Heritage Open Day: The Ancient House is a Grade 1 listed building dating from the 15th century. Famous for the elaborate pargetting, 'Ipswich windows' and wood carvings, it is an important building not only to Ipswich but nationally. Ipswich's most famous landmark is The Ancient House which stands on the corner of Butter Market (the street, rather than the nearby shopping/leisure centre) and St Stephens Lane. The earliest reference to the Ancient House can be found in the 15th (some say the 14th) century, when it was owned by the knight, Sir Richard of Martlesham.
In the late 1970s, the Ancient House was in an extremely poor state of repair and close to collapse.