IPSWICH MUSEUM
High Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1-3QH
Tel 01473 433551
HISTORY OF IPSWICH
Ipswich is on the River Orwell being about 60 miles/97kms from the north-east of London, the town has been continually occupied since the Anglo-Saxon/Englisc era, its port becoming very important for East Anglia later England which has now moved to Felixstowe and to a lesser extent Harwich. The name Ipswich is derived from the Medieval name of Gippeswic, either an Anglo-Saxon personal name or from an earlier name of the River Orwell, it was also known as Gyppewics or Yppowyche. The modern town took shape in the 7 -8th Centuries under the Anglo-Saxon/Englisc taking shape from around the dock area, there was a port in the Roman times but collapsed with the falling of the Roman Empire, like on the coastal towns of Europe but like in life it soon took shape again, trading especially with Scandinavia and the Rhine. Gipeswic or Gippelwich arose to serve The Kingdom of East Anglia, its early wares dating to the time of King Raedwald, bretwalda (616-624) whose famous ship-burial and treasures at Sutton Hoo nearby 9m/14.5kms is possibly his grave. The Ipswich Museum houses replica of the Roman Mildenhall and Sutton Hoo treasures. A gallery devoted to the towns origins includes weapon, jewellery and other artifacts. The 7th Century town was near the quay, towards 700 A.D. Frisian potters from Frisia which is now part of the Netherlands, set up the first large scale potteries in Ipswich and England since Roman times, this trade was unique to Ipswich and traded their wares across England for 200 yrs, with this growing prosperiety a large new part of the town was laid out in the Buttermarket area of Ipswich around 720 A.D.,who was a place of national and international importance, where parts of the ancient road plan still survive in Ipswich today. With the invasion by the Vikings in 869 Ipswich fell under their control who raised earth ramparts which surround the town in 900 to prevent recapture by the Anglo-Saxons/Englisc, this was unsuccessful in the long run with the importance of the town it was regained by the Englisc where it gained a mint under royal licence from King Edgar in 970 which continued after the French-Norman conquest, until 1215 under King John. The abbreviation ‘Gipes’ appears on the coins.
ANGLO-SAXON COLLECTION
Sutton Hoo
In 1939 Ipswich Museum was asked to send one of its museum assistants, Basil Brown to dig around some mysterious mounds on land at Sutton Hoo belonging to a Mrs Edith Pretty. The amazing ship burial he was to discover would become one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 29th Century and the treasures with it, including the Sutton Hoo helmet would become Iconic Images from the time of the Anglo-Saxons and put Suffolk firmly on the map.
Unfortunately the British Museum became involved and took over in a high handed way which is an unfortunate attitude to take when the find involves everyone, and so took the treasures to the British Museum to be locked up, instead of them being shown in Ipswich Museum and the Iconic Sutton Hoo where they belong, perhaps in the future they will give them back to the place where they belong.
The Boss Hall Brooch
1600 years ago Boss Hall at Sproughton in Ipswich was yet to exist but for one Anglo-Saxon/Englisc lady it was where she called home and it was where she was laid to rest in one of the richest graves ever to be discovered in the town of Ipswich.
The Hadleigh road Cemetery
The earliest Anglo-Saxon/Englisc lived and dies in an area we now know as Hadleigh road. Nearby 200 people have been buried here over a 80 year period, a road widening scheme in 1906 revealed what lay beneath their feet.
The warriors were laid to rest with their swords, shields and spears so they could continue to defend their settlement in the after life, whilst the women were laid to rest with their finery and pieces ready for the after life.
ADMISSION CHARGE
This is free.
OPENING TIMES
Closed on Monday
Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 – 17.00hrs
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00hrs
GIFT SHOP
Extensive range of goods.
REFRESHMENT
Drinks available hot or clod in a vending machine, but there are plenty of places to eat.
TRANSPORT
Train
Ipswich station on the Liverpool Street, London line plus lines from around the country.
Bus
Bus Station is a 5 minute walk from the museum.
Car
There is no car-park near the museum, but there is in the town centre.
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SNAPE ANGLO-SAXON/ENGLISC CEMETERY & ALDEBURGH MOOT HALL MUSEUM
HISTORY OF CEMETERY
The cemetery is a place of burial dated to the 6th Century located on Snape Common which is near the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk.
It contains a variety of different forms of burial, with inhumation and cremation burials, being found in roughly equal proportions. The site is also known for the inclusion of a high status ship burial, which a number of these burials were included within burial mounds.
The first recorded excavation of the site was conducted by antiquarians in 1827, with a later and more thorough investigation taking place in 1862 under the control of the landowner Septimus Davidson unfortunately artifacts from the earliest excavation soon disappeared!, although important finds uncovered in the 1962 excavation including a glass Claw Beaker and the Snape Ring are housed in the British Museum, London.
During the 20th Century, the heathland on which the cemetery was on, was given over to farmland, with a road and house being constructed atop the site. Today, the burial mounds themselves are not accessible to the public, although the artefacts uncovered by the excavations are on display at the Aldeburgh Moot Hall Museum in the nearby town at Aldeburgh.
ALDEBURGH MOOT HALL MUSEUM
Aldeburgh, Suffolk, IP15-5DS
Tel 01720 454666
e-mail – enquiries@aldeburghmuseum.org.uk
ANGLO-SAXON/ENGLISC HISTORY IN ALDEBURGH
The Saxon settlement appears to date from the beginning of the 8th Century, some fifty years after St. Botolph built his minster at Iken and a hundred years after the Saxon cemeteries at Snape and Friston were in use. There is evidence of at least three post-hole-constructed buildings, one possibly a chapel and there were probably more. There are two burials on the site, one dated to c 740 A.D., the other to c 810 A.D. The earlier grave is thought to have been that of a female aged between 18 – 25 years old. Groups of upright timbers in the mud bordering the site could have been part of a fish trap, maybe a trackway across the mud, or even a quay. The site showed no evidence of burning, which might have been associated with the Viking raid reputed to have attacked St. Botolph’s minster in 841 A.D.
MUSEUM
The Aldeburgh Museum is housed in one of the most important timber-framed public buildings in England. Dating from the first half of the 16th Century the “Moot Hall” (it was called the town hall then) originally contained six small shops on the ground floor and a spacious chamber on the first floor. Drawing upon artefacts, documents, maps and a vast archive of photographs and prints the Museum displays a pictorial representation of the history of Aldeburgh from the earliest days until the present.
Snape Anglo-Saxon Cemetery
There’s a significant collection of items from the cemetery at Snape cross roads excavated during the Victorian era between 1862-3.
ADMISSION
Adult is £2-00
OPENING TIMES
April, May, September and October Daily 14.30 – 17.00hrs
June too August Daily 12.00 – 17.00hrs
Because of the building being Grade I listed it is unfortunately not accessible to wheelchairs.
REFRESHMENTS
There are places to eat in Aldeburgh.
TRANSPORT
Trains
There are stations at Ipswich, Woodbridge and Saxmundham.
Bus
Service No 64 board at Ipswich bus station at stand E which serves Woodbridge to Aldeburgh.
Car-parking
There are parking spaces near the museum.
DR SAM NEWTON’S WUFFINGS WEB-SITE EDUCATION STUDY DAYS, SUFFOLK
Wuffing Education Study Days give in-depth explorations for newcomers, enthusiasts and specialists in the archaeology, history, landscape, language.
This has now changed to being on-line and is now called – Dr Sam Newton’s Wuffing website.
Dr Sam Newton constantly planning new events, which from personal experience are very good.
web-site on :- http://www.wuffings.co.uk
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Information on train and bus timetable :- https://www.thetrainline.com/