June 7th. The Court of King's Bench granted a writ of mandamus for the election of two burgesses to serve the office of bailiffs, now vacant; for Mr. Seekamp, the colleague of the late Mr. Pooley, had disclaimed, considering that being reelected under the writ of mandamus would legalise any informality that there might have been in his previous election; and, on the 17th inst. the election took place, Mr. Hammond, as senior portmen, presiding; when F. F. Seekamp, esq., and C. C. Hammond, esq., were proposed by Mr. Brame, in the yellow interest, and W. Batley, esq., and B. B. Catt, esq., by the blues on the floor; when, after a very short contest, the poll was closed at one o'clock, in opposition to the protest of many of the freemen, and the numbers were, for

September 8th. At a great court held this day, Wm. Lane and B. B. Catt, esqrs., were elected bailiffs without opposition, and J. E. Sparrow, esq., town clerk. Thus the blues appear to have obtained quiet possession of power.

November 21st. The members of the Friendly Society held their eighteenth anniversary, upon the town hall; and the following statement will evince the peculiar excellence of this benevolent institution: - 984 bushels of coals have been carried to the houses of one hundred and twenty-three aged persons, the majority of whom were above seventy-five years of age-one at the advanced age of a hundred, -1174 bushels of coals, 60 sheets, 135 calico garments, 232 flannel ditto, 67 yards of flannel, and 9 yards of calico. The total number relieved by this society last year, were

203 persons between 65 and 75 years of age,

90

ditto

75 and 85

ditto

December 19th. The tenth anniversary of another excellent institution, called the Penny Club, took place here; which exhibited the pleasing spectacle of between five and six hundred children, all habited in comfortable garments, in consequence of the judicious expenditure of the funds of this society, arising principally from the savings of the poor.

Thus endeth our chronological chapter of the history of the borough, up to the end of the year 1828. In relating the circumstances connected with the various contested elections, together with the feuds of the corporation, we have endeavoured to steer clear of party prejudice, feeling confident that our statement is impartial and correct; and we shall notice any event of importance that may occur previous to the conclusion of this work, in the chapter in which we shall hereafter speak of the present state of the town.

ANTIQUITIES, CHURCHES,

AND

RELIGIOUS EDIFICES.

IT is, of course, an author's desire to please all classes of his readers, as far as in his power; but it is to be feared that here is but little to gratify the taste of those who prefer the blue mould, or rather the green rust of antiquity, to a sound, solid brick building; for Suffolk brick is much in repute, being considered of a very durable nature, and, as an article of home manufacture, has been very much encouraged at Ipswich; for, except the churches, there is not, we believe, a stone building in the town. Gilpin, the great father of the picturesque school, condescended to notice only one object as worthy of his remark, and that was the poor old Market Cross; which is now, alas! to be numbered with the things that

The eye of the artist, who had rather behold the mouldering ruins of the ivy-mantled tower, than a snug, comfortable habitation, will certainly be disappointed; but still there are many beautiful and romantic scenes to be met with in the vicinity of this town, calculated to satisfy the most fastidious observer, and such as our own Gainsborough delighted to paint. Whether the castle which stood on the spot still called the Castle Hills, on the high ground not far from Brook's Hall, can claim the honour, with Walton Castle, of having been built by those politic invaders who did not, like the Danes, conquer to destroy, has never been ascertained; and as we know of no coins or relics that have been found, to give a plausible colouring to the fact, we must give up the point of its having been a Roman fort, or that there ever was a Roman station here. All that is known of this castle is, that when the Normans had possessed themselves of England, the Conqueror, to awe the people into subjection, built, among other castles, one at Ipswich; which Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, maintained, for some time, against King Stephen, in the behalf of Henry Fitz-Empresse, but was, at length, obliged to surrender it: however, afterwards, in consequence of this Hugh Bigod's disaffection, who took part with his sons against Henry II., this monarch, in the year 1176, caused it to be destroyed, and no vestiges of it remain; but, upon digging a few feet below the surface of the earth, relics of an ancient building have frequently been found.

The town was formerly surrounded by ramparts and a ditch; which had been, more than once, demolished by the Danes; but which were repaired and fortified in the fifth year of King John, as appears from the following extract from Doomsday Book:

Anno 5o regis Joannis, 1203. Facta fuerunt magna fossata Villa Gippovici per præfatum Regem et Auxilium totius patriæ et Comitatus Cantabrigiæ.

This is six hundred and twenty-five years ago, but the line of the fosse is clearly marked; and on what are still called the Tower Ditches, and St. Margaret's Ditches, fragments of this fortification may yet be seen.

To this rampart were attached four gates, which served. as entrances into the town, and were called, from their situation, after the four principal points of the compass;

and from these gates were named the four letes or wards into which the place was divided. And, in Ipswich Doomsday, is the following account of the division:East-gate lete reaches fiom North-gate to the stone cross in Brook-street, called St. Lewis's Cross; so down Tankard-street, till you come to the common ditch, next to the friars' preacher's wall; with Carr-street, Thingsted or St. Margaret's Green, and the lane leading to Little Bolton, and Caldwell or St. Helen's-street. West-gate lete, from North-gate, by the Archdeacon's House, till you come to the corner of the street leading from Brook-street to the Fish Market; and so by the same market, (which was at the east end of St. Lawrence' church-yard, in White Hart Lane,) on the right hand, to the further corner of St. Lawrence' conduit-house, and to the Corn-hill, on the north side of the street, till you come to the West-gate, with the suburbs that be without the gate. South-gate lete, from West-gate, on one side of the high-street, till you come at St. Mildred Church, (the old town hall) and so upon the right hand on one part of the street, till you come to Woulfern's Lane, in the parish of St. Peter, almost against the west end of the said church-yard. North-gate lete contains all the rest of the town, with the suburbs beyond Stoke bridge, and, besides the Key, with St. Clement's-street. A fifth has also been mentioned, called Lose-gate, which stood on the bank of the Orwell between the Common Quay and Stoke bridge, where there was a ford over the river. From this it may be seen that nearly the whole of the parishes of St. Austin, St. Clement, and St. Helen, with a great part of St. Margaret and St. Matthew, were not included within the ramparts or in the letes or wards, but were called the suburbs of Ipswich, in old writings.

Nine churches are mentioned in Doomsday, afterwards