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Black
Friars Ghost Walk, with
Sue Knock
In
February, 1348, the bailiffs and commonalty of Ipswich unanimously
granted the Black Friars a plot of land south of their curtlage,
which was 103 feet in length. For this the friars were to pay 6d.
a year rent and to keep up the town wall opposite the plot; and
the other on the south of their court. Also the two great gates,
one on the north and the other on the south of their court; and
through these gates the commonalty were to be allowed to pass whenever
any mishap fell on the town.
By
an inquisition of March 1350-1, it was adjudged that Henry de Monescele
and two others might assign three massuages to the Dominicans for
the extension of the site.
These
various grants gave to the Friars Preachers a large site in the
parish of St. Mary at Quay, reaching in length from north to south,
from St. Margaret's Church to the church of
St. Mary at Quay (Star Lane), and in width from east to west, from
Foundation Street to the town wall, parallel with the Lower Wash.
This Ghost walk will take you to some of the places a Friar has
been seen.
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| Sue
Knock in Maud's Attic |
The
walk will start at the Old Neptune Cafe with a talk about the old
Neptune Cafe and the sightings. Then a look round the back of Maud's
Attic and the Merchant House Antiques in St. Peters Street where
there have also been sightings.
At
the back of these buildings in St. Peters Street there is what is
reputed to be the old Priory wall. In the photo of the Priory wall,
there is something very unusual on the right hand side which we
can not explain - see picture below »
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| Is
that a ghostly sighting at Priory wall? |
The Old Neptune Cafe
The Neptune was built in the 15th Century and was one of many
fine houses in Fore Street at a time of great prosperity for the
town. Later it became an Inn.
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| Inside
the Neptune cafe |
At
one time, onion growers from Brittany brought their crops over from
St. Malo and off loaded them into the back rooms of the bar parlour
of the Neptune which was still lined with fine linenfold Panelling.
Fore
Street
At the beginning of the 15th Century, Ipswich had become prosperous
through the success of the Woollen Industry in Suffolk. Wealthy
merchants built their fine houses near to the quayside where so
much of the business was in the area. By the middle of the 15th
Century the woollen industry had moved away from Suffolk and the
houses were neglected and had fallen into decay. Many of them were
converted for different uses by various tradesmen or into pubs.
Quay
Street - The Bull Inn
The
Bull Inn was one of the most important inns in Ipswich when the
greater part of the towns commercial business was centred on the
River Orwell. In 1861 the Bull had a rating assessment of £40.00
a year, £5.00 a year more than that of the White Horse. This
was a good indication of it's size and importance. Its stable yard,
which had a blacksmiths forge and a wheelwrights shop, was always
a hive of activity. During the First World War a Zeppelin airship
dropped a bomb which scored a direct hit on The Bull and killed
a man in the house next door, who has since been seen at times near
The Bull. The building still stands opposite the old Customs House.
Oxborrow's
Hotel
The
Residence of Sir Manuel Sorrell in 1665. Sir Manuel was knighted
by Charles II when he presented the King with a gift of £300
from the town as a token of its loyal allegiance.
PG
McGinty's
Paddy McGinty's Pub is a stones throw away from Christchurch
Mansion. The Mansion was built on the site of Holy Trinity Priory.
It is known that the priory was home to generations of monks up
until a henchman of Henry VIII, Thomas Cromwell, carried out his
purge against the Church known as the Dissolution of the Monasteries
in 1528. Many were murdered and the monastery ransacked. The Pub
is haunted by a monk who was murdered and thrown down the indoor
well.
More
information:
To find out more join Sue on the Black Friars Ghost walk.
Cost
is £10 and includes afternoon tea and cake at the start of
the walk at the Old Neptune Cafe.
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