Sights in Ipswich
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Ancient House
A glorious 17th-century facade of sugary-white wedding-cake pargeting decorates the front of Ipswich's most famous building. Built in the 15th century, Ancient House (aka Sparrowe's House) is one of the finest examples of Restoration artistry you'll see and crawls with mythological creatures and characters.
There are four relief panels each representing the continents discovered at the time - Asia is an Oriental dome, America is a tobacco pipe, Europe is a Gothic church, and Africa has an African astride a crocodile (eh?)
The building now houses a not-so-ancient kitchen outfitters, but you can take a peek at the hammer-beam roof inside.
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Christchurch Mansion, Art Gallery and Park
Set in a lovely rolling park, this multigabled 16th-century Tudor mansion is filled with period furniture, a King Arthur tapestry and paintings by the likes of Constable and Gainsborough. Outside, look for the statue of a delightfully cantankerous granny - immediately recognisable to Britons as being the creation of local comic strip artist Carl Giles.
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Great White Horse Hotel
The Great White Horse Hotel first opened in 1518 as simply 'The Tavern'. It appears in Dickens' Pickwick Papers as the 'overgrown tavern'. Rumour has it that ghosts frequent the rooms. DJs spin their decks Friday and Saturday nights, and draught beer and real ale are readily downed; breakfast and lunch are also on offer.
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