County Hall
The white brick and stone castellated building which
dominates the town
end of St Helens Street is called today 'County Hall'. It contains the
law
court which once granted the decree nisi in the divorce of the
notorious
Mrs Wallace Simpson from her first husband, freeing her to marry the
future
king, after his succession to and abdication from the throne as Edward
VIII
in 1936. The Suffolk link continued when Mrs Simpson laid low in a
house
on Undercliff Road, Felixstowe to avoid the media and public outcry
surrounding
her affair with the future Duke of Windsor, both of them destined for
exile
in Paris until their deaths.
St Andrew House, an unattractive 'add-on' block which
runs behind the terrace
of small shops in St Helens Street, with an entrance onto Grimwade
Street
has an entrance in keeping with its surroundings to the left of the
archway
leading into the County hall car park. Above the double doors is
carved:
'EAST SUFFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL'. The old split in administrative areas of
East and West Suffolk is commemorated here; they were amalgamated to
form
one large shire county.
Further down the street towards town is a crest in deep
relief with lion
and unicorn rampant; 'Dieu Et Mon Droit' ('God and my right') is carved
on the lower scroll and, we think, 'Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense' ('Evil
be
to him who evil thinks') on the circular band surrounding the shield.
This
probably harks back to the building's legal past. Of course, the listed
part of the building with its castellations and towers fronting onto St
Helens Street is known as the home of Suffolk County Council. That is,
until
March 2004 (when these photographs were taken); starting from that
date,
most of the S.C.C. departmental headquarters were moved to Endeavour
House
in a large glass building between the football ground and the River
Gipping.
Built for the failing power company TXU-Energi, Endeavour House was
snapped
up by the County and a period of fitting out and logistical planning
resulted
in the evacuation of County Hall. Placed on the market, the huge
fortress
of municipal power bore a small estate agent's 'For sale' board on the
corner
of Bond Street.
This attractive panel further down the facade is close
to and opposite The
County Hotel, undergoing extensive refurbishment in march 2004. That
landmark
public house also carries a castle motif in the centre of its front
gable.
The example above proudly proclaims: 'SUFFOLK' on its scroll and has
the
air of fairytale about the turrets and portcullis.The building which
granted
Mrs Simpson her divorce, will soon become a sheltered housing complex.
High up near the battlements of County Hall is a simple
shield with it own
'roof' of stone moulding. It bears the date of 1837: probably a bit
earlier
than many of us would have guessed. The inset enlargement makes this
clearer,
but it's rather an insignificant announcement of the massive
structure's
date of building.
And just for completeness: the remaining decoration, here surrounding
the
main pedestrian entrance to County Hall (no lettering, though!); and on
the other side of St Helens Street: the County Hotel undergoing
thorough
renovation (May, 2004) at the hands of Suffolk brewers, Adnams (the
castle
motif repeated near the apex of the palladian frontage). This castle is
now resplendantly picked out in gold and the walls are mouth-wateringly
mid-blue with white details on the so-called 'Gastrobar' (ahem!).
-
For more lettering examples in
St Helens Street
try Hales Chemist, IBH, H.W. Turner and Tramway
Place.
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throughout the Ipswich
Historic Lettering site: Borin Van Loon
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