What to See and Do in Ipswich, Suffolk, England

Ipswich is the County Town of Suffolk, England, and is situated near the east coast. With a population of over 100,000 Ipswich is small for a County Town. But it is a delightful town full of things to see and do. No trip to Suffolk would be complete without visiting the ancient town of Ipswich.

Christchurch Mansion

Are you interested in the Tudor period? If so, you will enjoy visiting Christchurch Mansion. It is open from 10:00am to 5:00pm from 8th April onwards. It is closed on Good Friday, 24th, 26th, 31st December and 1st January. So if you will be travelling during these dates you will not be able to visit Christchurch Mansion. Admission into the mansion is free, but some exhibits or special talks may incur a small fee. The address is: Christchurch Mansion, Soane Street, Ipswich IP4 2BE and the local telephone number is (01473) 433554. The e-mail address is museums.service@ipswich.gov.uk.

With over 500 years of history at your fingertips, you can explore this beautiful mansion at your leisure. Even though this is primarily a Tudor mansion, it displays different styles throughout the ages. As you wander through the rooms, you will see period rooms that will help you to see the changes in style between the 16th and 19th centuries. As well as sampling the Tudor, Georgian and Victorian periods, you can also see locally produced British pottery and porcelain from the coastal town of Lowestoft.

If art is more to your taste, then you will enjoy the Wolsey Art Gallery. It contains a collection of oil paintings, water colours and other works of art that was produced by Suffolk artists from the 1600's down to today. Some of the famous Suffolk artists' work on display includes art work by John Constable and the talented Thomas Gainsborough.

The Buttermarket Shopping Centre

The Buttermarket Shopping Centre is a great place to go shopping on a trip to Ipswich. The address is: St Stephen's Lane, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 1DT (01473) 281580.