24 & 25 May

24 May

I've mentioned before that we pack pretty light - 2 carry-ons and a small tote for 9 weeks and 1 1/2 seasons. After 6 days in London and two days here, laundry duties called. It helped that it was a sunny day because our hosts have a washer, but not a dryer, so I needed to take advantage of the weather to hang the clothes out to dry.

Bruce wandered off to find the latest pubs on his list and I set out to find "Old Felixstowe." It's supposed to be a nice area by the beach where you can watch the ferries that go to the coastal village of Bawdsey. Okay, Google maps, what's the route? I knew the first part, go left at the roundabout, but after that I was clueless. Google took me past a nice residential area, then another, then past the lovely old church of St. Peter and St Paul.

I walked through some more lovely neighborhoods, heard some interesting conversations behind the hedges. "Oh, yes, but did you hear what she did then?" through one lovely tall hedge. "No, mother, I don't know why your rose bush is smaller than mine. Maybe you planted it after I planted mine." "No, no, that's not it." through another. At last Google informed me that Old Felixstowe was 100 feet ahead. It clearly was not. In fact, this "destination" was a row of tract housing. No charming ferry. No charming anything. I tried to plug in "Felixstowe Ferry" and kept getting directions to a golf course. Okay, never mind. I went home, took the laundry off the line and played with the cat.

Since the sun was still shining in the early evening, I took myself out for a walk by the sea. It looks lovely when the sun is shining.

25 May

Woke up to another rainy day but decided to travel to Ipswich anyway, as there was a possibility of it clearing later in the day. Instead of the train, we decided to hop on the bus. I like to see the scenery along the way, though this ride didn't take us through any pretty little villages. I did see signs for The Suffolk Show to be held later this week. The grounds for the show are massive and checking out the website I saw quite a range of interests represented. Lots of agricultural competitions and booths, but also show jumping, garden and flower competitions, and areas for football, the military, wildlife, and lots of vendors.

Our destination in Ipswich was Christchurch Mansion. Our timing was good, as we arrived 10 minutes before the only tour of the day was to start. Our guide, Sue, had moved to Ipswich from London, having emigrated from India when she was a child. She was as lovely a person as you could ask for, quite enthusiastic, and very knowledgeable when it came to the house and its contents. The mansion sits on the site of the Priory of the Holy Trinity which was founded in 1177. During Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, the priory was dissolved and the land purchased by Paul Withypoll. His heir, Edmund Withypoll, wanting to show off his wealth, built a house of red brick with a blue brick pattern on the foundation of the priory.

This was the time of Queen Elizabeth's reign and Withypoll had the honor of hosting the Queen for lunch. (The house wasn't quite grand enough for her to deign to stay there.) Knowing that she would have her full retinue accompanying her, he added wings onto the house to accommodate them.

After Edmund's death, the house passed to his daughter Elizabeth who married Leicester Devereaux, 6th Viscount of Hereford and the mansion passed to the Devereux family, since women were not allowed to own property. The Devereaux rebuilt the upper floors after a fire in about 1670, when the main porch was also added. In 1734, the house was purchased by Claude Fonnereau, a Huguenot escaping persecution in France. He may have been persecuted, but he managed to leave France with his wealth intact, as the house contains many beautiful items belonging to the family.

In 1848 the mansion was slated for demolition and the land was to be developed as a housing estate. Happily, Felix Cobbold, a local businessman and philanthropist, bought the mansion and gave it to the Ipswich Corporation to establish a museum and art gallery, further endowing it with funds for the purchase of artworks. It now houses a large collection of art by local artists as well as a collection of paintings by John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough.

Portrait of Felix Cobbold by John Collier:

Entry hall:

The museum has been refurbished and changed over the years and now features rooms decorated to represent different periods of the house's history. It also shows random collections which would not necessarily have been in the house at all.

The family parlor:

The wallpaper in this room and in several others actually dates to 1741.

At some time in Ipswich's fairly recent history, the town decided to widen the roads to make way for buses and other vehicular traffic, so large swaths of Tudor houses were demolished. Bits of many of them were salvaged and used to refurbish the interior of the mansion, as is the case in this room:

This fireplace was the property of explorer Thomas Eldridge. His legacy was overshadowed by that of his contemporary, Sir Francis Drake. Like Drake, he was also a privateer and became quite wealthy. The portrait on the right of the fireplace is purported to be of him.

The chest on the left, with one keyhole, sat in the town hall and once held the original charter of the town, along with other valuable items. The person who held the key absconded with the contents. The chest on the right, with three keyholes, was its replacement. No one person was able access its contents without the cooperation of the other two keyholders. A bit like locking the barn door after the horse has escaped, really.

The dining room held a chest with an odd bit of inlay work.

When I asked about it, Sue told us that the inlay was made of horse's teeth.

The fireplace in the dining room shows evidence of three periods of the house. The bits on either side were revealed behind the wall to be from the Tudor period. The mantel and surround are from the Elizabethan period and the metal insert is from the Victorian era.

The mansion kitchen:

The library, to which the gentlemen would retire after dinner, held giant globes. One of which was a globe of the earth, the other a globe of the heavens.

It also held this ivory chess set from India. The Indians are on the right, in traditional dress. The Colonial side is represented on the left, in uniform.

This room, we were told, was the combination bedchamber, meeting room and dining room. I found that a bit puzzling.

Once the official tour ended we browsed the other rooms. One held a collection of musical instruments, one held toys. I loved this little toy theatre. The footlights feature tiny candles.

Also in the toy collection was a doll house which was created to raise funds during WWII. It was made by Felixstowe resident Violet Elkington, who exhibited it around the country, raising funds for the Red Cross and other charities. Many of the furnishings were made from Winston Churchill's cigar boxes.

The last room upstairs contained a collection of paintings including those by Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable.

Two of the many by John Constable:

The Mill Stream, Flatford:

Miss Brummell, by Thomas Gainsborough:

William Wollaston by Thomas Gainsborough:

Mrs. Bedingfield and her Daughter by Thomas Gainsborough:

As in most houses, there were rooms downstairs representing the servants' areas.

The grounds feature a circular pond which, in the days of the priory, used to hold fish for the monks to eat. Today it features a lovely fountain.

There was a special exhibition called "Animals in Art." It was a rather odd mix of paintings and taxidermy. Sadly, most of the taxidermy was very old and moth-eaten. Poor things.

Lime Tree Shade by Amy Katherine Browning:

Old Cauldwell by Robert Burrows:

Horse with Pig and Cats by George Thomas Rope:

We were a bit peckish so decided to go to a placed called The Cozy Club for a bite to eat. It was cozy-ish, but our waitress must have been having a bit of a day, because after 45 minutes or so waiting for two sandwiches, she scurried over to the table to say that she'd forgotten to put in our order, but if we didn't mind waiting, she'd put the order in now and they'd be on the house. She came back 5 minutes later and asked, "What was it that you ordered?" We told her, we waited some more, we got our order and we left, Bruce to crawl to pubs, me to take in a bit of scenery in town, then hop on the bus for home.