak.
There is access from Ditchingham Grove.[29]
The Dales Open Space
Nature reserve in Ipswich, England. The Dales Open Space is a 5.9 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Ipswich in Suffolk. It is owned and managed by Ipswich Borough Council.
Most of this former quarry is secondary woodland, but there are also areas of scrub, two spring-fed ponds and seasonal pools. In the north the site is a flat valley bottom, and it slopes up steeply in the south.
There is access from Dales Road and Baronsdale Close.[30]
St Mary
Catholic church in Ipswich, England. St Mary's, often called St Mary Woodbridge Road, is a Catholic church in Ipswich which has the largest congregation in the town and the second largest congregation in Suffolk. Its parish hall is the site of the first post reformation Catholic church in Ipswich, St Antony. It is part of the Diocese of East Anglia.[31]
Rushmere Common
Rushmere Common is common land situated on the eastern outskirts of Ipswich mainly within the parish of Rushmere St. Andrew, Suffolk, England. It is predominately heathland, gorse and woodland, and hosts a golf course. It adjoins the Sandlings Open Space to the east and is crossed by a number of footpaths, including the Sandlings Walk – a long-distance footpath which starts on the common and ends 50 miles away in Southwold.[32]
Sir Bobby Robson Bridge
Footbridge in Ipswich, England. The Sir Bobby Robson Bridge is a 60-metre cable-stayed pedestrian footbridge over the River Gipping in Ipswich, England, built at a cost of £800,000. The height of the structure makes it the 2nd highest structure in Ipswich. The bridge was named after Sir Bobby Robson, the ex–Ipswich Town manager, Newcastle United manager and England national football team manager, who died in 2009. Funded by the property developer Fairview, the bridge was constructed in 2009 and designed by Train and Kemp. It connects a residential development with the town centre. Before the construction of the bridge, residents had to walk a considerably long way to the next river crossing.[33]
Port of Ipswich
The Port of Ipswich can be dated to c.625. The name Ipswich was originally Gippeswyc, referring to the River Gyppes with a suffix derived from the Scandinavian term vik, which had evolved from meaning bay or inlet to mean landing-place, following the proliferation of merchants requiring places to unload their goods and conduct trade. Since 1997 the port has been run by Associated British Ports.[34]