Gainsborough, Ipswich


Gainsborough is an urban priority area council housing estate on the South East side of Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk. It was named after the artist Thomas Gainsborough of Sudbury, who lived in Ipswich for several years.

Gainsborough Estate

The estate was a public housing development whose construction was started in 1926 and continued into the 1930s. It comprises largely of two storey terraced and semi-detached dwellings. The road layout is a hybrid of both grids and spoke and wheel plan.

Gainsborough Library

In 2008-9 Suffolk County Council built a new library on the site of the previous library located in Clapgate Lane. This is a steel frame structure with decorative stainless steel circular cladding around an atrium entrance. The building won the RIBA East 'Spirit of Ingenuity' award.

The library under construction

Gainsborough Ward

Gainsborough Ward is one of the sixteen wards which compose Ipswich Borough. It elects three councillors. The ward also includes the neighbouring area of Greenwich, Ipswich.