grid reference TM 165 446
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last updated 08/02/2020Ipswich Cross Keys
historical closure era: mid 20th centuryopened before 1650
closed 1938
22 Carr St
The Cross Keys was listed in the 1844 White's Suffolk Trades Directory with carriers operating from it to Colchester.
At one time, Carr street was called "Cross Keys Street", named after the pub, presumably.
The original building was extensively rebuilt when the street was widened (circa 1887-88) to allow trams to pass.
It is listed as 28/26 Carr Street in the 1909 Rates book.
One of several pubs in the town that used to host cock-fighting in eighteenth and early nineteenth century. This bloody spectacle could last several hours and was eventually banned in 1835. A one time it was particularly popular as a form of gambling and bouts were often held during festival days and during the Ipswich horse racing week.
Today the building is used as British Heart Foundation shop.
It's shown (though not named) on this old OS map from about the end of the 19th century. larger map
(Most pub, location & historic details collated by Nigel, Tony or Keith - original sources are credited)
(** historic newspaper information from Stuart Ansell)
(*** historic newspaper information from Bob Mitchell)
Old OS map reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.