INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The 19th century saw huge changes to life in the town. The old Ipswich gas works were built in 1822 and the Wet Dock, with its New Cut, was finished in 1842. At the time it was the largest area of enclosed water in the country.

The railway arrived in 1846 and the town's population grew and industry and commerce flourished.

Many of the buildings that we see in the town today, and which form part of Ipswich's heritage, were built during this boom time.

Geologists travel miles to have their photo taken beside this sign!

COPROLITE STREET - the start of the artificial manure industry
To see this road sign you will need to walk to the far end of the street which runs alongside the huge new development of apartments under construction on Neptune Quay.

Coprolite is actually fossilised animal droppings - although most of the ones that were dug up locally were probably phosphate nodules.
They were discovered in Felixstowe in 1843 at the base of some shelly sand called the Crag on top of a layer of clay called the London Clay. The professor who found the nodules had them analysed and discovered they contained a high proportion of calcium phosphate - and it's phosphate that makes your peas and beans grow.

At the time the county was looking for phosphate to use as fertiliser, so these local coprolite or phosphate stones were brought to a building at Coprolite Street to be ground up and mixed with sulphuric acid - it made a terrible smell! This was the very beginning of the local artificial fertiliser industry in Britain with companies like Packards and Fisons.

The cutter, Seeker, moored on Orwell Quay

This same strata, the Crag, contains the origins of present day British fauna. A lot of the shells and whelks came from the Pacific, coming round the north of Canada and appearing, for the first time, in these local deposits.

It's also in the Crag, that remains of the really exotic fauna are found - things like red pandas, tapirs and three-toed horses. ( LISTEN or READ more about Coprolite and the strata it was found in: Note 6).

Orwell Quay
Passing the new development of waterside apartments on Coprolite Street you come to Orwell Quay and the Orwell Lady river cruise pick-up point.

You may be lucky to see some unusual ships at Orwell Quay

There may be some other interesting ships moored along this part of the dock, such as the tall ship 'Prince William' or the cutter 'Seeker', shown here.

You are also near the old ro-ro centre for the roll-on roll-off ships. Turning away from the water you can look up and see the trees of Holywells Park.

This area is where Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies began in 1837. They built agricultural machinery and electrical vehicles, including trolley buses. A little further south is where the Ipswich gas works was situated. ( LISTEN or READ more: Note 7).

Gaslight comes to Ipswich
The gasworks were a familiar sight in Ipswich from 1822 until 1970. Gaslight was introduced to Ipswich at an early date, even before it had reached Paris! Ipswich was a very modern town with its advanced engineering industry and it was thought appropriate to be at the forefront of gaslight. The first building in Ipswich to have gaslight was Holywells House, home to the Cobbold family.

MODERN TIMES
Ipswich waterfront has undergone huge changes with the building of many exclusive dock side apartments and the growth of hotel and restaurant facilities, but there is more development planned.

Artist's impression of the DanceEast dancehouse, the cultural cornerstone of the planned development

The derelict buildings, which currently stand alongside the working maltings (R W Paul's), are due to be demolished to make way for a controversial £60m development. (NB: R W Paul's closed its Maltings on 30th November 2004.)

The Cranfield's Mill site was purchased by the East of England Development Agency in 2000. Planning approval has now been given for a 23-storey tower block to include a hotel, affordable housing and an arts facility with a dance studio. The main building for this mini-Barbican will be the tallest in Ipswich, dramatically changing the skyline of the town.