Description
Holywells Park is one of Ipswich’s most cherished green spaces. Its undulating, wooded landscape and cascading pools of spring water instil a sense of being in the countryside even though it lies in the middle of a built up area just a short distance from the town centre.
For more than a hundred years, Holywells was home to the Cobbolds, best-known as brewers and for their association with Ipswich Town FC. The fresh water of Holywells was channelled directly into the family brewery on the Orwell quayside and successive generations of Cobbolds developed an imposing mansion with sweeping views of the estate’s landscape.
In the early 1930s Holywells was sold to Lord Woodbridge who generously gave it to the people of Ipswich. Sadly, the mansion fell victim to dry rot and was demolished in the early 1960s. All that was left standing were a stable block and a fine Victorian conservatory, though these too fell into disrepair.
In 2013 Ipswich Borough Council successfully applied for £2.8m of Heritage Lottery Funding to restore the park and its surviving buildings to their former glory. The work was completed in July 2015 and the people of Ipswich now have a rejuvenated park with impressive facilities which also celebrates its heritage and rich history.
Holywells, Home of the Cobbolds tells the fascinating and often dramatic story of the park and its seesawing fortunes from its acquisition by the Cobbolds in 1811 to the present day.
Foreword by Nicholas Cobbold OBE
