"Ipswich's most famous landmark is The Ancient House which stands on the corner of Butter Market (the street, rather than the neaby shopping centre) and St Stephens Lane (which leads down to St Stephen Church, now the Tourist Information Centre and gallery). The earliest reference to the Ancient House can be found in the 15th (some say the 14th) century, when it was owned by the knight, Sir Richard of Martlesham. In the 16th century the house was owned by a string of local merchants, including George Copping, a draper and fishmonger, who acquired the property in 1567. It was Copping who commissioned the panelling of the ground floor room at the front of the house. He also built the 'long gallery'. The Sparrowe (spellings vary) family became the owners of the house in 1603 and continued ownership of it for the next 300 years. It became known as 'Sparrow's House'. Robert Sparowe, a grocer, added the elaborate pargeting to the front and side of the house between 1660 and 1670. The association with trade, provisions and markets is due to the fact that for hundreds of years the thriving market(s) on Cornhill spilled out into nearby streets and lanes, including, of course, "the butter market". One legend tells of King Charles II hiding from his enemies in the Attic Room after the Battle of Worcester in 1651 (Charles II's royal arms are part of the pargetting).
In the late seventies, the Ancient House was in an extremely poor state of repair and close to collapse. At this stage it was purchased and renovated by Ipswich Borough Council and returned to its former glory using modern building techniques and materials. The Ancient House boasts highly detailed exterior plaster work (pargeting) and ornamental wood carvings, and is currently called home by Lakeland Kitchenware with an art gallery in the upper part of the building. Due to weak floors this area cannot be used for retail display, so community groups can display arts and crafts there - as long as they do not exceed the loading limit. Leading off the gallery by a tiny, low ceilinged staircase is a lower room, sometimes called 'The Chapel Room'. This appears to be the upper part of a grand hall, judging by the beams and supports, which has been floored over at a later date. It is quite a mysterious place and a steady stream of visitors come to see the room throughout the year.
The fine oriel windows which front the Buttermarket are most noted for the pargeted reliefs showing figures and objects which relate to the four known continents of the Tudor period (Australasia had yet to be discovered by westerners). The naive depictions are both impressive and amusing to our modern eyes. Impressive not least in that they have survived so long:
'AMERICA' ... 'AFRICA' ... 'ASIA' ... 'EUROPE'
America is represented by an Aztec/Inca-style man with a bow and arrow and a dog at his feet, Africa is represented by a naked man holding a spear and sunshade, Asia by a woman on a horse and a domed mosque-like building, Europe by a woman holding a cornucopia on a horse and castle. Other panels show the three elements: Earth, Water and Air. Round the corner on the western gable is a nice depiction of Atlas carrying the world on his shoulders, also St George in the garb of a 17th century gentleman dealing with a recumbent dragon.
We owe the survival of the Ancient House pargeting and carved oak beams and posts to the fact that the house was in the possession of one family for such a long period and that Ipswich Borough Council purchased it and conducted an extensive renovation. This project was not without its problems: the foundations had sunk, but the heavy fireplaces had sunk at a different rate. Over 260 tonnes of concrete was used in the foundations, and 11 tonnes of steel were used overall. In addition to this, woodworm and dry and wet rot had set in, and the deathwatch beetle was rife. Renovation began in 1984, and no part of the building was untouched. Foundations were underpinned, the rot & infestations were eradicated, floors were strengthened, plasterwork pargeting was restored, windows were releaded and features were exposed.
The other major event to threaten The Ancient House was a disastrous fire in nearby timber-framed buildings in the early 1990s. Booksale (now 'The Works), Jones the Bootmaker and Hughes electrical were all destroyed, but the intense heat did not spread through the former ABC cinema to The Ancient House. Yes, it is hard to believe, but a piece of modernist brutalism adjoined the old building for many years as contemporary photos from the fifties attest. Perhaps the old ABC protected the house from destruction by fire. The Rex Cinema in the 1920s was the Waggon & Horses tavern ; it opened on the 1st January 1937. It was renamed the ABC in 1962. All the above businesses were rebuilt (although Hughes stayed in their new home in Tower Ramparts Shopping Centre) and British Home Stores took over the space which runs right round from Butter Market to the rear of The Ancient House. In September 1993 Ipswich was twinned with Arras, France and the area behind the house is now called Arras Square.
In about 1651 it was said that King Charles II had hidden in what is now the Ancient House (this story could apply to many buildings in England) but a 'secret room' created by the building of a 16th century plastered ceiling just below the hammerbeams of the roof of the original lofty 15th century hall, that had been sealed off for over 150 years was only found in 1801. Post-Restoration of the Monarchy (some time after 1660) the front of the building had the coat of arms of King Charles II set into the plaster.
In the centre of the frontage between the two pairs of oriel windows is the wonderfully restored crest with mottos. It bears the Royal Arms of King Charles II, and the words:
'HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE'
This is old French for "shame upon him who thinks evil of it", and is also the motto of the Order of the Garter. Below on a blue panel is:
'DIEU ET MON DROIT'
("God and my right"). At the very top, picked out in gold are the characters:
'C II R'
which stand for "Charles [the second] Rex"."
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