St Clement's Church, Ipswich, is a

redundant church A redundant church, now referred to as a closed church, is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused churche ...

. The church is one of twelve medieval churches in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, six of which had been declared redundant by the 1970s. In the twenty-first century it was taken over by Ipswich Historic Churches Trust. The oldest parts of the church are fourteenth century, with additions from the fifteenth century, with substantial additions in the

Tudor period In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with ...

to the tower and to the chancel in 1860 under the guidance of Frederick Barnes. For 500 years its congregation consisted primarily of the families of

shipwrights Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces i ...

sailors A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

stevedores A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockworke ...

and

merchants A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

. Indeed, wool merchants funded the sixteenth century building of the tower.

Notable people linked to St Clement's

* Thomas Eldred (1561–1624), an English merchant and mariner *

Thomas Cobbold (1708–1767) Thomas Cobbold (1708 – 21 April 1767) was an English brewer in Harwich and Ipswich; he succeeded to the family brewing business founded by his father, also Thomas Cobbold. Family Thomas married Sarah Cobboll in 1738. Several of their children ...

, an English brewer *

Thomas Slade Sir Thomas Slade (1703/4 – 1771) was an English naval architect best known for designing the Royal Navy warship HMS Victory, HMS ''Victory'', which served as Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalg ...

, an English naval architect buried in the churchyard, 1771

References

{{coord, 52.0539, N, 1.1618, E, type:landmark_region:GB-SFK, display=inline,title Church of England church buildings in Ipswich Alexandra Ward, Ipswich