There and Back

In the 1960s, town planners foresaw a rise in the town's population of Ipswich towards half a million people, and so they decided to cross and encircle the existing town centre with a network of dual carriageways lined with office blocks. They didn't get very far with their plans before a halt was called, for some reason. The towering Civic Centre, police station and the Civic Drive road system were all that was left.. The Civic Centre and the police station, both which stood directly opposite this church, have since been demolished, but the four lane Civic Drive still cuts across what was the Mount residential area, the little terraces all demolished to make way for the 20th century, and separates St Matthew from the rest of the town centre. This church is perhaps less well-known than the other working town centre churches. Partly, because it requires an effort to find it and get across to it if you are a visitor. Because of this, many people don't realise that the church