Chantry Park is a park located west of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

town centre, in the

district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is the largest park in Ipswich and extends over 124 acres. Chantry Park was opened to the public on 17 May 1928 and was designated a Conservation Area in 2005. Chantry Park itself is Grade II listed park, and it contains three Grade II listed structures: The Chantry and the gate house and entrance gatepiers (which share a listing).

The Chantry

The Chantry is a large mansion built in the eighteenth century, and substantially altered in the nineteenth century. At one time the mansion was the home of Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly, a prominent lawyer, politician and judge, who sat as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the Ipswich constituency. The Chantry now houses a

Sue Ryder Margaret Susan Cheshire, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw, Lady Cheshire, (''née'' Ryder; 3 July 1924 – 2 November 2000), best known as Sue Ryder, was a British volunteer with Special Operations Executive in the Second World War, and a membe ...

neurological care centre, caring for people aged 18 and over with a range of neurological conditions such as

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is a neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental abilities. A general lack of coordination and an uns ...

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

and multiple sclerosis.

Events

In 1934, Chantry Park hosted that year's Royal Agricultural Show, organised by the

Royal Agricultural Society of England The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) promotes the scientific development of English agriculture. It was established in 1838 with the motto "Practice with Science" and received its Royal Charter from Queen Victoria in 1840. RASE is bas ...

. From 23 to 26 August 2019 around 160,000 people attended

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

÷ Tour The ÷ Tour (pronounced "Divide Tour") was the third world concert tour by English singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran, in support of his third studio album, '' ÷'' (2017) (pronounced "divide"). Comprising 260 shows, it officially began on 16 March ...

. After the shows, work to partly restore the park began on 2 September 2019.

References

Parks and open spaces in Ipswich {{Suffolk-geo-stub