Plans were made in the 1950s to redevelop the area between St Matthews Street and Princes Street in Ipswich, writes David Kindred.
Houses in the area, known as The Mount, were demolished.
Streets like Castle Street, Perth Street and Stirling Street disappeared under the area where Civic Drive, the New Wolsey Theatre and the spiral underground car park are now.
Part of St Matthews Street was made into a dual carriageway with shops and businesses demolished in the mid 1960s.
The old St Matthew’s School was demolished and a new one built in part of St Matthew’s Churchyard.
Several public houses in the area closed and residents who lost their homes were moved to council housing on the edge of town.
In today’s Days Gone By, I have included a few reminders of the area which was changed so much in the 1950s and 60s.
Do you have memories of this part of Ipswich you would like to share with readers?
The picture below is The Queens Head Hotel which was at the corner of St Matthews Street and St Matthews Church Lane.
It closed New Years Eve 1963. Civic Drive is now where St Matthews Church Lane was.
This picture was taken in March 1964 as the building was waiting demolition.
Here is an aerial view of the Civic Centre, spiral car park, with St Matthews School and Church at the top.
The Wolsey Theatre, which opened in September 1979, was being built (right centre) when this photograph was taken.
The Civic Centre was demolished in 2008 when the Ipswich Council moved their offices to Russell Road.
Take a look at the original St Matthews School which stood close to where the Civic Drive/Handford Road roundabout is now.
The new school was built in part of the St Matthews Churchyard.
This photograph, one of the earliest photographs taken in Ipswich, is from the 1850s.
This one shows St Matthews Church Lane in the late 1950s, during demolition work.
This is where Civic Drive is now. The sign on the door of the lorry says “County Borough of Ipswich Highways Department”.
The lane in the foreground still runs from Civic Drive to Portman Road, past St Matthews Church.
The picture shows St Matthews Street in the early 1960s, the light coloured building in the centre was the Lord Palmerston public house, which closed January 31, 1962.
The buildings in the right background, at the corner of Crown Street and Westgate Street, are still there today.
Lady Lane viewed from Westgate Street in April 1966.
The lane saw many of its buildings demolished during the 60s redevelopment.
The building on the left was the Feathers public house which closed in 1966.
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