Excavations reveal town's 1,400-year history

20 October 2025

Katy Prickett

News image — Ipswich began as a 7th Century trading base and by the 8th Century was an important port

Getty Ipswich waterfront under a bright blue sky with white clouds. Beneath are various blocks of modern flats and offices. In front of them are white-hulled yachts and cruiser motor boats resting on blue water in the harbour. — Ipswich began as a 7th Century trading base and by the 8th Century was an important port

Decades-worth of excavations have confirmed Ipswich as England's oldest town with continuous occupation on the same site, according to an archaeologist.

Keith Wade supervised more than 50 digs in the town while working for Suffolk County Council archaeological service for more than 40 years.

Ipswich dates back to the 7th Century, was occupied by the Vikings and was burnt down by William the Conqueror.

Mr Wade has published a book about the town's 1,400-year history to "make the early importance of Ipswich more widely known".

Suffolk County Council A grainy colour aerial shot of Ipswich showing an excavation in Ipswich town centre. Buildings surround a cleared site and in the middle are clear medieval foundations and archaeologists' trenches. — The 1980s excavation, ahead of the construction of the Buttermarket Shopping Centre, revealed centuries of habitation

"For me, Ipswich has been an outstanding archaeological project," he said.

"I was privileged to be in the right place at the right time to excavate in Ipswich for over 40 years."

His book, titled Gipeswic: The Anglo-Saxon Town of Ipswich, supports Mr Wade's long-held belief Ipswich is the country's oldest town with continuous occupation on the same site.

It describes how it began as a landing place for 7th Century European traders and became a permanent town in the early 8th Century.

This makes it one of the three earliest English towns - the others being Southampton and London.

Suffolk County Council Three views of a rectangular lead brooch. On the left is its front, which has a raised centre and a pattern made up of dots struck into the metal. In the middle is a side view. On the right is the back view. It has lost its pin. — Finds include an early medieval lead brooch, dating back to the 9th Century

Mr Wade has been a local archaeologist since 1974 and retired from the county's archaeological service in 2012.

His excavations included one ahead of the construction of the Buttermarket Shopping Centre.

He helped uncover a 7th Century cemetery overlaid with streets and buildings dating from the 8th to 11th centuries, and a medieval Carmelite Friary.

Suffolk County Council A blurry 1980s-era image showing four carbonised bread rolls resting on a white background. — Carbonised bread rolls dating back to when the town was burnt down following the Norman Conquest

Another excavation, on Foundation Street, revealed the first town bank and ditch built by the Vikings, as well as a medieval Dominican Friary.

Debbie Richards, the council's deputy cabinet member for archaeology and landscape partnerships, described it as "a unique look into Ipswich's history".

"I'm delighted that [Keith's] knowledge will live on in this book, and be a part of Ipswich's future for the benefit of researchers and historians," she said.

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