Memorials of Epswich.

INTRODUCTORY. DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN, AND NOTICES OF EXISTING ANTIQUITIES.

PSWICH and the ancient liberties thereof are situated in the Eastern Division of the county of Suffolk. The hundreds of Bosmere and Claydon lie on the north, Carlford on the east, Colneis on the southeast, Samford on the south, and Samford, Bosmere, and Claydon on the west. The superficial extent of these liberties is 8450 acresin length from Westerfield Wood to King John's Ness 5м. 1F. 30R., breadth from Spright's Lane on the west to the second mile-stone on Rushmere Heath on the east 4M. 2F. 8R. The entire circuit is 19 miles.

The town is situated at the confluence of the rivers Orwell and Gipping. The former is a noble estuary, running inland from the German ocean, from which, at Ipswich, it is distant about twelve miles. The latter is a fresh-water stream, having its rise in the villages of Gipping, Rattlesden, and Wetherden, which by the perseverance and enterprise of a company

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of projectors has been rendered navigable for barges from the port of Ipswich to the flourishing town of Stowmarket.

Ipswich stands upon an acclivity rising gently from both rivers to the north, stretching also east and west. It is irregularly built. Many streets are winding in the extreme. Much of the town having been erected between the 15th and 16th centuries-experiencing few vicissitudes, and unassailed by important disturbing causes, a larger number of ancient timber and pargetted houses remain than perhaps in any town of similar magnitude in the kingdom. These are of superior character, and indeed are noticed as such by old Fuller, in his "Worthies," when speaking of the place.*

These ancient domestic memorials are principally situated in St. Clement's parish, and follow the line of the present Wet Dock, formerly part of the original stream of the Orwell. One or two exceptions to this rule exist the most important being the house known as "Mr. Sparrowe's house," in the Butter Market, erected in 1567. This mansion however is not strictly a timber house, but a unique specimen of "pargetting" or plastering, having in large compartments upon its front and western gable, symbolical representations of the quarters of the globe, and the growth of the fleece. This fine building derives its title from the circumstance that it has remained in the possession of a family closely connected with the town, named Sparrowe, nearly from the date of its erection. The family of Sparrowe has been of considerable eminence in the town, and several of its members have enjoyed the highest municipal honours.

"As for merchants houses, Ipswich town (co-rival with some cities for neatness and greatness) affordeth many of equal handsomeness." That is with "fair houses" of the gentry.

The town of Ipswich contains thirteen churchestwelve ancient and one, Trinity, erected in the year 1836, and endowed by the munificence of the Rev. J. T. Nottidge. They are situated in twelve distinct parishes-St. Mary Tower, St. Matthew, St. Mary at the Elms, St. Nicholas, St. Peter, St. Stephen, St. Mary at the Quay, St. Clement, St. Helen, St. Margaret, St. Lawrence, and St. Mary Stoke, in the hamlet of that name. These ecclesiastical structures are for the most part erected in the perpendicular style of architecture. Portions of some however are of earlier date. The south door of St. Mary at the Elms, for instance, is in the Norman style, but slightly enriched, and therefore probably of the elder or primary Norman -and the west end of St. Nicholas church bears early grotesque carving, probably belonging to the ancient church of St. Michael, believed to have existed on the spot.

The public buildings of the town are not numerous, nor are those that exist of considerable magnitude or beauty. They consist of the usual municipal establishments, of a Town or Guild Hall, County or Shire Hall, Custom House, Borough and County Gaols, Markets, Assembly Rooms, and Hospital. In accommodation, the requirements of modern times have rendered them adequate to the purposes for which they are used, and although, with perhaps the single exception of the Custom House and County Courts, they are deficient in architectural excellencies, all of them are at least sufficiently commodious for the purposes for which they are designed and used.

The Town Hall stands in a wide area, called the Corn Hill, from the circumstance of the wheat market having been held there weekly since the town first possessed the staple of wheat in the reign of Elizabeth. Most probably indeed a grain market has been held