Laying the foundation stone of the lock to the Wet Dock,
Ipswich, 1839
The drawing and naive lettering came from the pen of Henry Davy.
The captions read from left to right, either side of the rectangle:
'Drawn from sketches made on the spot by Henry Davy, June 26 & 27,
1839 ... I[?], Etched & published by him in Globe
Street Ipswich July 10, 1839.
The ceremony of laying the first Stone of the Lock to the Wet
Dock, Ipswich ... Suffolk, about three O’clock on
Wednesday afternoon June 26, 1839.
Chaplain at the ceremony, the Revd. I.L. Worship. Solicitors to
the Commissioners ... William Rodwell Esqr. & John
Chevallier Cobbold Esqr.
The Band of the 9th Lancers attended. ... Upwards
of 1200 persons were present.
In the Evening a party Dined at the New Assembly Rooms, Served
by Mr. W. Waller.'
In the central rectangle:
'IPSWICH DOCK
THE FIRST STONE OF THE LOCK WAS
LAID ON THE 26 DAY OF JUNE A.D. 1839
BY GEORGE GREEN SAMPSON ESQR. MAYOR.
DYKES ALEXANDER ESQR. TREASURER OF
THE COMMISSION.
PETER BARTHOLOMEW LONG ESQR. CLERK.
ENGINEER - HENRY PALMER ESQR. F.R.S.
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE INSTN. OF
CIVIL ENGINEERS.
CONTRACTOR - DAVID THORNBORY ESQR.
– - –
NOSTROS IN COMMODE PUBLICA
CONNATUS. TU DOMINE, SECUNDA.
Inscription plate, Iron
bronzed, on a
Stone five feet square.'
And curving round the illustration in smaller lettering (with the
detail referred to):
The Cliff Brewery, J. Cobbold Esqr. In distance Hog
Island*, Bourne Bridge & Shipyard. Nova Scotia House,
Mrs Gower
[*usually referred to as 'Hog Highland']
Ipswich Steamers & pleasure Yachts on the River Orwell.
awning over the Stone beyond the Steam pump & Engine House.
New Union House
Stoke Church & Mills.
The Cliff Brewery is very sketchily rendered in the left background,
but Nova Scotia House in the central
detail (presumably after the death of Richard Hall Gower±,
1768–1833) is clearer and attributed to 'Mrs Gower'; the New Union Workhouse (otherwise St Peter's
Workhouse) is shown at the centre of the last detail with Stoke
windmills behind and, presumably, the tower of St Mary-at-Stoke Church
rising to the right. ±See our Street
name derivations page for more on Gower and the street named after
him.
Note that the central awning and flag marking the foundation stone in
the illustration is the site of the original lock on the west side of
the Wet Dock which opened onto New Cut. This is now blocked up,
although traces of it can still be seen, to be replaced by the lock to
the south – officially opened on 27 July 1881 –
which is used today. See the Wet
Dock map page for maps over time of the area.
Related pages:
The Question Mark
Christie's
warehouse
Bridge
Street
Burton Son & Sanders / Paul's
College Street
Coprolite
Street
Cranfield's
Flour Mill
Custom House
Trinity
House buoy
Edward
Fison Ltd
Ground-level dockside furniture
on: 'The
island', the northern quays
and Ransome's
Orwell Works
Ipswich
Whaling Station?
Isaac Lord
Neptune Inn
clock, garden
and interior
Isaac
Lord 2
The Island
John Good and Sons
Merchant
seamen's memorial
The Mill
Nova Scotia
House
New Cut East
Quay
nameplates
R&W Paul malting
company
Ransomes
Steam
Packet Hotel
Stoke
Bridge(s)
Waterfront
Regeneration Scheme
Wolsey's
Gate
A chance to
compare
Wet Dock 1970s with 2004
Wet Dock maps
Outside
the Wet Dock
Windmills
in the Borough of Ipswich
Maritime Ipswich
'82 festival
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