Paul's and Burton's Maltings
Moving up the quayside past the excellent remodelling
of the
Home
Warehouse (formerly occupied by Contship, now
Ashton Graham Solicitors), we used to see
looming above the columned 1845 Customs House: 'R.
&
W. PAUL Ltd'. Now demolished as part of the Waterfront Regeneration Scheme,
this lettering appears on the silo on St Peter's Dock, too (see
below, next to the old Burtons building) and seems to have
been
created on panels of a black material which were then stuck in this
lofty
position.
A survivor of many attempts at demolition over the
years (not least by
the
German air force) which stands opposite and behind these buildings on
Key
Street (originally Quay Street) is The Bull Inn. The upper cream band
and
painted blank central window once carried the brewery name 'COBBOLD' (also on the strip over the coach entrance to the
right) and pub's
name'THE BULL'
(see black and white view from 1963 below).
This 19th century frontage
features
a coaching entrance which gives a glimpse onto 16th century buildings
of
old Ipswich. The Bull stood only a few metres from other dock
hostelries:
The Gun, The Maltster's Arms and The Ram. Its importance in the town is
shown by a rating assessment in 1681 of £40 a year (£5 a
year
more than that of the White Horse). A great stableyard replete with
blacksmith
and wheelwright lay behind it. A First World War Zeppelin delivered a
bomb
which destroyed the roof and killed a man in a house next door. After
its
rebuild, the centre of commercial activity in the town moved northwards
to Carr, Tavern and Westgate Streets and it finally closed in
September,
1961.
The 'inn', as distinct from hundreds of ale-houses,
parlour pubs (for the lower orders), taverns
(more substantial, tended to specialise in wines and could provide a
good meal) which dotted the town, was second only in size to the
churches. The inns catered for wealthier local people and travellers.
The bigger ones could cater for 200 to 300 people and, as with the Bull
Inn, provided stabling for visitors' horses. They hosted such
events as feasts, concerts, trade association meetings and
electioneering. During the 15th and early 16th centuries Ipswich was
the fifth wealthiest town in England with many important visitors (via
coach and horse or ship into the town's docks) and pilgrims to the
Shrine Of Our Lady Of Grace in Lady Lane
off Black Horse Lane, so several inns must have provided overnight
accomodation.
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The Bull Inn in 1963
The photograph below left: a view from College Street,
standing
opposite
to the 'water gate' of Wolsey's failed seat of learning shows the
lettering before the regeneration started (see it disappear below). A
stylish blue
drop-shadow letterform adorns this stark 'BURTONS' block, though the
capital
'B' shows that the signwriter ran out of building! Similar lettering
(similarly
too close to the roof-edge) faces the upper finger of the Wet Dock to
the
right of another of Paul's mills.
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A period view (below) tells a different story. Just
visible in the
background
is the neighbouring Cranfield Brothers Ltd. sign (Cranfields Flour Mill
has only recently ceased operation, pending the Waterfront Regeneration
project). The Burtons wharf on St Peter's Dock has large and small
versions
of the 'BURTONS' lettering. The tops of dockside sailing barges are in
the
foreground with the horse-drawn tramway trucks which until1880 took
coal
all
the way from the sidings on the other side of the approach to Stoke
Bridge
on a long circuit round the Wet Dock, down Cliff Quay to the power
station
on the promontary. Steam engines and latterly tram engines later worked
these lines, for unloading vessels to load straight into rail waggons.
[See here for a short history of
tramways in Ipswich.]
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[Update: During the Waterfront
Regeneration project (March, 2006). The
last vestiges of the 'Burtons' sign on College Street opposite St
Peters Church, as men in yellow jackets erect ever-higher steelwork
above it. Left: 'Burtons' partially obstructed by the lamp post, right:
taken from St Peter's Churchyard, the back of Wolsey's college gate in
the foreground, just as the sun came out. Closeups below in each case.]
The present day concrete blocks of industrial maltings and mills
(particularly
R. & W. Paul's) round the Wet Dock [see paragraph above] replaced
the somewhat less severe
brick-built structures of the nineteenth century. A little further up
the
canalised Gipping from Stoke Bridge, we find the red brick maltings on
Princes
Street, accross the river from the railway station. Converted into a
nightclub, the refurbishment involved the
painting
out of large, stylish capitals reading: 'R. & W. PAUL Ltd.' plus
its
underline using a terra cotta colour on the upper part of the
attractive
end wall. Oddly, because the characters have been closely followed by
the
camouflager, the name is still readable. Closed down due to a stabbing
in 2006, the future of this fine bulding hangs in the balance...
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Copyright throughout this site belongs to Borin Van Loon, 2003.