THE HOLD

131 Fore St, Ipswich IP4 1LN

The Hold is a collaboration between the University of Suffolk and Suffolk County Council, with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. It is the new home for Suffolk Record Office which for many years was housed in the former school buildings in Gatacre Road (some of which have now been occupied by Eastern Angles theatre company). 

In 2014, Suffolk Record Office commissioned property consultants, Concertus, to conduct a feasibility study for a new heritage centre, on the north campus of the University of Suffolk, beside Ipswich Waterfront.

A culmination of several years of research and consultation, the new centre would replace existing Record Office facilities at Gatacre Road, as well as providing the university with a much-needed 200 seat auditorium. The Hold also provides two seminar rooms, new public searchrooms, a small café, retail and exhibition area, document strongrooms with capacity for the next twenty years and ancillary back offices. This would enable improved education and outreach work.

Construction work on The Hold started in 2018, carried out by local builders R.G Carter. The new venue opened to the public in October 2020. It provides a ‘bridge’ between the two parts of the University: the Waterfront and Campus North, by creating a space residents and students can share. There are two entrances to The Hold, from the Waterfront (via the pelican crossing in Fore Street) and the campus car park; it has a central atrium (or ‘street’) running through the building, which includes a small shop and a coffee bar. There is an exhibition space which will show off something different every three months.

[Sources: The Hold website, Ipswich Star]

Links: The Hold; The University of Suffolk; Timelapse video of the building of The Hold