OH WHEN THE SAINTS!

Situated between the town centre and the thriving waterfront and known as The Saints - St Peters and St Nicholas Streets - this fashionable suburb has everything you need to make a fabulous day out, just minutes away from several cheap car parks.

The Saints offers a very different vibe to the rest of the town - here you can shop for unique gifts, plants, cards, homewares, jewellery, Italian shirts, musical instruments, crafts, collectables, antiques and vintage interior items.

Foodies can take their pick from breakfast, lunch or dinner - from vegan, Italian, Chinese, Thai, even a 1940s nostalgic team room! You can drink award-winning coffee after you have a soothing beauty/hair/holistic or even physio treatment. There are estate agents, a mortgage service, art framing, travel agents or financial advice. You might like to grab an ice cream or a pint and later enjoy a stroll to the waterside. All this, without venturing into the wider town!

Steeped in history, many of the buildings in The Saints date back to Tudor times and all the shop owners work collaboratively to ensure there’s plenty going on for visitors. Like their forthcoming Summer Street Market on Sunday 25 June, from 10am-5pm, there will be stalls galore celebrating all manner of artisan makers. Every year, they host these popular events on St Peter’s Street, this year it includes one in September as well as a winter market for Christmas.

The markets feature at least 30 local craft and artisan stalls, ranging from textiles, jewellery, printmakers, vintage items, upcycled products and candles. Many street food vendors have joined them over the past few years including several great cake stalls.

One of the directors of The Saints CIC, Cathy Frost, says: “The ethos of the market is to keep it local and for some it has even been a platform to develop and launch a business.”

Cathy, who runs the unique gift and homewares shop Loveone, adds: “ The markets have grown in popularity over the years and it is encouraging to see so many people attend the events.” l Check it out at: www.thesaintsipswich.com

Merchants have been busily trading at this historic site for centuries and this year marks the 550th anniversary since the town’s most famous son and statesman, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, was born in The Saints.

The Wolsey 550 Project recognises The Saints as a Heritage Investment Zone stretching from one of the town’s oldest streets down to the waterside. As well as the buzz of the independent shops, visitor attractions include Wolsey’s Gate (an entrance to what would have been a school for boys) and the chapel at St Peter’s Church as well as a statue dedicated to the Cardinal who famously fell out of favour with Henry VIII after failing to negotiate an annulment of the king’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

YOUR SAINTS DIRECTORY ...

HAIR, BEAUTY & WELLNESS:

• Antonio Giovanni

• Aspects Health & Beauty

• Baiss & Co

• Foot Kandi

• Graceful Hair

• Lana’s Holistic Centre

• The Loft

• Paul Henri Botanical Studio

• Physio 7

• Purity Beauty & Wellness

• Modify Hair Lounge

FOOD & DRINK:

• Applaud Coffee

• Blitz 1940s Tea Rooms

• Café Myra

• Gandhi Pizza

• Hopsters

• Hullabaloo

• I Scream!

• Kwan Thai

• On The Huh

• St Nicholas Sandwich Shop

• Takayama

• Tavernetta

• The Grill @ 25

• Thomas Wolsey Freehouse

• Trong’s

• Zaika

RETAIL BUSINESSES:

• Crafty Baba

• Cromwell’s Vintage

• Fox + Bramble

• The House In Town

• The Italian Shirt Shop

• Little Bubba’s

• Loveone

• Maud’s Attic

• Rocket Music

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:

• Frame Workshop and Gallery

• Ipswich Mortgage Centre

• Keystone Estate Agent

• Reed Digital Printers

• Travel Quest

• Idelo travel

• SG Wealth Management