Coordinates: 51°57′40″N 1°21′27″E / 51.9610°N 1.3576°E / 51.9610; 1.3576

Felixstowe
Felixstowe Pier & seafront
Felixstowe  Felixstowe shown within Suffolk
Population	29,349 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	TM306345
District	Suffolk Coastal
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	FELIXSTOWE
Postcode district	IP11
Dialling code	01394
Police	Suffolk
Fire	Suffolk
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	Suffolk Coastal
List of places: UK • England • Suffolk

Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. ^[1] The town is situated across the estuary of the River Orwell and the River Stour from Harwich in Essex.

History[link]

A village has stood on the site since long before the Norman conquest^{[citation needed]} The early history of Felixstowe, including its Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norman and medieval defences, is told under the name of Walton, because the name Felixstowe was given retrospectively, during the 13th century, to a place which had already been important for well over a thousand years.^{[citation needed]}

It continued as a linchpin in England's defence, as proved when in 1667 Dutch soldiers landed near the Fludyers area and failed to capture Landguard Fort. The town only became a major port in 1886. In addition to shipping, tourism increased, and a pier was constructed in 1905 which is still running well to this day. Indeed, during the late Victorian period (after circa 1880) it became a fashionable resort, a trend initiated by the opening of Felixstowe railway station, the pier, (see above) and a visit by the German imperial family. It remained so until the late 1930s. In 1953, at least 48 people died in the town in the North Sea flood.

Landguard Fort[link]

Landguard Fort stands on the site of the last opposed invasion of England in 1667 and the first land battle of The Duke of York and Albany's Marines. The current fort was built in the 18th century, and modified in the 19th century with substantial additional 19th/20th century outside batteries. The fort hosts regular military re-enactments, including Darell's day with a Sealed Knot celebration of the last invasion, art exhibitions and alternative theatre. Landguard Fort is in the care of English Heritage and managed by the Landguard Fort Trust.^{[citation needed]}

Felixstowe Museum[link]

A museum telling the story of Felixstowe, with a reference library, historic maps, photo archive and 14 rooms of artefacts from Roman finds, the Martello towers, military social and domestic history through two world wars and into the new millennium is managed by volunteers from the Felixstowe History and Museum Society. It is located in the old submarine mining establishment building at Landguard Point, between the Fort and Port.

Pier[link]

The old railway station

During the Second World War the majority of the pier, at the time one of the longest in the country and complete with its own train, was purposely demolished by Royal Engineers to prevent it being used as an easy landing point for enemy troops. Unfortunately after the war the damage was never repaired and the pier never regained its original length. Felixstowe was also one of the few places bombed by the Italians during the Blitz. Benito Mussolini's airforce proved to be no match for the Royal Air Force, who shot down a fair number of Italian biplanes over the English Channel and around Felixstowe itself - one of the few pictures of a shot-down Italian plane over the UK being from here.^{[citation needed]}

Railway stations[link]

The sole remaining railway station, known as Felixstowe Town, opened in 1898 in the well-preserved building which now houses a Co-Operative supermarket, locally known as "Solar". It also houses other shops, including a pub, 'Play 'n' Exchange' game and joke Shop, 'Adam and Eve' hairdressers and Felixstowe Music, which is run by Felixstowe Radio, the local community radio station.

In its prime the railway station saw more than 20 services an hour, but now hosts only one, the service to Ipswich. The station now has only one platform, which has been created from the far end of one of the original platforms.^{[citation needed]}

Felixstowe Beach railway station was demolished in 2004 despite a storm of protest from many local people keen on saving the 137 year-old historical building which the council had branded as 'unsafe'. The station was originally opened in 1877 and was used continuously until 1959, after which it was the site of a small printers for many years until its demolition.^[2]

From 1877 until 1951 there was also Felixstowe Pier railway station sited inside the area of the modern day docks at a small pier popular with pleasure boats, and paddle steamer link to London.^[3] A dock next to the pier was approved in 1879.^[4]

Transport[link]

Micklegate Road

Bus[link]

The main bus operators are Ipswich Buses and First Eastern Counties.^[5]

Train[link]

Felixstowe railway station is the terminus of the Felixstowe Branch Line passenger service to Ipswich the line itself branches before the station going on to the Port Of Felixstowe.

Felixstowe Ferry[link]

The Harwich Harbour Ferry operates between the View Point (near Landguard Fort) in Felixstowe and Halfpenny Pier, Harwich throughout the summer.^[6] The Bawdsey Ferry crosses the River Deben from Felixstowe Ferry.

Politics[link]

Felixstowe is administered by Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Coastal District Council, and Felixstowe Town Council. Suffolk Coastal District Council, the local authority, is based in Woodbridge, although it has a part-time office in Felixstowe, which is open Mondays and Wednesdays. The local parish council, Felixstowe Town Council, is based in the town hall, on the seafront at Undercliff Road West.

Felixstowe is twinned with the German towns Wesel and Salzwedel.

Felixstowe lies within the Suffolk Coastal parliamentary constituency. The Member of Parliament for Suffolk Coastal was John Gummer from 1983 but he has stood down from this role to be replaced at the General Election on 6 May 2010 by Dr Therese Coffey.

Landmarks[link]

This Section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)

A view of Landguard Fort

Landguard Fort is a scheduled ancient monument and visitor attraction with a nearby nature reserve. At the opposite end of the town is Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club which is amongst the oldest in the UK, having been established in 1881. The Rt. Hon. Arthur Balfour, Captain of the Golf Club in 1889, became Captain of the R&A in 1894 and British Prime Minister from 1902–1908.^{[citation needed]}

Felixstowe has a recently refurbished sandy beach south from the pier, and a stoney beach north of the pier. A Victorian promenade runs along part of the beach, from the nature reserve in the southwest to Cobbolds Point (Maybush Lane in east), with traditional beach huts along most of that length. An amusement arcade with snooker halls and food outlets occupy the southern end. The pier, now disused except for a cafe and amusement arcade, stands before a leisure centre, with swimming pool, owned by the local council, now managed by a contractor.

From Brackenberry fort to Felixstowe Ferry there is a walkway and is the start of the 50 mile Suffolk Coast Path. The is no path between Cobbolds Point and Brackenberry fort as the coastal protection work now prevents pedestrian access along the beach. At low tide from Jacob's Ladder it is possible to glimpse the seaweed-covered remains of a Roman fort, and could possible be the place of Dommoc, in the water about 50 yards from the coast.

In the very centre of the town is South Beach Mansion now in private ownership. Originally built by the Eley family (famous for the Eley cartridges); town wits called it Eley Cathedral.^{[citation needed]} It then passed to the Tollemache family and was at one time owned by the King of Portugal.^{[citation needed]} It was also here that Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and his family came to stay in 1893 putting Felixstowe on the international social map.^{[citation needed]} Since then this grand Italianate mansion has played host to Mrs Simpson (who is reputed^{[by whom?]} to have invented the Club Sandwich whilst visiting here)^{[citation needed]} and T. E. Lawrence who stayed here for two years in the 1930s under the assumed names of Ross and Shaw.^{[citation needed]} During the war it was an army headquarters before becoming the Felixstowe Town Hall. With Felixstowe's abdication of power to Woodbridge, the town hall was no longer needed and the property reverted to private ownership. The property has been extensively renovated and returned to its former glory in recent years.^{[citation needed]}

Perhaps the most striking building on the front is Harvest House. Originally built as the Felix Hotel it then became Fisons's headquarters. Now it is a home for the elderly. It is a condition of residence that on arrival new residents are at least 55 years old.

Sport[link]

Felixstowe Rugby Union Football Club is the premier (and only) rugby club in Felixstowe. It was founded in 1930, and plays in the Eastern Counties Leagues. A.W. Brown, Chris Barbour, Rob Brewster, Steve Edwards, Steve Britchfield, Gareth Carr, Gavin "Boom Boom" Wright, Rob "tax disc" Woodard, Rab "Crimson Tide" Black, Pete "Ladies man" Sheppard have played for the team. Shaun Allen never really played for the club, more just showed up.

Felixstowe Hockey Club has three men's teams and one ladies' team. The men's 1st team play in eastern league division 1.

The town's only senior football team, Felixstowe & Walton United, compete in the Eastern Counties League Premier Division.

The town has a sports centre, the Brackenbury, in High Road East, and football, hockey and rugby pitches, together with four bowling greens and other sporting facilities. The sports centre, owned by the council, is managed by a contractor.

Felixstowe Golf Club is a links course to the northeast of the town centre.

Leisure facilities[link]

The town has two main leisure facilities: the Brackenbury Sports Centre in Old Felixstowe and the Felixstowe Leisure Centre adjacent to the pier. There is a bowls club and a tennis club has hosted a large post-Wimbledon tournament. There is also a small community centre, run by the Old Felixstowe Community Association (OFCA), in Ferry Road.

The library was refurbished in 2006 at a cost of £1,500,000 and has since won national awards.^[7]

The Spa Pavilion Theatre is a 900-seat art deco-style building on the promenade, owned by the district council and managed by a private contractor; Status Quo played there in the 1970s; Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Led Zeppelin, Showaddywaddy, Slade and Mungo Jerry all played at the old Pier Pavilion which was demolished and is now the leisure centre. There is also a Sunday market that is larger than that at nearby Ipswich.

Felixstowe Radio is the community radio station that has broadcasts on 107.5 FM to the local area and via the internet.

The Port of Felixstowe[link]

The Port of Felixstowe

Felixstowe is Britain's largest container port.

The main navigation channel is dredged to 14.5 metres below chart datum, and a depth of up to 15 metres alongside the quay, Felixstowe boasts deep-water able to accommodate the world’s latest generation of deep-draughted ultra post-Panamax vessels. There is a continuous quay of over 2.3 km, equipped with 25 ship-to shore gantry cranes.

It has congested road links to the Midlands via the A14 and to London via the A12 road. The single-track railway line to Ipswich has recently been upgraded to allow larger containers, and many containers are now transported by rail.

The port is owned by Hutchison Whampoa Ltd^[8] with additional land on the peninsula owned by Trinity College, Cambridge.^[9]

The port has its own Police Authority, which also currently has jurisdiction over the area local to the port (with permission from Suffolk Constabulary's Chief Inspector). Alongside the Port Police, they also have their own joint ambulance & fire service. One of the port ambulances, call sign 'Alpha 1', can also come off port to attend 999 emergencies in Felixstowe.

Parishes[link]

St. Felix is the Catholic Parish in Felixstowe.^[10]

St. John the Baptist is an ecclesiastical parish in Felixstowe.^[11]

Notable residents[link]

People originating from or associated with Felixstowe include:

• Jack Ainsley, footballer
• Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, soldier, Allenby Park in St. Andrews Road is named after him
• Thomas Cavendish, 'The Navigator', Elizabethan explorer, born in Trimley St Martin
• Iain Hook, UNRWA officer, killed in the line of duty
• Megs Jenkins, actor
• Jeremy Kemp, actor, Z-Cars
• T. E. Lawrence, 'Lawrence of Arabia', based at RAF Landguard under the name John Hume Ross
• John Mills, actor
• Nicholas Pandolfi, broadcaster and actor
• Wallis, The Duchess of Windsor, Mrs Simpson, spent time at Felixstowe waiting for Edward VIII's abdication
• Barbara Ward, economist and writer, pupil at Jesus & Mary Convent in Felixstowe
• Simon Clements (1956-), cricketer
• Charles Cope, Ex-President, now Union Representative of the UEA Anime Society.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Felixstowe Town Council
• Felixstowe Museum
• Felixstowe at the Open Directory Project
• Landguard Fort
• Felixstowe Radio
• [1] Photos of Felixstowe
• [2] Felixstowe Property News