Christchurch Mansion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich

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. The mansion is a Grade I listed building^[1].

[edit] 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 Sir Edmund Withipoll, who built the original mansion. His granddaughter Elizabeth Withipoll married Leicester Devereux, 6th Viscount Hereford and the mansion passed to the Devereux family. In 1734, Claude Fonnereau purchased the mansion from Price Devereux, 10th Viscount Hereford. A road next to the park is named after the family.

The next owner of the mansion was Felix Cobbold in 1892, after plans were made public about the demolition of the mansion and using the parkland for housing construction. Cobbold opposed 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, but in February 1895 the mansion was transferred to the town and in April 1895 the corporation purchased the rest of the estate. Felix Cobbold, among other members of his wealthy family have donated a great deal of land to the people of Ipswich, including Ipswich Racecourse.