The New Cut and Wet Dock can be seen at the bottom right of this picture while the town centre is right in the middle. The still water of the Wet Dock shows a darker shade than the brown green of the moving tidal water of the River Gipping seen here. At the top of the picture is Christchurch Park. Between this and the docks lies the full extent of the Mediaeval Ipswich town centre. Note also the modern developments of the Buttermarket shopping centre and the large space needed for multistorey car parking. On the left is the rather unusual Willis Caroon building which is clad in glass.

The port of Ipswich became important from Saxon and Medieval times. It was not a Roman settlement as the whole site was marsh and split into many sections by the streams that meet the tidal waters of the river Gipping. The present port developed first for the wool exporting town in the 13th and 14th centuries. Much later in the 18th and 19th centuries it developed as a port servicing the agricultural industry of East Anglia. The tall buildings next to the docks are maltings and grain silos.