Ipswich Minster, previously known as St Mary-le-Tower, is the civic church of Ipswich, Suffolk, England and a Grade II* listed building.official website It was in the churchyard of St Mary that the town charter of Ipswich was written in 1200.St Mary Le Tower, Suffolk Churches website
History
Although medieval, the church mostly dates from 1860 to 1870, when it was rebuilt by Richard Phipson.The Buildings of England; Suffolk. Nikolaus Pevsner. Yale University Press. Rebuilding was funded by George Bacon, banker and philanthropist. The church, then known as St Mary-le-Tower, is mentioned in the Domesday Book, demonstrating that the site has been occupied by a church since at least 1086.
Redesignation as a Minster On 19 January 2025, the church known as St Mary-le-Tower, was redesignated as Ipswich Minster in recognition of its increasingly important role in serving the community of Ipswich.
Memorials
The church contains a memorial brass, on a chancel pier, to H.A. Douglas-Hamilton, vicar from 1915 to 1925. There are also four brasses in the chancel floor.
Organ
The church has a large three-manual pipe organ, which has its origins in an instrument by Renatus Harris of 1690.The Organ, its History and Construction. Hopkins & Rimbault. 1st Ed: 1855 There was subsequent work by Henry Willis, Spurden Rutt and Bishop & Son. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.
Bells Originally there were five bells and a Sanctus in 1553 of which Miles Graye I of Colchester recast the Treble in 1607 and the Tenor in 1610. The church was the first in Suffolk to achieve a tower a peal of 12 bells in 1865. With the addition of a sharp second in 1980, the current bells are all by John Taylor & Co, of Loughborough (except for No. 7, which is by Mears & Stainbank of London).
Incumbents
Thomas Peacock 1542 John Somerton 1555 George Webb 1577 - 1606 Nathaniel Roe 1608 - 1614 Mr Nuttall 1615 John Ward 1616 - 1620 John Gooding 1620 - 1624 Samuel Ward 1624 - 1627 Mr Skinner 1628 - 1630 Mr Raymond 1630 - 1632 Samuel Ward 1632 - 1635 John Ashborn 1635 - 1636 Gawen Nash 1637 - 1641 William Fincham 1649 Mr Chapman ???? - 1662 John Burrough 1662 - 1670 Hugh Roberts 1670 - 1672 Samuel Brunning 1674 - 1677 Samuel Gotty 1677 Joseph Cutlove 1678 - 1707 Dr. Thomas Bishop 1708 - 1737 Thomas Bishop 1737 - 1777 Thomas Cobbold 1778 - 1831, grandson of Thomas Cobbold (1708–1767) Francis Cobbold 1831 - 1838, succeeded his father William Nassau St Leger 1838 - 1860 Joames Robert Thurrock 1861 - 1890 Afthil Arthur Barrington 1890 - 1904 William Melville Pigot 1904 - 1914 Hamilton Anne Douglas-Hamilton 1915 - 1925 Arthur William Watson Wallace MA 1925 - 1928 Arthur Herbert Streeten MC MA 1928 - 1942 Richard Hamilton Babington MA 1942 - 1958 Basil Layton Spurgin MA 1958 - 1972 Geoffrey John Tarris MA 1972 - 1982 Keith Brynmor Jones MA 1982 - 1996 Peter Kenneth Townley BA. 1996 - 2008 Charles Alexander Graham Jenkin, BSc 2008 - 2021 Thomas James Mumford MA 2021 - 2026
See also List of tallest buildings and structures in Ipswich
References