Digital Ipswich: A New Way to Experience the Town
Digital Ipswich is an Ipswich Borough Council programme, supported by the UK Government’s Towns Fund, that uses augmented and virtual reality, live‑streaming public art, and interactive storytelling to reinvent how people explore the town. It invites residents, families and visitors to discover Ipswich in new and unexpected ways through free digital installations and immersive self‑guided trails.
What Digital Ipswich has introduced
Digital Ipswich has delivered a growing range of innovative experiences that animate streets, parks and public spaces, including:
- Augmented reality (AR) trails for families, culture-lovers and thrill‑seekers
- The Ipswich Portal – the UK’s first real‑time public “window” to cities around the world
- AR/VR Heritage Binoculars – six digital viewing sculptures showing Ipswich as it appeared in Victorian times
- New digital placemaking features that strengthen the town’s identity and boost footfall
How it’s transforming Ipswich
Digital Ipswich is modernising the town centre, bringing arts, heritage and technology together in engaging ways. It offers inclusive, free experiences that encourage exploration, connect people with culture and create a sense of civic pride. Digital sculpture installations around town are accessible without a smartphone, making digital culture open to all. For those who prefer to ‘download and discover’ with their smartphones, there’s a choice of AR trail apps to guide them.
What you can enjoy for free
- The Ipswich Portal on Cornhill
- Six AR/VR Heritage Binoculars across the town centre, Waterfront and Christchurch Park
- AR trails including The Ipswich Journey of Words and Weird’s Wich (app downloads required)
The Ipswich Portal – Connecting Ipswich to the World
The Ipswich Portal is a spectacular circular sculpture installed on the Cornhill, and the first of its kind in the UK. It contains a large live‑stream video screen that allows passers‑by in the heart of town to see and interact with people in other Portal cities as if they were standing face‑to‑face.
Unveiled in October 2025, the Ipswich Portal became the fifth installation in a growing global network. It now connects to cities including Vilnius, Lublin, Dublin, Philadelphia and Manila, with Brazil joining the network soon. Operating daily from early morning to late evening, the Portal symbolises unity, curiosity and connection - strengthening Ipswich’s place on the global map.
AR/VR Heritage Binoculars – Explore Victorian Ipswich
The Ipswich Binoculars Project introduces six free‑to‑use digital viewing sculptures located across the town centre, the Waterfront and Christchurch Park. Designed for all ages and fully accessible, these binoculars let users “travel back in time” to see animated scenes of Ipswich in the 1890s — complete with soundscapes, changing atmospheres and historically accurate reconstructions.
Themes & Locations
Each set of binoculars offers a distinct Victorian interpretation of these surroundings:
- Christchurch Park – 1,000 Years of Tranquillity
- Cornhill – Heart of a Victorian Town
- Buttermarket – Centuries of Trade and Street Life
- Pauls Silo (Waterfront) – The Head of the Dock
- Customs House (Waterfront) – Gateway to a Thriving Port
- James Hehir Building (Waterfront) – Site of Medieval Shipbuilding
With no phone, app or digital skills required, the binoculars make Ipswich’s heritage engaging and accessible for everyone.
Ipswich Journey of Words – Literary AR Trail
The Ipswich Journey of Words is a free, self‑guided 3.5‑mile AR walking trail celebrating more than 20 writers, performers and creatives linked to Ipswich’s rich cultural history. Accessible via the Go Jauntly app, the trail combines AR scenes, audio storytelling, archival material and digital animation.
The route runs from Christchurch Park to Holywells Park and features stories of well‑known figures such as Eliza Acton, H. Rider Haggard, Tina Turner, Ed Sheeran, Richard Ayoade, Omid Djalili, Sir Bobby Robson and Enid Blyton. Developed with University of Suffolk academics, the trail offers an authentic cultural experience for literature lovers, history enthusiasts and curious walkers.
Weird’s Wich – Ipswich’s Supernatural AR Trail
Weird’s Wich is a horror‑themed, location‑based AR trail created for older teens (17+) and adults. Using AR triggers across Ipswich, it uncovers the town’s darker legends through eerie encounters, mini‑games and puzzles to be solved, and a challenge to activate all the AR portals around “Weird’s Wich”.
'Supernatural Locations'
- Christchurch Mansion – restless spirits
- Buttermarket – crypt clues & echoes
- Silent Street – after‑dark apparitions
- Ancient House – whispering windows
- Ipswich Waterfront – ghost ship encounters
- Cornhill – creepy “music man” mini‑game
The experience blends jump scares, games, puzzles, spectral battles and time‑bending portals to be activated. Remember, it’s all just a bit of fun…or is it?
Downloading the Apps:
- The Ipswich Journey of Words – via the Go Jauntly app (Apple App Store and Google Play Store)
- Weird’s Wich – available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
Connect Explore Imagine
Digital Ipswich is transforming the town into a vibrant, interactive cultural landscape - one where history, storytelling, creativity and community meet.
Whether you're waving to someone across the world at the Portal, exploring Victorian streets through AR binoculars, walking in the footsteps of Ipswich’s creative legends, or uncovering eerie mysteries after dark, Digital Ipswich offers something extraordinary for everyone.
It makes Ipswich more connected, more playful and more imaginative - and invites people to see the town in a whole new light.