River Gipping

52°03′16″N 1°08′20″E / 52.054331°N 1.138888°E / 52.054331; 1.138888

River Gipping
Bridge over the River Gipping, with Creeting Lock chamber beyond
Specifications
Maximum boat length55 ft 0 in (16.76 m)
Maximum boat beam14 ft 0 in (4.27 m)
Locks15
StatusUnder Restoration
History
Former namesStowmarket Navigation
Principal engineerJohn Rennie
Other engineer(s)William Jessop
Date of act1790
Date completed1793
Date closed1934
Geography
Start pointStowmarket
End pointIpswich
Connects toRiver Orwell
River Gipping
Mendlesham Green source
Railway bridge
Haughley Watercourse
A14 bridge
Stowmarket wharf
B1115 Stowupland Road bridge
Rattlesden River
Stowupland Lock
A1120 bridge
Railway bridge
Badley Lock
River Jordan, East Suffolk
Wattisham Watercourse
Hawks Mill and Needham Lock
Bosmere Mill and Lock
B1078 Coddenham Road bridge
Creeting Lock and Mill
Codenham Watercourse
Old River
Pipps Ford Lock
Baylham Lock
Shamford Lock
Railway bridge
Blakenham Lock
Railway bridge
Claydon Lock (under A14 road)
B1113 bridge
Paper Mill Lock
Railway bridge
Somersham Watercourse
Bramford Lock
B1067 Ship Lane bridge
Sproughton Mill and Lock
A14 bridge
Chantry Lock
Railway bridge
Railway bridge
Rapier Sluice
A1071 bridges
Handford Sea Lock
Start of River Orwell
B1075 bridge
Stoke Bridge
Ipswich
River Orwell

The River Gipping is the source river for the River Orwell in the county of Suffolk in East Anglia, England, which is named from the village of Gipping, and which gave its name to the former Gipping Rural District. It rises near Mendlesham Green and flows in a south-westerly direction to reach Stowmarket. From there it flows towards the south or south east, passing through Needham Market then Baylham. The river continues to flow south between Great Blakenham and Claydon, and through Bramford and Sproughton until it flows into Ipswich, where it becomes the Orwell at Stoke Bridge. The river has supplied power to a number of watermills, several of which are still standing. None are operational, although the mill at Baylham retains most of its machinery, and is the only complete mill on the river.

There is evidence that the river was used for navigation in the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, but in 1790 the Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation Act 1790 (30 Geo. 3. c. 57) was obtained to enable the river to be improved from Ipswich to Stowmarket. This was achieved by building 15 locks, and the river was then known as the Stowmarket Navigation. The navigation was opened in 1793, and although few records were kept of income and expenditure, the enterprise appears to have been profitable. In 1819, there was talk of expansion, but nothing came of the plans. In the 1840s, as railways arrived in the area, the Trustees negotiated with the Eastern Union Railway, and the navigation was leased to them for 42 years. At the end of the lease, it was in a poor state, despite the fact that the railway had a legal duty to maintain it.

Traffic to Stowmarket never recovered, but there was some traffic through the lower four locks, with barges serving the Fison's and Packard's fertiliser factories at Bramford. By 1917, it was no longer economical to keep it open, and it closed in 1922, although a formal closing order was not obtained until the early 1930s. After a period of decay, the local branch of the Inland Waterways Association raised the idea of restoring it. The River Gipping Trust now spearhead this work, and several of the lock chambers have been restored, while the Gipping Valley River Path had been established along the towpath. There are many listed buildings along the course of the river, including some of the locks and bridges (Creeting lock and bridge and Baylham lock and bridge) several of the mill buildings and Fison's fertiliser warehouse at Bramford, which has been severely damaged by a fire leaving just a skeleton.