Chantry Park

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A public park since 1928, derived from a gentleman's seat with a house built in the 17th century and modified in both the 18th and 19th centuries, sitting in an 18th-century park with two bodies of water and adorned on the south front by a parterre designed by a Mr Nesfield and modified in the early 20th century by the owner and Mr Notcutt of Woodbridge.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Chantry Park lies c 3km west of the centre of Ipswich on the south side of the Gipping valley, on the outer edge of the town suburbs. It covers c 50ha and is bounded on the north by Hadleigh Road and on the south by the A1214 (historically known as Crane Hill). To the east new housing development runs right up to the park boundary and the boundary to the west is bordered by farmland. The house sits in gently undulating parkland which falls to the north, west and east from the high point of Crane Hill. This topography allows views from the west park over the Gipping valley to the north and over countryside to the west. There are also filtered views east over the park from the South Avenue towards Ipswich.

ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES

The main entrance to the site is off Hadleigh Road. Here a small white-brick and stone lodge (listed grade II) was erected by Sir Fitzroy Kelly sometime between 1852 and 1885 in the style of a small classical temple. He is also attributed with the new gilded wrought-iron gates, known locally as the 'Golden Gates' and said to be one of the sights at the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 (Ball and Cross 1973). The South Lodge, situated in the southernmost corner of the park off Crane Hill, has been demolished and the drive which once led past Laundry Cottages (also demolished) by the east end of the lake is now only used to reach the late C20 cricket pavilion situated in this corner of the park. Further east along Crane Hill lies Avenue Lodge, a mid C20 building at the beginning of the lime avenue drive to the house.

PRINCIPAL BUILDING

The Chantry (listed grade II) is thought to have at its core the remains of the house built by Edmund Ventris at the end of the C17. The character of the present house however is mainly C18, resulting from the late C18 work of the Russell/Collinson family, with substantial C19 additions by Sir Fitzroy Kelly from 1852 onwards. In addition, a large conservatory (demolished in the 1930s) was added to the east front by the Collinsons at the end of C18 and during the same period the stable block and courtyard were added to the west wing.

The north front is C18 in origin with three storeys of five bays topped by a balustraded parapet. In the mid C19 a Tuscan porch with Ionic columns was added to this front by Sir Fitzroy Kelly, together with two-storey additions to west and east ends and a large two-storey bow on the south front, all in the Free Renaissance or Italian style. All the windows were given double-hung sashes and the whole building was faced with imitation Portland stone. The house remained a private residence until the park was given to the town in 1928. Until 1939 the house was used as an International Friendship Centre and after the Second World War a convalescent home was established by the Red Cross. The house is currently run as a convalescent facility by the Sue Ryder Foundation.

To the west of the house lies the service areas comprising late C18 stables, a courtyard and walled kitchen gardens.

GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS

The house and pleasure grounds of the Chantry lie in the centre of the registered park, towards the north boundary. The lawns which adorn the main drive on the north front are dotted with specimen trees, some of which (most notably beech) are of a great age, predating the present layout of the mid C19. The north front contains a walled carriage court with central raised lawn surrounding a fountain pond, attributed to Mrs Jump and Mr Notcutt and not shown on OS maps prior to the 1927 edition. On the east front lawns run down towards a body of ornamental water which is now (1998) surrounded by mixed shrubberies including many rhododendrons planted by Mr Notcutt at the beginning of the C20. These now obscure the surface of the water. A straight walk runs from the site of the old conservatory on the east front down to the water's edge, terminating in a small landing stage adorned with stone steps and balustrading. The earliest available map evidence for this site comes in the form of the Tithe map of 1838 and this shows the eastern pond in its present position; its shape suggests that it may be of much earlier origin although its surrounding ornamentation is Edwardian (OS 25" 2nd edition).

On the south front lies the formal garden, laid out as a small box parterre surrounded by a semicircular grass terrace on which sits a series of stone columns. The main axis of this garden extends along a raised walk to a stone seat by the grass bank which separates the garden from the park. This layout has been attributed to William Andrews Nesfield (Sale particulars 1867) and is shown clearly on the 1st edition OS map published in 1888. To the east of the parterre informal shrubbery planting leads to the pond and to the west is a bowling green. Beyond the bowling green to the south lies a small yew-hedged compartment divided into quarters by flagstone paths, known as the English Garden, which was laid out by Mrs Jump in the early C20. To the west of this is a woodland shrubbery which leads north towards the kitchen garden through a late C20 rose garden. The pleasure grounds contain some fine mature cedar of Lebanon.

PARK

Chantry Park is thought to have been laid out in its present form when the house was modified in 1772, retaining the same boundary to the present day (1998) (Debois Landscape Survey Group 1988). Its gently rolling grass is dotted with scattered trees, noticeably fewer than the number shown on the OS 2nd edition map of 1904, while perimeter planting encloses the north and west boundaries and the remains of a shelterbelt partially screens the housing development to the north-east. The majority of standing parkland trees are now concentrated in the park east of the house and in the lower west corner. A few scattered ancient trees remain, including beech beside the north drive. Due south of the house the main South Drive is lined with a lime avenue dating from 1807 and along the south boundary sports pitches and a modern cricket pavilion have been added. There are currently (1999) four grass tennis courts on the west side of the South Drive. At the lowest point in the west corner of the park lies Beech Water, a lake created in the natural style in 1828, with numerous islands and dense perimeter plantings of mixed species including beech, particularly on the east bank.

KITCHEN GARDEN

The walled kitchen garden lies 70m west of the house and consists of two walled enclosures. That furthest from the house dates from the C18 and covers an area 80m by 60m. In the centre of the southern wall is a small gothic-arched gateway into the park and a second matching gate on the western wall has been bricked up. Along the northern wall is a range of early C20 stepped glasshouses, whilst the remainder is filled with late C20 glasshouse ranges. The second enclosure also has an elaborate gated entrance on the southern boundary, topped with a date mark of 1908. A smaller second walled enclosure is shown in this position on the 1838 Tithe map, suggesting that the enclosure was enlarged and improved in 1908. It contains box-edged beds and a small Pear Walk together with some early C20 glasshouses. In the north-west corner lies an early to mid C19 gardener's cottage supporting a very mature fan-trained pear on its west wall. Both areas of kitchen garden are now used as a nursery ground by the Borough Council.

REFERENCES

T K Cromwell, Excursions in the county of Suffolk (1819), p 179

William White, Directory of Suffolk (1844), p 258; (1855), p 228; (1892), p 644

Kelly, Directory of Suffolk (1844)

The Victoria History of the County of Suffolk (1907, reprinted 1975)

G Ball and R Cross, The Chantry 1509-1972 (1973)

N Pevsner and E Radcliffe, The Buildings of England: Suffolk (1975), p 308

Inspector's Report, (Debois Landscape Survey Group 1988)

Maps

J Hodskinson, The County of Suffolk, 1783

Tithe map for Sproughton, 1838 (East Suffolk Record Office)

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1880, published 1888; 2nd edition revised 1902, published 1905; 3rd edition revised 1924, published 1927

OS 25" to 1 mile: 2nd edition published 1904

Archival items

Sale particulars, 1867 (BL Maps 31 c.31), (British Library)

Description written: August 1998

Amended: June 1999

Edited: December 1999