Ipswich Road, Colchester

Picture of Ipswich Road, Colchester looking towards the road with cars
Looking south on Ipswich Road from the Great Eastern Main Line towards Colchester town centre

Ipswich Road, formally the A1232, is a road in Colchester, Essex, England. It was the historic coaching route and main road to Ipswich from the Middle Ages onwards, and was part of the A12, a main road in East Anglia, until the A12 was rerouted in 1974.

Rovers Tye Farm, a pub since 1983, was established by 1353, and a causeway at this location had been built by 1429, by which point Ipswich Road ran on its current route. The road once contained the County Gaol and County Police Station. The Grade II listed St. John's Church was built in 1864 by Arthur Blomfield in the High Victorian Early Gothic style. The toothpaste tube manufacturer Betts opened a factory at No. 505 Ipswich Road in 1953. More recently there have been the development of housing and industrial estates along the road, particularly automobile dealers, at the northern end where it meets the A12.