Over the years there have been hundreds of dedicated volunteers in the Friends of Christchurch Park (FoCP) who have done much to protect and enhance the Park particularly that part of it occupied by the Ipswich Arboretum. The Ipswich Society has commented that “It has long been accepted that Ipswich is blessed with outstanding parks. The Arboretum in Christchurch Park is arguably the most special of them all. The Upper Arboretum, created as a public park in 1853, is also the oldest.” Christchurch Park came into public ownership in 1895 in part due to the generosity of Felix Thornley Cobbold (1841-1909) #201. Ipswich Arboretum: a History and Celebration is the authoritative account written by David Miller whose father was Head Gardener and who was born in Arboretum Lodge.
Back in 2015, in response to an appeal following severe wind damage The Cobbold Family History Trust donated a Coast Redwood to the Arboretum and earlier this year we planted a Cut Leaf Beech to mark the tercentenary of the foundation of the brewery. The FoCP newsletter will soon carry the following article written by one of our most supportive friends, Rowell Bell.
“The Cobbold Family Tree in the Upper Arboretum
The Cobbold Family goes back far beyond 1723, as, let’s face it, so do our families too or we wouldn’t be here. But this cut leaf beech tree planted in 2023 celebrates the 300-year period from when Thomas Cobbold (1680-1752) founded the brewery in Kings Quay Street at the Essex port of Harwich in 1723, up to now, when many Ipswich folk and visitors enjoy the benefits of Thomas’ descendants’ prosperity and their generosity, as attested by the many Public Parks and other amenities. Our railways, improvements to agriculture, endowments to the Arts, Agriculture and so forth.
Not only that, we are all born to die, but it is that bit in between that the Cobbolds and their kin made their mark, and it is rewarding just reading the many challenges and achievements, misfortunes and courage and determination to overcome and make positive change to the status quo made while on this mortal coil. I would recommend Cobbold & Kin as an interesting and inspirational read on a winter’s night but Cobbold Ales and Tales by Mary Attwood covers these 300 years since Cobbold started brewing. Both books available on the website www.cobboldfht.com
Closer to home, fortunately for Ipswich, the water in Harwich was brackish because of the salt from the adjacent sea so in 1741 Thomas began renting land in an area that later became known as Holywells, which had been in the Cobbold family since 1689, took the water back in special wooden sailing vessels with tanks and large manual pumps for emptying them. Transport costs were expensive so in 1742 Thomas moved the brewery close to Holywells Ipswich. Thus began a long-lasting relationship between the brewery, the Cobbolds, the town and its people.
The Cobbolds had donated an earlier tree in 2015, which had been planted atop the hill by the flagpole, but it fell victim to the drought, so its replacement was planted at the bottom of the hill, two years after the first one failed, which coincided with the tercentenary of the brewery, hence the plaque.
Anthony Cobbold has retired as the Keeper of the Cobbold Family Trust, and the nine generations of Cobbolds, their artifacts and documents, are now at Knebworth. The Trust started from a little family tree drawn on the back of a menu at Anthony’s father’s 50th birthday party. So, from a tree to a tree.
Rowell”
