I P S W I C IT. 



relative fituations, Eaft-Gate, Weft-Gate, North-Gate, and 

 South-Gate ; and tlie town was alfo divided into fo'.ir leets 

 or wards. Some frapjnnents and parts of the old walls are 

 ftill remaining. Of "tlft callli', no vcftige is left, either to 

 prove its fcile, or define its chanicler. The liberties of the 

 borouf^h, however, extend bevond the walls, and compre- 

 hend the fovir hamlets of Stoke-Hall. Wikes-Ufford, Brooks- 

 Hall, and Wikcs-Bifhop. The extent of thefe liberties 

 comprifcs an area, meafuring about four miles from call to 

 weft, and nearly five miles m a tranfverfe direftion. The 

 corporation has alfo iurifdiclion and advantageous privileges 

 by water, on the Orwell to the fea-port of Harwich. In 

 the time of king Edward the ConfelTor, his queen held two 

 .parts of the borough, and her brother, earl Oucrt, a third 

 part. When the Domefday book was made, Roger Bigot, 

 earl of Norwich, poffcfled the half hundred of Gippefwid. 

 At the former period, there were J38 biirgeffes refiding 

 here, who paid cuftom to the king, bnt at the conqucll 

 there were only no burgefles, and in the Norman record 

 it is ftated, that •' 528 houfes are now empty." The firlt 

 charter granted to the borough is dated 2;th of M.iy i ujg, 

 lil of kmg John ; this grants to the burgeffes, i, ' Tiie 

 boroun-h with all its appurtenances, liberties, &c. to be 

 holden°of t!ie king and his heirs by the p.iyment of th.- right 

 and ufual annual farm, and 100 fluUings more at the exche- 

 quer." This fiim is fuppofed to have amounted to lixty 

 marks, or 40/. : 2. The burgeffes were alfo exempted from 

 the payment of all taxes under the names of tholl, leilage, 

 ft:dlage, pafFage, pondage, and all other cuftoms by land, 

 and at fea-ports : :?. To have a merchant's gild, and lianfe 

 of their own: 4. N.i perfou to be quartered on them with- 

 out confent, or any thing taken from them by force: 

 5. That they mi.rlit hold their lands and recover tlieirjii ft dues 

 from whomfoever they be owmg:'' which implies that the 

 inhabitants were tlien co;illituted lawful fubjefts: " 6. That 

 they fliouid hold their lands and tenures within the 

 borough, according to the cuftom of tlie borough of Ipf- 

 wich : 7. That none of them thall be lined or amerced, but 

 according to the laws of the free-borouglis : S. And that 

 they might choofe two baihves and four coroners out of the 

 more lawful men of the faid town.'' Suffolk Traveller. 



After this charter was ratified and obtai ed, the burgeffes 

 affembled in the church-yard of St. M4ry at Tower, and 

 there held their firft great court ; appointed ofScers, &c. 

 Here they continued to tranfad their public bufinefs till the 

 13th year of Edward I. *s reign, when that monarch feized 

 the borough, and held it in fubordinati.jn for fix years. 

 He then renewed and confirmed the charter, by public act, 

 dated at Berwick, A D. 1 291. For this liberty the bur- 

 geffes were required to pay an annual rent of 60.'. to the 

 king. Another charter was granted by king Henry VI. ; 

 but the mod material aft of this kind was procured 

 in the 17'h year of king Charles II. Among the privileges 

 conferred on the burgeffes by thefe charttrs. is that of fend- 

 ing two ::ie iv,bers to parliament, who are elected by the votes 

 of about 700 burgeffes. The officers of thefe, and who are 

 entruftcd with the civil government of the place, arc two 

 bailiffs, a recorder, loportmen, and 24common-councilmcn. 

 The borough is faid to have returned members ai ori^;W. 

 Like the generality of parliamentary boroughs, this has been 

 the caufe of much bribery, corruption, and litigation. A 

 mcm)rable initance of the latter occurred before a com- 

 mittee of the houfe of commons in 1780, when Mr.Ca'or, 

 who had obtained a majority of votes by bribery, &c. was 

 declared difqualified to take a feat in the houfe, and a new 

 KiU waj vlFucd to elc£l another perfon. The particulars of 



this cafe are fully narrated in Oldfirld's " Hiftory of 

 Boroughs,'' vol. ii. 



In addition to the privileges already noticed, the corporate 

 otTicers of Ipfwich are authorized to pafb fines and recoveri-.s, 

 try civil and crin inal caufef, and liold pleas of the cro.vn. 

 Tliev alio hold affixes of wine, bread, beer, &c. and have an 

 adnii'ialty jurifdiction, whereby they are entitled to all waifs, 

 ftrays, and goods eft on fhore. No freeman can be com- 

 pelied to ferve on juries out of the town ; and every burgefs 

 is entitled to feveral advantageous privileges on failing ti> 

 different ports. 



Ipfwich at prefent contains twelve parifh churches. In 

 the Domefday book nine are fpecified : and in the year 12S7 

 it is related in Stowe's Annals that fome churches in this 

 town, at Yarmouih, atDunvsich, S:c. weredellroycd by a 



violent ftorm, and by the waves of the agitated fe; 



Th 



names of the prefent pariflies, are, I. St. Clement's, which is 

 confolidated with St. Helen's, and h.is no church: 2. St. 

 Helen's, or Helleii's, is a reflory : 3. St. Lawrence's chui ch 

 is f:iid to have been begun by John Bottold, who died A.D. 

 1431. The chancel w.^s erected by John Bal«yn, whi> 

 died in 1449 ; and a chantry was founded here, in 1 5 14, by 

 Edmund Dauntry, a poftnian of this town, who alfo caufed 

 the market crofs to be built : 4. St. Margaret's was impro- 

 priated to the priory of the Holy Trinity, the church of 

 which was formerly ftanding near St. Margaret's churcli- 

 yard : 5. St. Mary's, at Elms : 6. St. Mary's, at Kay: 7. St. 

 Mary's, at Stoke : S. St. Mary's, at Tower : 9. St. Mat- 

 thew': 10 St. Nichol.is's: II St. Peter's: 12. St. Stephen',?. 

 Belides thefe, the three following churches are in the vicinity 

 of the town : i. Thurlefton : 2. Whitton : and 3. Weller- 

 fie'd. The monaftic eftabliihments within the town were 

 formerly very numerous, and feveral houfes, parts of build- 

 ings, and places, ftill retain the names of the refpedive 

 focieties. Thefe were, j. The Holy Trinity, or Chrid 

 Church, a priory of Black canons: 2. St. Peter and St. Paul, 

 a priory of Black canons : 3. St. Mary Magdalen, and St. 

 James, a hofpital for leprous perfons : 4. Dandy's Alms- 

 houfes: 5. A houfe of Auftin friars: 6, 7. and 8. Black 

 friars. Gray friars, and White friars. For accounts of 

 thefe eftabliihments, fee Tanner's Notitia Monaftica. 



Ipfwich formerly contained feveral large houfes belonging 

 to wealthy merchants and eminent perfons. Of thefe a few 

 remain in reduced and dilapidated conditions. Among 

 thefe are walls and a brick gateway to a building called 

 Wolfey-coUege, which was appropriated and enlarged by 

 Cardinal Wolfey for a dean, 12 fecular canons, £ clerks, and 

 S clioirifters. To this college was annexed a grammar fcliool : 

 but before the founder's defign was carried into effect lie 

 was arrefted by king Henry 'VIII. and is fuppofed lo 

 have taken poifon to efcape an ignominious trial and exe- 

 cution. The fcite of the college comprifed about fix acres 

 of land. The bifliop of Norwich had a palace called Cur- 

 fon's houfe, in Silcut-ftreet. Sir Andrew Windfor, after- 

 wards lord Windfor, had a houfe in the parifh of St. Mary, 

 at Stoke. The archdeacon of Suffolk poffefTed a houfe, 

 called Place or Palace, in Upper Brook-ftrect. Part of the 

 outer wall and gates lately remained. In the parifh of St. 

 Ste;.>hen were formerly two houfes, or manfions of confider- 

 al le note : one of which belonged to, and was inhabited by 

 Charles Biiiudon. duke of Suffolk ; and the other to fir 

 Anthony Wingfitld, knight of the Garter, vice-chamber- 

 lam and privy-counfcUor to king Henry VIII. Some 

 apartments of the latter ftill remain, and are curious exam- 

 ples of the ftyle in which fuch manllons were ornamented. 

 Several little houfes in this town are cmbehifhed, both ex- 

 8 ternall/ 



