Christchurch Mansion is a stately home in the centre of Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The house is surrounded by Christchurch Park, a grand landscaped park featuring many beautiful trees (235 of which were destroyed in the gale force storms of October 1987), rolling lawns and duck pond. The park is around 70 acres in size. The mansion itself houses a collection of pottery and glass, a contemporary art gallery and a collection of paintings by artists including John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough. There are rooms preserved as past inhabitants would have known them, complete with original items of fine clothing.
History of Christchurch Mansion
Christchurch Park was originally a monastic ground, with an area of many square miles. During Henry VIIIs dissolution of the monasteries, the monastery was razed to the ground and the land was purchased by Claude Devaraux, who built the original mansion. After the Devarauxs, ownership was transferred to the Withipoll family, who lived in the mansion for over 120 years. Eventually the family could no longer afford to keep the mansion, and it was sold to the Fonnereau family. A road next to the park is named after the family. The next owner of the mansion was Felix Cobbold in the late 1800s, after plans were made public about the demolition of the mansion and using the parkland for housing construction. Cobbold despised these plans, and said to the Corporation of Ipswich that if he purchased the mansion, and they bought the surrounding parkland it would be donated to the people of Ipswich. It took Cobbold three attempts to get the corporation to agree to this. Felix Cobbold, among other members of his wealthy family have donated a great deal of land to the people of Ipswich, including Ipswich Racecourse.
References
Material and guides inside the house.
External links
- Map sources for Christchurch Mansion
may be useful for expanding the article
- http://www.localhistories.org/ipswich.html
- http://www.britainexpress.com/counties/suffolk/Christchurch_Mansion.htm
