Next day, after arriving at our new campsite (Low House Touring Caravan site – £14 including electricity!) we decided to visit Ipswich. We managed to find a parking space on a road near the park and walked to our 11am appointment for a free tour of the beautiful tudor Christchurch Mansion.
There was a visiting exhibition of Constable and Gainsborough paintings to enjoy first and then a very quick guide to the history of the house and the families who had owned it. We found so much to look at afterwards.
Particularly interesting to me was an old bellows exercise chair, a box mangle and a very early washing machine called Housewife’s Darling!
After that we only had time for a quick look at the town and the Ipswich museum which was again free. We were amazed at all the decorated owls everywhere and also the number of old buildings.
The Ipswich museum reminded us of the Teylor’s museum in Haarlem but is about to be modernised! The most interesting exhibit was a find of gold coins (found in 2008) dating from the times of Boudica.
