For no particular reason (well, a little shopping maybe), I exercised my bus pass and ventured into Ipswich yesterday. Other than the ever more irritating visits to my dental practice, this must be my first foray into the county town in years. Remembering how pleasant the place appeared when we first arrived thirty years ago, it would be partial but still fair to suggest that there is no longer much to recommend it.
Which is why I should give any positive aspect to the town a shout out ; and Christchurch Mansion is such a place. Only been there once before (when no less than Rodin’s The Kiss was a visitor) and so decided to give it another chance. You’d be forgiven for suggesting that I exhibited behaviour more befitting of a lifelong resident. To which I would substantially agree, as if we’d been travelling anywhere else in the UK specifically to search out such a lovely ‘ancient, historic’ monument, I would justifiably be singing its praises.
This beautiful Tudor mansion is perhaps the jewel in the crown of Ipswich’s historic past, boasting over 500 years of history. The walls and floors bear the scars of over 450 years of changing designs. The rooms are set in period fashions from the Tudors right through to the Victorians. So, you can explore the period rooms from the Tudor kitchen to the sumptuous Georgian saloon and the beautifully detailed Victorian wing. There are a fine range of lovely paintings on display in the Suffolk Artists Gallery, including works by Thomas Gainsborough. John Constable and, I spotted, one from Alfred Munnings; there are many more and they alone demand a longer return visit. Built by Edmund Withypoll (me neither, look him up) around 1548-50, it’s a Grade I listed building and is now run by the Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service. So, kudos to them, it’s a lovely and properly historic site and it’s free to enter and wander around.
Shame on me for only visiting twice in the space of twenty eight years!!
Well done on visiting this historic “monument”