The Ipswich Society
The Ipswich Society is a community of people who care about the appearance and character of the town, its past and its future. Founded in 1960, the Society is a charity affiliated to the Civic Trust. Its non-party political status means that the Society is happy to cooperate with the Borough Council when the town will benefit, but there are a number of occasions and issues when we differ from the Council's approach. But our aim is always to be constructively critical.
From its very inception, the Society announced its intention to look to the future as well as wishing to support conservation of the town's valuable historic past. For instance, in 1960 at the first Annual General Meeting it was agreed to set up three study groups to consider the following:
- A street improvement scheme - which led to our support for the Fore Street Improvement Scheme of 1961 with its repairs of historic buildings and planned colour schemes.
- The effects of the proposed inner ring road - which in the event stopped at Cromwell Street because the economic conditions and transport philosophy changed at a national level.
- Improvements to the river and its environs - where the Society completed two phases of riverside improvements with tree planting to soften the flood protection measures recently built.
Specific actions which contributed to conservation of the historic town centre include support for the Borough Council's opposition to the demolition of the Great White Horse and our key role in saving the Sailors' Rest in St Peter's Street in 1970. Two of our committee members visited the building on the day of the planning inquiry and jumped up and down on the floors, including the attics, to prove that it wasn't on the point of falling down as had been alleged!
The Society's campaign for pedestrianised streets and for recognition that old buildings can be seen as assets rather than as slums to be cleared were particularly important contributions during the 1960s and 70s when such views were much less current than they are today.
The Ipswich Society continues to scrutinise important planning applications. The intention has always been to cast an independent informed eye on these proposals with a view to securing civic benefits. In thousands of cases our views have been communicated to the Borough Council and, when relevant, to neighbouring local authorities and the County Council. The Society has always been pleased to be represented on the Borough Council's Conservation Advisory Panel where planning applications affecting Conservation Areas are looked at closely.
Planning matters to do with economic development, transport, leisure services and regional policy have all occupied much of the Society's attention. With the interests of Ipswich close to its heart, the Society considers it fitting that it should take an active interest in all these wider matters.
To help promote good design and craftsmanship in the town, the Society makes Annual Awards to owners, architects and builders for their work on new buildings or for refurbishments of older buildings. And to draw attention to the town's historic legacy, the Society created in 2001 a series of Blue Plaques commemorating the connections between buildings and distinguished residents of the past, for example Thomas Gainsborough and Robert Ransome.
The Society has also organised for its members hundreds of visits to other venues in England, and there have been many annual study trips to France, Belgium, Holland and Germany to see what Ipswich could learn from our neighbours.
The Society's quarterly Newsletter presents a comprehensive review of all its activities. The Newsletter goes to all Society members, including Corporate Members, and to leading Officers of the Borough Council.
The fact that the Mayor of Ipswich is also ex officio President of The Ipswich Society indicates the central although independent role the Society wishes to fulfill.
Related Links
Considerations when changing the use of an historic building
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