Chantry is a large residential area within the large town of Ipswich, in the Ipswich Borough in the English county of Suffolk.
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Chantry estate was built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the estate was named after the Chantry[1]. The oldest area of the estate is nearest Gippeswyk Park and the roads are named after flowering plants. These include Hawthorn Drive which is a main thoroughfare and primary bus route through the estate, Speedwell Road, Pimpernel Road and Violet Close The newer area further southwest is mostly named after birds such as Robin Drive, Greenfinch Avenue and Sandpiper Road. There are also roads to the west named after towns and districts in Greater Manchester such as Holcombe Crescent, Monton Rise, Hale Close. To the south of Birkfield Drive there is an area built in the early 1970s and the roads are named after some of the colleges which make up Cambridge University such as Newnham Court, Girton Way, Emmanuel Close, Fitzwilliam Close. The estate of Chantry is generally considered by locals to end at Belstead Road and to the south and east of this road is the estate called Stoke Park mostly built in the 1970s and 80s. Unlike Chantry which was largely built as council housing, Stoke Park was developed by private builders.
A hoard of Roman era gold was discovered during building work in Holcombe Crescent in 1968, with the initial find consisting of five Romano-British gold torcs (decorative neck rings). The items show design features associated with the Iron Age La Tène culture, & are thought to date from around 75 BC. A sixth torc was found in the following year, some distance from the others but thought to be from the same collection. The find’s proximity to the Belstead Brook has led to speculation that this hoard was associated with a spring or holy well in the area. The torcs are now housed in the British Museum in London, with copies on show in Ipswich Museum.
The Chantry is a Chantry (place of worship) in Chantry Park that is also a Sue Ryder Home[2].
Chantry has a public library, several pubs, shopping parades, a community centre[3]. It is well served by public transport and there are doctors (Hawthorn Drive surgery) and dentists and other small businesses in the area. It also hosts several modern church buildings.
There is a NHS clinic on Hawthorn Drive close to the shopping parade and Kingfisher pub. The parade of shops in Hawthorn Drive consists of a branch of Barclays Bank with an ATM (cash machine), Coral bookmakers, Lucky Star Chinese take-away, Top Shop hair salon, Post Office, D.W. Barnard Butchers, Chantry News newsagent, Scotts hardware store, a florist, Chantry Fish and Chips take-away and a Co-op mini-market.
St. Francis in Hawthorn Drive
Shepherd Drive Baptist Church in Shepherd Drive is located just 250ft west of the boundary which separates Ipswich and Babergh Councils making it part of the latter.
Chantry has a high school called Chantry High School, a co-educational independent school called St Joseph's College a primary school called Downing Primary School, a primary school called Gusford Primary School and some other junior and infant schools[4].
Other Estates/Areas Within Chantry include the newer estates/newer suburbs of Pinebrook, Brookwood, Thorrington Hall and Belstead Hills [5]