The area surrounding Ipswich attracted habitation from the Stone Age
on. Although there was a Roman villa near the northern boundary of what
became Ipswich and a Roman road ran through the site, the origins of
Ipswich are considered to lie in the seventh century. An earlier
Anglo-Saxon settlement in the vicinity lay on the west bank of the River
Gipping, but seems to have been no more than a few farms. The town's
name, which in medieval times was Gippeswyc, probably refers to the
wic on the Gipping (or possibly both
heark back to the personal name of a leader of a Saxon group of settlers);
another proposed derivation of the name connects it with the Saxon "gip",
meaning corner of the mouth, and alluding to the point where the mouth of
the fresh-water Gipping turned to enter the salt-water Orwell estuary. This
associates the name with a later focus of Anglo-Saxon settlement, on an
east-west ridge (now the line of
Westgate/Tavern/Carr Streets) crossing the
present town centre. On the eastern side of that later settlement have been
found kilns which were used for firing pottery made on a slow wheel; this
distinctive type of pottery was called "Ipswich ware" and the techniques
for making it were introduced from the Rhineland/Frisia ca. 625/650,
either by Frisian merchants or immigrating Rhenish potters. Remains of
Ipswich ware have been found along a 160-metre stretch of the southern
side of Carr Street, indicating that this was quite an important early
industry here. "Ipswich People", however, is the name given to
Scandinavians who arrived in the 6th century, founding the kingdom of the
East Angles.
Another factor in dating Ipswich's emergence is that at towards the
western end of this line of Saxon settlement was
St. Mildred's church; this is an
unusual dedication, attributable to the fact that St. Mildred (who died
ca. 700) had connections with the East Anglian royal family, and
suggests the foundation would have taken place soon after her death.
The church later became associated with local administration. A possible
memory, albeit distorted, associating the foundation of Ipswich with
patronage of the
Wuffing
dynasty may be seen in a statement stemming from
a royal inquisition at Ipswich in 1340, which concluded that Ipswich was
named after a pagan king "Ypus", who made the town the capital of Suffolk
(in part because of its port facilities).
This legend may well reflect some historical truth. It seems quite likely
that Ipswich was established ca.625 on vacant, low-lying land stretching
north of the river, along whose northern bank simple revetements were built
to make it easier for ships to dock. The Wuffingas, who had a royal
residence in the area, were the probable agents of this foundation, with
the intent to create a port/market to supply their needs for imported goods.
This commerce in turn stimulated the development of an export industry
in ceramics. However, it also attracted the attention of the kings of
landlocked Mercia, who expanded their rule into East Anglia in the late
eighth century. Based on evidence from coins found at Ipswich, this change
of rulers was followed by a period of economic decline, but renewed
prosperity came after the Danish conquest of East Anglia (869).
Deforestation and expansion of the population in Suffolk – which by the
time of Domesday was one of, if not the, most heavily populated county in
England – helped the Ipswich region (like the Norwich region in Norfolk)
become an economic centre. The economic
status of Ipswich in the Late Saxon Age is seen in the number of moneyers
minting coins there. The earliest coins found date from the 970s, decades
after a royal decree had allowed towns, burhs and ports to have
mints;
large numbers of moneyers have been identified operating at Ipswich in the
eleventh century. By that time, and probably earlier, there were
burh defences at Ipswich. However, Ipswich
is more commonly characterized as a "port"
(a centre of commerce), and its inhabitants were known as
portmen – a term later restricted, perhaps honorifically, to the
town council. Port and burh were
probably simply two sides of the same coin.
Ipswich's prosperity in the Late Saxon period is reflected in the fact
it was frequently plagued by Danish raiders; their plundering of the
town in 919 is the first documentary reference to the town. Another
serious assault took place in 991, by a large force that moved on to
Essex and fought the battle of Maldon.
It was again the starting-point of a Danish campaign in 1010, which
led to the temporary overthrow of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy. The town
was among the last targets of Danish raids on East Anglia, in 1069. It may
have been this, combined with the borough's association with the
rebellious Earl of East Anglia, Ralph de Guader – who had a one-third
share in the revenues from the borough – that had a devastating
effect on Ipswich between 1066 and 1086. Immediately before the Norman
Conquest Ipswich had 538 burgesses paying customary dues to the king;
by the time of Domesday there were
only 110, with another 100 burgesses too poor to give more than a penny
each, while 328 manses (burgage
properties) which had previously contributed
scot towards the geld due the king
were lying waste.
How long it took for Ipswich to recover from the damage done by Vikings
and Normans is unknown, but its advantageous location in terms of access
to international trade across the North Sea and to regional trade, in a
part of the country where there were at that time relatively few market
centres, likely helped it bounce back quickly. The large number of
burgesses living in Ipswich just before the Conquest, in contrast to
there being only 40 acres of arable land held by the burgesses (apparently
within the borough boundaries), suggests a high proportion of the residents
were earning a living from other than agricultural pursuits. The town had
the status of a half-hundred, with its own
hundred court; four villages were
(at least later) also considered to be part of this half-hundred: Wicks
Bishop, Wicks Ufford, Stoke-by-Ipswich, and Brooks. The maritime boundaries
of the town also came to extend beyond its local port on the riverside to
most of the Orwell estuary.
The 'town centre' was at Cornhill, with
various retail markets there and in neighbouring streets. From the
principal east-west route (mentioned above) that passed through the town
centre, a few streets – particularly Brook
Street – led south to the riverfront. The crossroads character of early
Ipswich is reflected in the location of the medieval parish churches, which
cluster around these two principal east-west and north-south routes, apart
from those churches created to serve suburbs or quayside residents. The
exception to this pattern being St. Nicholas',
a post-Conquest foundation to serve population expansion along a north-south
route connecting the town centre with the bridge across the Orwell. The
quayside was in a suburb to the south-east; the absence of churches from
the area between quayside and town centre indicates the sparseness of
population there and helps explain why the
Dominican and
Franciscan friaries and the
Priory of St. Peter and St. Paul were able
to build large precincts there. In the northern part of the liberties was
Holy Trinity Priory (now parkland). The
town and its suburbs were divided into four leets, which were given
points-of-the-compass names, suggesting a division on purely administrative
grounds rather than on any early concentrations of settlement.
History of
medieval Ipswich
