CHURCHES AND PARISHES.

parish, between the Back and Fore Hamlets, is a neat chapel of ease, or district church, which was erected at the cost of £2000, in 1835, by the late Rev. J. T. Nottidge, the late patron and incumbent of St. Clement's and St. Helen's, who also endowed it with £1230 three per cent. consolidated bank annuities, and £1103 reduced bank annuities, for the support of the minister and the reparation of the building. It is surrounded on three sides with a gallery, under which are the free seats. A portico shadows the entrance, above which is a small belfry, surmounted by a cupola. It was made a parochial district church in 1838, and that portion of St. Clement's parish attached to it has about 3000 inhabitants. It is a perpetual curacy, valued at £200, in the patronage of the founder's executors, and incumbency of the Rev. Fras. H. Maude. Mr. Stephen Clarke is clerk; Mr. G. Humfress, organist; and Saml. Stokes, sexton. St. Clement's Church is supposed to have been erected in lieu of the Church of Osterbolt, which anciently stood near the East gate.

ST. HELEN'S CHURCH, on the east side of the town, is of very ancient foundation, but was rebuilt in 1835, and neat brick transepts added in 1837; and a few years ago the nave was rebuilt and fitted with new open benches. It was anciently appropriated to the Leprous hospital of St. James, or Mary Magdelen, which stood near it; but it is now a rectory, which ever since the Reformation, has been consolidated with that of St. Clement's, and is valued in K.B. at £8. 13s. 9d. Its parish increased its inhabitants from 327 in 1801, to 2593 in 1851; but it contains only about 230 acres of land. J. Byles and J. Cobbold, Esqrs., are the principal landMr. J. Frewen is clerk of the church; J. C. Clarke, organist; and Henry Alexander, sexton. In a field near Cauldwell Hall, stood the church of St. John the Baptist, which was in the appropriation of Trinity Priory, but all traces of it disappeared many years ago. At the south-west corner of Rosemary lane, stood a chapel dedicated to St. Edmund-a-Pountney, which was appropriated to St. Peter's Priory, but no vestiges of it are now extant. A portion of corn tithes from certain lands in Hoxne, formerly elonged to this chapel, but are now attached to the rectory.

owners.

ST. LAWRENCE'S CHURCH is a plain but ancient fabric, which is mentioned in Domesday Book, but is said to have been rebuilt in 1431 by John Bottold, who was buried in it, as also was Edmund Daundy, one of the benefactors of the town, who died in 1515. Upon the wall, behind the western gallery, is a painting of Christ disputing with the doctors, executed by Sir R. K. Porter, a military officer, during his sojourn at the barracks here. The benefice was appropriated to Trinity Priory, and is now a perpetual curacy, valued at £175. The parishioners are patrons; the Rev. J. C. Aldrich, incumbent; Mr. Wm. Scarlett, clerk and sexton; and Hy. Farrow, organist. The parish is small, and has only 590 inhabitants.

ST. MARGARET'S CHURCH, on the green to which it gives name, is a large and ancient structure of mixed architecture, consisting of a chancel, nave, aisles, and transepts, with a fine tower and south porch. It has a curious antique font, and a singularly painted

ceiling, with several grotesque carvings standing out from the walls. The Parliamentary Commissioners, who came to Ipswich in 1643, removed from this church the twelve apostles in stone, and desired that 20 or 30 pictures, which decorated the walls, should be taken away and destroyed. Since 1845, this fine old church has been thoroughly repaired and beautified. The porch was restored at the cost of £150; and the nave was newly fitted with open benches in 1846, at the cost of £800, of which £200 was given by W. C. Fonnereau, Esq., who also filled the east window with beautifully stained glass, representing the four Evangelists, &c. The benefice is a perpetual curacy, valued at £115, in the patronage of Simeon's Trustees, and incumbency of the Rev. Geo. Murray, M.A. Mr. Robert Rainbird is the clerk and sexton. The Parish increased its population from 1923 in 1801, to 5892 in 1851, and includes East Suffolk Hospital, the County Gaol, Christ Church Park, and Bolton hamlet ; and about 1260 acres of land, extending northward from the town, and mostly copyhold of the manor of Christ Church, of which W. C. Fonnereau, Esq., is lord and principal owner. Part of the soil belongs to smaller owners, and the fines paid by the copyholders are arbitrary. In this parish stood TRINITY PRIORY, which was founded before 1177, by Norman Gastrode, for black canons of the Order of St. Augustine, to whom Henry II. granted a fair on Sept. 14th, and the two following days. Not long after the foundation of this monastery, its church and offices were consumed by fire, but they were rebuilt by John of Oxford, bishop of Norwich. Trinity, or Christ Church, noticed in Domesday book as having 26 acres of land, is supposed to have been the parish church, and being appro priated to the priory, St. Margaret's, was afterwards erected for the use of the parishioners. King John granted to the priory all the land and rents formerly belonging to the churches of St. Michael and St. Saviour, which had then gone to decay, and are supposed to have stood, the former near that of St. Nicholas, and the latter behind St. Mary-at-Elms. At the dissolution, in the 26th of Henry VIII., Trinity Priory was valued at £88. 6s. 9d. per annum, and the site was granted ten years afterwards to Sir Thomas Pope, from whom it passed to the families of Withipol, Cornwallis, and Hereford, of the latter of whom it was purchased by Claude Fonnereau, Esq., in 1732. Upon the site of the priory, Sir Edmund Withipol, in 1550, erected in the highly picturesque Tudor style, the extensive mansion called CHRIST CHURCH, which stands in a well wooded park, extending northward from St. Margaret's church, and is now the seat and property of W. C. Fonnereau, Esq. The last remains of the foundations of the old priory church were blown up with gunpowder in 1674. The mansion is of brick, with stone dressings and ornaments, and contains some fine family portraits. The park comprises 74 acres, and has several fine sheets of water, and about 70 head of deer. The Fonnereau family is of ancient origin, and is supposed to have descended from the Earls of Ivry, of Poictiers, in Normandy. St. Margaret's parish also includes Cauldwell Hall, the seat of George Tovell, Esq. Within its bounds is the extraparochial spot called Cold Dunghills, where there are 15 cottages

CHURCHES AND PARISHES.

and 57 souls. There are three extra-parochial houses in St. George's street, formerly called Globe lane.

ST. MARY-AT-ELMs is an ancient church, with a brick tower, supposed to stand near or upon the site of St. Saviour's, as already noticed. In front of it is a row of fine elms, and near it are Smyth's almshouses, and several old dwellings, bearing marks of former grandeur. This church was appropriated to Trinity Priory, and is now a perpetual curacy, valued at £80, in the gift of the parishioners, and incumbency of the Rev. W. Aldrich, B.D. The Rev. James Orford, M.A., is curate, and Mr. J. Whistle is clerk and sexton. The parish is small, having only 10 acres, 1051 souls, and 258 houses.

ST. MARY-AT-THE-QUAY is a plain structure, with a tower curiously built of flint, and containing six bells. It is commonly called Key Church, and must have been rebuilt after 1448, when Richard Gowty ordered his body to be buried in the churchyard, and gave Calyon stone" for the whole new church, which was to be erected." The church spoliator, Dowsing, paid a visit to this edifice in 1643, and tore down nine superstitious pictures, and destroyed many inscriptions. The roof is supported by light clustered columns; and in a small transept is the tomb of Henry Tooley, the founder The living is a perpetual of the almshouses bearing his name. curacy, valued at £103, in the gift of the parishioners, and incumbency of the Rev. John Duningham, M.A. Mr. W. Godball is the organist, and J. Harvey is clerk and sexton. The parish contains 1045 inhabitants, exclusive of 171 in the old Shirehall yard, which is extra-parochial, being the site of an extensive monastery of Black Friars. This house of Black Dominician Friars, commonly called Preachers, was founded in the reign of Henry III., by Henry Mansby, Henry Redhead, and Henry Loudham, and afterwards enlarged by John Harys. It was richly endowed, and was granted in the 33rd of Henry VIII. to Wm. Sabyn, but was afterwards purchased by the Corporation, who converted the greater part of the building into the Grammar School, Christ's Hospital, the Bridewell and the old Shirehall, which were taken down some years ago, and their sites let on building leases.

ST. MARY-AT-STOKE, commonly called Stoke Church, is picturesquely seated on the south bank of the river Gipping, opposite the rest of the town, and consists of a nave, chancel, north aisle, a fine tower, and a brick porch. It is of ancient foundation, but has undergone so many repairs and renovations that little of the original fabric remains. It was given by King Edgar, in 970, to the prior and convent of Ely; and their successors, the Dean and Chapter of Ely, are now patrons of the rectory, which is valued in K.B. at £12, and is now worth about £500 per annum; the tithes having been commuted for a yearly modus of £475. The Rev. Stephen Croft, M.A., is the present incumbent, and Mr. J. Morfey is clerk and sexton. The Parish of Stoke increased its inhabitants from 992 in 1841 to 2055 souls in 1851, owing partly to the railway station being here. It contains several neat mansions, and 1466 acres of land rising boldly from the west bank of the Orwell and extending 1 mile

southward. P. B. Long, Esq., is lessee of the manor of Stoke, which he holds under the Dean and Chapter of Ely, but the soil is mostly freehold, and belongs chiefly to Robt, Burrell, Esq., of Stoke Park, and partly to Col. Phillipps, of Stoke Hall; Mrs. Campbell, of Birkfield Lodge; and some smaller owners. STOKE PARK, about 1 mile S. of Ipswich, is a handsome mansion in a well-wooded park, commanding beautiful views of the Orwell and surrounding country. Its present proprietor, Robert Burrell, Esq., has considerable property in the adjoining parishes of Belstead, Sproughton, and Wherstead. He is grandson of the first Lord Gwydyr and the Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, who died—the former in 1820, and the latter in 1828. Lady Willoughby was daughter and heiress of the third Duke of Ancaster, whose family had extensive estates in Suffolk. John, the third Lord Willoughby de Eresby married the heiress of the Earl of Suffolk; and the heiress of the ninth Lord married Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. The Lords Willoughby of Parham were a younger branch of this illustrious family. Robt. Burrell, Esq., also owns the three ancient seats and estates of Goldrood, Gusford Hall, and Gyppeswyk Hall, in this parish. Goldrood is now occupied by Captain Lacon, R.N., and was anciently called Goldenrood, from a celebrated cross which stood near it in monastic times. Gusford Hall, anciently called Godlesford, gives name to a small manor, which belonged to Leigh priory, in Devonshire, and was granted by Henry VIII. to Sir John Raineforth; but it appears to have been for a long period a seat of the Andrews family, one of whom became Baron Windsor in 1529. It is now a farm house. Gippeswyk Hall, an ancient farm house, has recently been restored, and appears to have been built in the early part of the 16th century. Handford Hall, near Handford Bridge, is occupied by Mr. Henry Waller, farmer and grazier, and is the place where the great lamb fair is held. The manor of Stoke is described in Domesday Book as of the yearly value of £10, and as having had in the Confessor's time five carucates, nine villains, fifteen bordars, a church with 40A. of free land, a mill, 20A. of meadow, and a mediety of a loche beyond the bridge, then of the value of 100 shillings.

ST. MARY LE TOWER is the largest, and is considered the principal church in the town, though only a perpetual curacy, valued at £103, in the gift of the parishioners, and incumbency of the Rev. Wm. Nassau St. Leger, B.A., who is now military chaplain at Corfu. The present officiating curate is the Rev. L. Stanton. Mr. R. W. Foster is organist; Henry Day, clerk; and James Day, sexton. The corporation attend this church on Sunday mornings. It was given by Norman, the son of Eadnoth, to Trinity Priory, and is a spacious and commodious fabric, consisting of a nave, chancel, porch, side aisles, and a fine tower, containing a peal of ten bells, and formerly surmounted by a spire. Upwards of £1200 has lately been expended in restoring, beautifying, and enlarging this fine antique church, under the superintendence of Mr. R. M. Phipson, the architect. The galleries have been removed from the nave, and the organ placed on a platform at the west end. The north aisle has been extended to the same length as the south aisle; and the chancel has been

raised, newly roofed, and furnished with a new east window in the decorated style. The nave is in the perpendicular style, and to complete the restoration of it, and other parts of the church, as proposed, will require a further sum of £2000. There are still a few monumental brasses in the church, and one of them, dated 1501, represents a notary with his pen and ink case. It was in this church that the Guild of Corpus Christi* (instituted about 1325) used to deposit the tabernacle in which the host was carried, and in which their money and valuables were kept. The parish occupies the central part of the town, and was, no doubt, anciently defended on the north by a strongly fortified tower, which stood near the spot still called the Tower Ditches. It increased its population from 688 in 1801 to 995 in 1851. Kirby says Ipswich Castle was entirely demolished by Henry II. in 1176, after the defection of Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk.

ST. MATTHEW'S CHURCH, at the west end of the town, stands in a large burial ground, and is a plain, unassuming structure, consisting of a nave, chancel, side aisles, tower, and south porch. It was re-pewed about 1840, and was enlarged in 1843 by the extension of the south aisle. A further enlargement is in contemplation. The font is ancient, and has a finely carved cover, executed and presented by Mr. Hewett. At the east end of the south aisle is an elaborately painted glass window, inserted in December, 1853, in memory of the late wife of the present rector. It was executed by Geo. Hedgeland, Esq., from a design by Edward Howard, Esq., a brother of the deceased. The church has galleries and about 850 sittings. In the churchyard, beneath an altar tomb, lie the remains of the Right Hon. John Howe, Lord Chedworth, who died in 1804, and left most of his large property to persons not at all related to him. Having a strong predilection for the drama, the performers on the Ipswich stage shared largely in his bequests. The rectory was appropriated to St. Peter's Priory; but was granted by Edward VI. to persons named Webb and Bretton. The great tithes now belong to the Fonnereau family, though the benefice is still called a rectory, and is valued in K.B. at £5. The Lord Chancellor is patron; the Rev. Chas. Hicks Gaye, M.A., incumbent; Mr. Wm. Hadgraft, clerk and sexton; and Mrs. Sanderson, organist. The parish increased

*Corpus Christi Guilds were founded in most of the boroughs in England, in the 14th and 15th centuries, and it was their custom to walk in procession, and perform plays and dirges on the festival of Corpus Christi. In these pa geantries they were joined by other guilds and free companies, and their theatrical representations were often very indelicate, especially their plays of "Adam and Eve," and "Noah's Ark." The ancient play of "King Johan," written by Bale, Bishop of Ossory, for the use of these guilds, is supposed to have been first performed at Ipswich, as the author was a native of Suffolk, and represents King John as having favoured Ipswich, Dunwich, and Bury. Guilds were confederations for mutual benefit in trade, and for the purpose of aiding charity and religion. To the Guild of Corpus Christi at Ipswich, every burgess was required to pay 16d. yearly, or forfeit his freedom; and 3d. a fortnight to the master of the Grammar School, who was chaplain to the guild, and celebrated 30 days' mass for every deceased brother or sister.