Bridge Ward News » Saint Ethelreda’s church Ipswich http://bridgeward.org.uk News from Bridge Ward, Ipswich including the Hayes, Old Stoke, Prince of Wales Drive, Maidenhall Estate and Wherstead Road Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:02:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Happy Saint’s Day http://bridgeward.org.uk/happy-saints-day/ http://bridgeward.org.uk/happy-saints-day/#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:54:03 +0000 James Spencer http://bridgeward.org.uk/?p=41 Bridge Ward doesn’t have a patron saint, but if we did it would be Saint Ethelreda or as Æthelthryth, whose feast day is today.  A royal princess, protege of the superstar Saxon bishop Saint Wilfrid and founder of the abbey at Ely (which became Ely Cathedral), her link to our side of Ipswich stems from the fact that from Saxon time Old Stoke belonged to and was built up by the Abbey at Ely.  St. Mary Stoke, or at least the bit that wasn’t built in the Nineteenth Century, was built by the same abbey.

The church that stood in Wherstead Road was dedicated to Saint Ethelreda, and Saint Mary at Stoke still displays a banner for her.

So happy Saint’s day one and all.

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