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IPSWICH |
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Situated at the head of the Orwell estuary,
IPSWICH
was a rich trading port in the Middle Ages, but its appearance today is mainly the result of a revival of fortunes in the Victorian era - give or take some clumsy postwar development. The two surviving reminders of old Ipswich -
Christchurch Mansion
and the splendid
Ancient House
- plus the recently renovated quayside are all reason enough to spend at least an afternoon here. Ipswich also boasts a wealth of medieval flint churches, some now locked and slowly rusting away, but others sympathetically restored. One now houses the tourist office, from where
guided walks
depart a couple of times a week during the season (May-Sept Tues & Thurs 2.15pm; £1.75) - perhaps the best way to see the town on a short visit.
The Town
The ancient Saxon market place,
Cornhill
, is still the town's focal point, a likeable urban space flanked by a bevy of imposing Victorian edifices - the Italianate town hall, the old Neoclassical Post Office and the pseudo-Jacobean Lloyds...
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