I’ve lived in England for quite a while now, but I’m still not past the thrill of seeing something like this when I’m walking down the street. We visited Ipswich again last week, and en route to our favourite restaurant for lunch, we walked through town for a bit of shopping. Imagine my delight in seeing that Lakeland, our national kitchen gadget store, is housed in a 15th century Grade 1* Listed building! Wow! Yes, we went in, and yes, we bought a few little goodies…. but the real delight was exploring the building. I was too awed to take many photos, but we’ll go back again.

The appropriately named Ancient House is adorned with an intricate pargeted facade that was installed in 1680 by William Sparrow, and features the English version of the United Kingdom’s royal coat of arms. Inside the building, Lakeland’s modern gadgets are laid out amongst beautiful woodwork and authentic architectural features, including a fireplace lined with Delft tiles. I definitely need to go back for photos… in the meantime, this is a view of the Church from the windows:

Just look at the sweet little angels perched high overhead:

I like the idea of them watching over the town and its people.