Christchurch Park

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christchurch_Park

Christchurch Park with Christchurch Mansion in August 2013

Christchurch Park is a 70-acre (280,000 m2) area of rolling lawns, wooded areas, and delicately created arboreta in central Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It contains Christchurch Mansion which holds a public museum and art gallery. The park opened as the town's first public park in 1895.

From the 12th century the park was the site of the Augustinian Priory of the Holy Trinity. In 1536 the Priory's estates were seized by the crown during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The land was purchased by a London merchant, Paul Withipoll in 1545, and between 1548 and 1550 his son Edmund had the priory demolished and built Christchurch Mansion in its place. The Mansion remains the impressive Tudor centrepiece of the park and contains a museum, art gallery and tea room.