The Anglo-Saxon 'Gipeswic' was among the first formal urban centres to be established after the Romans quit the British Isles and rightly lays claim to being one of our longest inhabited boroughs. The History of Ipswich provides an overview of around 1,400 years of life in Suffolk's primary conurbation. It traces the story of how, from the collection of a few Roman farmsteads, the Saxons quickly established a town that developed and flourished, thus laying the foundations for the later Tudor prosperity. The Borough of Ipswich is both ancient and modern, retaining traces of the great days of medieval trade and the shipbuilding industry that made it famous in the 18th century.