On your left, look for the dark, old-school shopfront with big plate-glass windows and bold white lettering high up that reads “MARTIN & NEWBY.”
This place was Ipswich retail the way it used to be: a proper, long-running shop where you could ask a real human for help and not get directed to “Aisle 47, section mystery.” Martin and Newby started back in 1873, founded by John Martin right here on Fore Street, and it grew into a small empire of everyday essentials-ironmongery, electrical goods, domestic bits, gardening, tools… basically, if your house was squeaking, leaking, or refusing to cooperate, they had something for it.
In 1897, the ironmongery side got rebuilt into what you’re looking at now, proudly tied to Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee-so yes, they literally branded the building as a celebration. During that rebuild, workers digging the cellar hit old stone foundations. People at the time thought, “Aha, the town’s East Gate!” These days, it’s more likely part of the Blackfriars Monastery precinct wall… which is a pretty Ipswich moment: you try to expand your stockroom and accidentally find medieval history.
The shop stitched together neighboring buildings too-a former pub called The Bull’s Head became the tool section, while the electrical department moved into a handsome Georgian building that still had an old cooking range and copper down in the cellar.
Then there’s the light bulb. In 2001, one of the world’s oldest working bulbs here finally went out after more than 70 years… and somehow that feels like a metaphor. The shop itself couldn’t outlast the DIY superstores and supermarket aisles, and it closed in 2004.
When you’re set, Regent Theatre is a 4-minute walk heading north.
