Initially, I had submitted this as a research project for Université PSL*. However, it looks like it will not work out. I will pursue other options of inquiry, but will nevertheless leave this as a record of my research for posterity.

This article is structured as a research proposal, guided by the prompts which the university had provided.

*I am not affiliated

Research question and motivation

Whilst the figure of Cardinal Richelieu looms large in French popular memory, an earlier English Cardinal of similar stature has been reduced to relative obscurity. Cardinal Wolsey was the chief minister to Henry VIII of England, whose downfall and erasure from public consciousness was predicated upon the failure to secure an annulment of the royal marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

Shortly before his downfall in 1529, Wolsey had planned to enact widespread educational reforms in England. At the epicentre of these reforms was the foundation of new feeder colleges across the country to provide scholarship for poor boys, with a direct path to a new university college at Oxford. However, none of the foundations materialised — the college founded at Oxford was re-founded as Christ Church in 1546, and only a water gate of his hometown foundation in Ipswich survives.

New research opportunities into the educational legacy of Wolsey would generate interest, particularly given the approaching Quincentenary of the Ipswich foundation in 2028. A research project in this area would bring much-needed international interest to the Cardinal’s educational legacy, beyond the limited focus to local history that currently exists.

Though an initial historical focus may seem removed from a contemporary educational context, there exists the possibility that the relationship between the public and their education (hence, “public-education relationship”) can be understood and ameliorated through an analysis of Wolsey’s perspective on the subject. For example, the Wolseyian aphorism “pleasure is to mingle with study” invites the examination of whether the contemporary public enjoy their learning. Subsequently, this presents the opportunity to discuss whether disinformation propagates easier in those who do not take pleasure in learning.

Addressing the growing threats to education, such as anti-intellectualism, is often predicated on adopting new solutions in education systems. Such approaches are themselves interdisciplinary, such as efforts to tackle disinformation. Whilst there is no shortage of work in this area, there remains an epistemological gap: whether people are willing to solve these problems. This gap is delineated by the public-education relationship. On one side, there are those who are more likely to adopt new approaches to solving threats to education. The other side may have a scepticism of there being threats to education. In the most extreme, this may result in the proliferation of conspiracy theories and the undermining of informed democracy.

Understanding this relationship, be that through centralised institutions or alternate means, is therefore a central topic within the context of tackling disinformation. Within the context of Wolsey, the following question can be asked: what can an understanding of Cardinal Wolsey’s educational legacy contribute to the public-education relationship?

The application of artificial intelligence to this question would allow current educational attitudes to be accurately predicted, and would be used for data-driven decision making on education policy and historical interpretation. This opportunity is presented, as large-scale machine learning can be conducted on works by or about Wolsey, with the aim of supplementing existing educational quality indices.

Conceptual and disciplinary context

The topic of research is interdisciplinary, as it will use and integrate multiple disciplinary perspectives as part of the research process. These are presented here:

Understanding the public-education relationship, as it exists today, is required as a benchmark of best practice across educational systems. This is largely derived from theoretical and practical research in the field of educational studies. Theoretically, this research can come from analyses of secondary sources such as Curzan (2000). Practically, research would be derived from asking education practitioners and students themselves.

The exact scope of the public-education relationship must then be defined. This can be understood through an examination of the forces that influence attitudes to education. Such forces would include the rise of artificial intelligence (Chen et al, 2020); the decline of the third place (Oldenburg, 1997); the commodification of education (Shumar, 2013); the role of student debt (Haultain, Kemp and Chernyshenko, 2010) and the subsequent rise of degree apprenticeships (Nawaz et al., 2022).

Education is often conceptualised in terms of its catalysis of social mobility. The public arguably view this as the return of their investment in tuition fees. In English history, Wolsey is one of the notable social climbers. Social mobility research can be subject to the systematic comparison between mechanisms that led to Wolsey’s rise and modern mechanisms. Such modern mechanisms include university study, the completion of degree apprenticeships and high-powered labour — there is scope to evaluate how modern social mobility compares to that of the early 16th century.

The educational institution exists within the cultural memory of the public. This can be seen in its role as an important third place for young people. Once full-time education is finished, there is a sense of nostalgia from adults who are no longer bound to this common third place — the role of this nostalgia on the public-education relationship can be considered from analysing public data from a range of sources.

Considering the role of education in preparing the public for business, studying how business attitudes shape the public-education relationship must not be neglected. For example, the growing presence of degree apprenticeships in public life is likely to shift the focus of students — whether this is the case, and the extent thereof, is worth consideration. This is because there is less focus on enjoying study for its own sake, with a greater focus on utility for examinations or later work.

Once all disciplines have been integrated, exploratory subject research will be conducted. That is, a view of the public-education relationship across current and historical contexts will be taken as a snapshot of existing data. These data will expand in scope and volume over time, with initial estimates being taken.

It is also worth noting that the research will critically evaluate historical corpora from new perspectives. Such perspectives include work across the digital humanities, such as network analyses inspired by Curricle (Schnapp et al, 2019) and from re-evaluation of sources related to Cardinal Wolsey’s educational legacy.

Data and methodology

Differences in the public-education relationship between Wolsey and a contemporary public would begin with a train-test approach. The training data to be used will be sourced from historical literature related to Cardinal Wolsey and his plans for educational reform in Tudor England. Such an analysis can be conducted through an examination of Wolsey across relevant 16th century corpora, such as in the corpus of early English correspondence from 1418–1680 (Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure, 2020); the York Archbishop’s Register (University of York, 2019) due to Wolsey’s role as Archbishop; or the Rudimenta grammatices that he intended for every school in England (Wolsey, 1530). This latter source would need higher-quality transcription, accounting for differences in Middle- and contemporary English.

Additionally, Burge (2024) has conducted analyses of English state papers from 1523–40, identifying Wolsey as a well-connected figure within the Tudor court. Research across letters and state papers may yield new perspectives on the college, in terms of intention and cultural memory.

Complementing the train-test approach, real-world data will be tested against the results from the historical analysis. Such data include information collected from national surveys, such as the National Student Survey (Office for Students, 2025), and at the level of local schools. However, the quality of this data would vary, as there may be a self-selection bias in survey responses. Other sources that would supplement the output would include social media; video sharing platforms; journals and quality indicators such as the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities and Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2025).

It is crucial to note that much of the discourse around the public-education relationship is decentralised. That is, it takes place out of the centralised context of students in a classroom. Particularly, it is informed by attitudes before and after entering education at any stage. Such discourse occurs over the internet, which arguably yields interest to the study of popular digital third places.

Generally, as the historical corpora will largely consist of qualitative data, a machine learning approach favouring natural language processing will be valued. That is, sentimental values on areas such as studying for pleasure, utility and attitudes to corporal punishment will be gleaned from conducting sentiment analysis. Themes across both data sets can then be established through clustering — these can then be cross-referenced to establish common and divergent approaches between time periods.

In addition, network analysis is required to understand the connections between Wolsey and other authors within the corpora. This would be used to indicate the degree of citations between authors, as well as the clustering of themes including educational policy.

Once the train-test is completed, the contemporary public-education relationship should be predictable for a given context. That is, an educational quality index should be derivable from a machine learning algorithm trained on historical corpora. These data can then be used to identify gaps, from the level of local authorities to international education policy. It may also be possible to infer the flow of education between places based on this information, given a geographical clustering of high quality scores in each region.

Feasibility

Research oriented around the intended educational legacy of Cardinal Wolsey, such as through the institution of colleges, relies on extensive data from which to draw meaningful conclusions. Whilst large-scale analyses of letters from the 16th century is possible, initial research on the Cardinal College is limited. There are issues with the dates of sources (e.g. Caine (1914) and Layard (1899)); Moreover, there are biases — much of the research is conducted by an institution that is not disinterested from the definition of Cardinal College (Ipswich School, 2026) and does not appear in academic writing as a result. Therefore, extensive overhead will need to be expended on historical interpretation, exceeding the scope of an analytical project.

As scandals like Facebook-Cambridge Analytica (Hinds, Williams and Joinson, 2018) have shown, there are significant ethical issues with the collection of social media data for research purposes. Consequently, any research using this data must be stringent on data protection policies. One approach may be to use differential privacy, which obfuscates individual user data and tends towards statistical trends. Another is to ensure that there are transparent opt-in policies — however, this approach may be limited be a self-selection that would skew the true nature of the public-education relationship.

A place-based assessment of the public-education relationship is possible, though limited by the need to verify the location of digital data of data subjects. This verification may be invasive or inaccurate, depending on the methods used. Some natural language processing can be conducted to infer place to some degree, such as the bag-of-words approach used in McClanahan (2016).

If the public-education relationship were to be understood at the global level, then data collection techniques would need to be standardised. A lack of data itself may provide some insight into the public-education relationship, though not at the conclusiveness of concrete information. There would need to be measures in place to ensure that a consistent measurement is taken across various regions. This research project will begin its focus in Western Europe.

Perspectives and extensions

This research creates the possibility of further synthesis between the digital humanities and artificial intelligence. That is, educational standards from a range of corpora and historical periods can be inferred using the techniques developed within this project. From an academic perspective, this would facilitate the understanding of the public-education relationship over time.

More immediately, application of this research can be used to inform international policy on education and its impact in public spaces. Over time, this could develop existing quality of life indices

These data-driven insights would ease the transitions into and out of education by providing students with needed context of the role of education in public life.

One important facet of this project is that it extends interest in Cardinal Wolsey’s educational reforms beyond local historical interest. This is likely to have impact in areas such as heritage, archaeology and conservation — as the topic would become of greater academic interest, further scrutiny over local conservation of sites like Wolsey’s Gate can be applied. Beyond these immediate impacts, a review of these reforms may lead to extensive study into the relationship between English identity and civic pride.

A wider interest in Wolsey’s educational reforms would form part of a wider project, one which collates topic-specific information into an accessible Wolsey corpus. Creating this corpus would aid future data analysis, though it would require extensive research by archivists and digital humanists.

References

Burge, C. (2024). Mapping the Archives: Epistolary Networks and the State Papers of England, 1523–1540. International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, 18(1), pp.95–108. doi:https://doi.org/10.3366/ijhac.2024.0323.

Caine, C. (1914). Cardinal Wolsey’s College, Ipswich. Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 20(3), pp.225–241. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/00681288.1914.11893689.

Chen, L., Chen, P. and Lin, Z. (2020) ‘Artificial Intelligence in education: A Review’, IEEE Access, 8, pp. 75264–75278. doi:10.1109/access.2020.2988510.

Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure (2020). Historical Corpora | CLARIN ERIC. [online] Clarin.eu. Available at: https://www.clarin.eu/resource-families/historical-corpora.

Curzan, A. (2000). English Historical Corpora in the Classroom. Journal of English Linguistics, 28(1), pp.77–89. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/00754240022004884.

Hinds, J., Williams, E.J. and Joinson, A.N. (2020). ‘It wouldn’t happen to me’: Privacy concerns and perspectives following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 143(2020), p.102498. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2020.102498.

Ipswich School (2026). Ipswich School: A Brief History | About | Ipswich School. [online] Ipswich.school. Available at: https://www.ipswich.school/ipswich-school-a-brief-history [Accessed 4 Feb. 2026].

Layard, N.F. (1899). Remarks on Wolsey’s College and the Priory of St. Peter and St. Paul, Ipswich. Archaeological Journal, 56(1), pp.211–215. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/00665983.1899.10852820.

McClanahan, B.D. (2016). Location Inference of Social Media Posts at Hyper-Local Scale. [Master of Science Thesis] Available at: https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1993&context=gs_theses [Accessed 19 Feb. 2026].

Office for Students (2025). National Student Survey — NSS — Office for Students. [online] Officeforstudents.org.uk. Available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-providers/student-protection-and-choice/national-student-survey-nss/.

Oldenburg, R. (1997). Our Vanishing ‘Third Places’. [online] Available at: https://plannersweb.com/wp-content/uploads/1997/01/184.pdf.

Schnapp, J., Yurkovsky, J., Albrecht, K., Battles, M. and Luo, O. (2019). Curricle. [online] metaLAB (at) Harvard, Berlin & Basel. Available at: https://mlml.io/p/curricle/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2026].

Shakespeare, W. and Fletcher, J. (1613) Henry VIII.

Shumar, W. (2013). College For Sale. Routledge eBooks. Informa. doi:https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315043142.

United Nations (2025). Goal 4 | Ensure Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All. [online] United Nations. Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4.

University of York (2019). York Archbishops’ Registers. [online] york.ac.uk. Available at: https://archbishopsregisters.york.ac.uk [Accessed 19 Feb. 2026].

Wolsey., T. (1530) Rudimenta grammatices. … 1530 : T. Wolsey. : Free download, Borrow, and streaming, Internet Archive. Available at: https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1475-1640_rudimenta-grammatices-_t-wolsey_1530/mode/2up (Accessed: 24 January 2026).

Happy New Year! In one of my last acts of the old year, I petitioned the MP for Ipswich to consider something key to the cultural strategy of the town we both share. As a scheduled correspondence, it is likely that its receipt would be one of the first acts of the new.

Whilst the proposal does relate to 2028, rather than the current year, I believe that it is important to start thinking seriously about this now.

I believe that we should invest a great deal of thought into Cardinal College and whether we have done enough about it. Despite the work of many people, the issue is still little-known to the point that it seems the reserve of local historians.

My view is that coming to terms with the college has the potential to be a font of identity and culture — not just for Ipswich, but for an England with dreams of social mobility and education. Therefore, this is why I uttered Cardinal College in the same breath as Ipswich’s City of Culture bid.

Dear Jack Abbott,

In 1528, the Cardinal College was opened in Ipswich. This was a very short-lived college in the town, abandoned after the 1529 fall of Wolsey. The materials that were intended for its creation were sequestered (I believe “stolen”) for extending royal palaces. Notably, Whitehall — the name derives from the marble that was intended for use at Cardinal College.

The lands of Cardinal College were placed in the hands of your predecessor, Thomas Alvard. Historians would note that he did not take great care of the site, including Wolsey’s Gate. I would argue that this is still the case today, as Wolsey’s Gate is in a vulnerable location.

Thomas Wolsey 550 will be able to provide a richer picture of the history behind Cardinal College.

Ipswich should celebrate the Quincentenary of the foundation of Cardinal College in 2028

At the moment, the Cardinal College is solely the realm of obscure history. I would say that we need to engage with it on other levels, particularly within the arts and contemporary education.

At a high level, I would like to suggest that Ipswich does the following, with your support.

These are not funded, they are simply ideas to inspire a collective town-wide commemoration:

• Commission new works for stage and screen reflecting on contemporary interpretations (e.g. what it would be like today, the ambition, whether we need to seek reparations from the lost opportunity)
• Create musical works and songs for live performance
• Commission poetry from leading poets about the college
• Invite people from across the UK
• Provide venues for people to come to terms with the college — have we actually done enough about it? What can we do today?
• A campaign for Ipswich to become a City of Learning, such as through UNESCO recognition. This would be more long-term and could be instigated by the Quincentenary. How do we make Ipswich scholarship be recognised on the national stage?
• A festival of culture during June 2028
• Commission visual artists and sculptors to imagine the Cardinal College and other relevant facets thereof
• Host lecturers in a range of relevant subjects. I would suggest David Skinner from Sidney Sussex, as he studied music commissioned by the Cardinal
• Last year, Wolsey’s Oxonian foundation was able to have a quincentenary event. As they had the privilege of history, they could indulge in costume. I believe that our Quincentenary should be more oriented towards the future — helping future generations of students and educators in Ipswich, rather than being a one-off party
• Commission a television programme tracing the provenance of Whitehall’s marble, going from Normandy to Ipswich to London

I, Thomas Cardinal Wolsey,
Of sound mind and body,
Do outline my last will and testament forthwith.

My college was a vain project, and I would like it demolished.
Though it were my life’s work,
My life was wrong and wasted,
With God granting me the last rites in my fall.

I also bequeath a descent for you, Ipswich.
My college site has been left as place to discard your hopes,
As mine were once discarded.
You can do with the site as you please,
So long as college stone and idea remain unhewn.

Instead, I wish that a park be built -
There shall be a shrine dedicated to Ferdinand of Portugal;
A congregation founded by five holy men of the New World;
A Scottish embassy in name alone.

Save the gate, which shall be an historical site for the terminally obsessive.
And only the gate,
and only to amuse the teachers of future children.
May even this symbol become ever further down the pitch from me.

(Poem by Andrew Bolt)

Recently, I’ve taken to writing the poem and analysis separately. The poems will be published and then, once enough time has passed for them to be read, their analyses will follow. However, the analysis is fairly short.

The premise of the poem is that the current state of Ipswich was actually completed intended by Cardinal Wolsey.

It is written as a Will, arguably one of the most serious means of expressing intent. This is reflected in the “sound mind and body” clause.

The premise is an inversion of Wolsey’s true vision for Ipswich, being oriented around his college.

The poem sarcastically frames the fall of Ipswich as a bequest. This is intended to be polemic, riling the audience. The given caveat, “so long as college stone and idea remain unhewn”, is intended to be a condition. In reality, this condition is something which must be met, as the audience would not want Ipswich to decline.

The next stanza presents Cardinal Park as if Wolsey himself had specified it. This is a leisure park in Ipswich, resembling Cardinal Wolsey in name only. The idea here is to provoke conversations about the eponymy of Wolsey, and whether it is suitable.

The stanza contains veiled references to various restaurants at Cardinal Park:

• “A shrine dedicated to Ferdinand of Portugal” — Nando’s
• “A congregation founded by five holy men of the New World” — Five Guys
• “A Scottish embassy in name alone” — McDonald’s

The final stanza reflects on the fact that the significance of Wolsey’s Gate is slowly fading over time, and that this should be the case — the word “terminally” designed to invoke associations with being terminally ill.

Interest in the site of Wolsey’s college extends only to the Gate, and only in historical terms. Through the repeated use of “and only”, the restrictions on interpreting the Gate are defined.

May even this symbol become ever further down the pitch from me.

This is a reference to the fact that Ipswich Town Football Club wears Wolsey’s Gate on its chest, without any appreciation or effort on its part. The phrasing “down the pitch” is borrowed from football.

Alright, thanks for coming down.
It’s slightly overdue, but grab a pew.
I’ve taken the liberty of putting a few options together,
which we can have a look at today.
We can do something that works for you — 
not just for today, but also for tomorrow and any time after that.
It does depend on what you want to get out of this, really.
As I say, it has been too long, and you haven’t done much — 
if anything — 
with us before.
So before I ramble too much, let’s get you sorted with a college deal today.

First of all, your classic restoration, our Dominus Mihi Adiutor deal — replete with poor boys, masters, choirs, timber, lead, wainscot and white stones.
From the water gate at College Street,
all the way down to the Cattle Market bus station,
Battered to rubble, just as the smell and struggle of batter
currently linger.
Now, I would say that you probably don’t want this option,
And that’s not me saying that you can’t afford it!
Yes, it would be much closer to Wolsey’s heart — 
but it would tear half the town apart.

Now, you probably want something as grand,
But maybe without all the bells and whistles.
We have something that might work for you — our National Centre deal.
This comes with different options, which we can mix and match
to suit your wants and needs.
I did take the liberty of typing up a few options for yourself, based on your interest:

You have the “National Centre for Education” plan: Ipswich being a place for educationalist and student alike to meet face-to-face,
Where the brightest minds dream of the best ideas for educational space.
But because your ambition, with Wolsey, fell apart — 
other towns have more of a head start.

Or perhaps something more aligned to the needs of today,
A first-of-its kind residential centre for degree apprenticeships
might be the play.
Somewhere to host the next generation of socially-mobile talent
Amongst the greatest minds of the English-speaking world,
lending their experience to understanding apprenticeships.
Would this be something that would pique your interest?

I can see that you may want something cheaper?
Not to worry, my colleagues and I thought about this too.
We have a proper bargain lined up for you,
Something cheap that you can dress up,
Like the pageants you’ve previously thought to be enough.
If you think of the King’s Scholars of Eton,
We have a similar proposal: Cardinal’s Scholars.
A curious core, without the need for further concrete.
Set it once in Ipswich,
and then watch as its foundation spread across the UK.

Cheaper still? Perhaps something more local in scope — 
though in its current state Ipswich’s education will not cope.
I warn that this is a national prize,
with national eyes that you are trying to turn away.
Yes, it may be in Ipswich but that does not make the issue local — 
Ipswich and Oxford! One whose virtue is heard across Christendom, not just as far as Witney.

But this rant of mine, you are right to stop:
We can get your deal signed today with a local package,
something more in line with your needs?
The main thing is to get you signed up with us, and then go from there.
This is what I’m thinking:

Invest in the culture of your classrooms,
ensure that those who are curious, if not also bright, are not bullied.
Neither by their peers nor by the bounded curriculum.
Ensure that teachers have what they need, and that they can meet.

We can do a trial period of various free things,
like switching attendance focus to parents
or by recognising that most children don’t intend to be late to class.

Oh, you mean something cheaper?
I’m sorry, I’m not sure what I can do.
But we can salvage something together.
You know those cards that you get in shops that you use to top us your gas meters? Maybe something to that effect.
Some small kitty with two pennies that you rub together,
whose spark warms the town’s entire hearth?
I’ll speak to my manager, and see what micro-deal we can assemble for you.

After a lot of work and shifting things around, we can — 
oh, you’re gone.
Fuck it.
I’ll go to Norwich instead.

On the 20th June 1528, the short-lived Cardinal College in Ipswich was opened by the Bishop of Lincoln. In its short life, the college represented a bright future for Ipswich until it was taken away.

There is currently very little information about the college, let alone acknowledgement. Thomas Wolsey 550, a community interest company based in Ipswich, are doing a great deal of work to shine a light on the legacy of the great Cardinal. This includes social mobility work, heritage, educational outreach, and promotion of the Cardinal’s nascent college.

The twin foundation, what became Christ Church in Oxford, recently celebrated its 500th anniversary. There are events and celebrations throughout the year, centred around the 15th July 1525.

Many of the events have an explicitly Tudor theme, as Christ Church has the privilege of being able to look back on a heritage richer than a barely-known water gate that hovers over a car park.

Inspired by this commemoration, I believe that Ipswich must celebrate the 500th anniversary of the foundation of its Wolseyan foundation. However, I would argue that there should be the following differences:

• There should be a “College Day” every year, with a bigger event on the quincentennial
• The focus should be on the future, not on the past. Tudor pageantry must be secondary to actually looking to the future and genuinely improving the lives of people in Ipswich

With these in mind, I presented Thomas Wolsey 550 with a dance scenario. Whilst it has garnered some interest, I wanted to share it more widely.

My intent is that this be performed at Dance East, a studio for contemporary dance based in Ipswich (funnily enough, opposite Wolsey’s Gate). The public presentation of the work is intended to show that there is a semblance of vision in the town, and that there is at least some effort towards acknowledging an important part of Ipswich’s history and current identity.

The finished work would be multi-media in nature, combining dance with:

• Poetry
• Music
• Film
• Lighting
• Etc.

As the dance scenario, none of the finer artistic details beyond the plot outline have been defined. I am happy to work towards this end.

Characters

The characters are all dancers unless otherwise stated

• Scholars — smartly-dressed academics in long gowns
• Bishop of Lincoln/narrator (actor) — (BoL) dressed like a scholar, but in white. (Narr.) Minimal black clothing
• Masons (non-dancers) — wearing the dress of Tudor stonemasons
• People of Ipswich — wearing modern-day clothing

Setting

The stage has a 3x3x3 pile of white cubes in the middle. They can each be carried by one person. This represents Cardinal Wolsey’s college.

The background should represent Cardinal Wolsey, visually. This may include direct depictions, but the emphasis should be on the atmosphere.

One

Scholars emerge on stage. They march formally towards the college at the centre of the stage.

The Bishop of Lincoln proclaims:

Upon the laying of this foundation stone,
The scholarly dreams of Cardinal Wolsey may find their home.
Out of the loam of the past, the light of the future:
May Ipswich students rise as he did — dominus mihi adiutor!

Then, the scholars break out into informal and intellectual conversation.

Fade out.

Two

The death of Cardinal Wolsey. Tragic and unsettled music plays. The background degrades slowly over the duration of the scene, changing from warm to harsh in colour.

There are fewer scholars on stage. They slowly look across and they see the masons arriving.

Some scholars push back against the masons, though most leave.

The masons can improvise dialogue, to the effect of:

• Having a writ from King Henry VIII
• They don’t care about the college
• Asking people to avoid any Wolsey projects (with dramatic irony with respect to Christ Church, Oxford)
• Just following orders

(this should not be poetic in any way)

The masons coldly disassemble the college display, except for the bottom middle block. This block remains for the rest of the performance, and represents Wolsey’s Gate.

The Narrator comes on stage, and says:

What would have been an Eton, or greater:
Or Oxford, Cambridge, elite institutions coming later.
We allowed the marble to be shipped away, the gate to rot:
The future of Ipswich, taken away at once,
Too provincial to afford due care or ancient monies.
The Tragedy of Ipswich has begun, but will soon become forgot.

The Narrator walks off stage.

Fade out.

Three

The People of Ipswich come on stage.

The choreography should be happy, blissfully unaware, and should deliberately ignore and avoid Wolsey’s Gate.

After c. 5 minutes, the Narrator comes on stage:

With Cromwell’s help, Wolsey’s boys in Dominican dorms have carried on.
A noble effort to avoid total annihilation.
Much later, too late, a place was built to house them — Ipswich School.
Though the unanswered question remains — have we done enough to establish, in Ipswich, the Rule of Knowledge?
Have we done enough to restore Wolsey’s College?

The Narrator realises that none of the People of Ipswich have listened to their words, and gets frustrated. Dialogue can be improvised.

The Narrator exits

Four

Same as before, without transition.

One person amongst the people of Ipswich decides to sit on Wolsey’s Gate. The music should draw attention to this, but none of the other characters on stage should react.

A scholar walks into Ipswich, and notices Wolsey’s Gate. They are off-centre.

Through intricate choreography, they lament the situation. The music shifts in tone to reflect this. The people of Ipswich gather to the side, but they are bemused about what is happening. They then decide to gather to the other side of the stage from the scholar.

The atmosphere should reflect the split in the stage: the scholar on one side, the people of Ipswich on the other.

After the choreography, the scholar notices that everyone is unaware and on the other side of the stage. They leave, dejected.

Fade out

Five

The staging/atmosphere should reflect the fact that 500 years have passed since the laying of the foundation stone.

The Bishop of Lincoln returns.

There should be choreography to reflect the poem:

When I were last here, there was a great edifice
In both site and spirit.
When I were last here, scholars roamed:
Now that I’m here again, there’s none of it.
Look outside and around you, find the College Gate.
It’s displayed everywhere on football shirts, yet the thing itself you seem to hate.

The Bishop of Lincoln notices the person sitting on Wolsey’s Gate. Scholars slowly enter the stage, unsurely and hesitant.

The Bishop of Lincoln continues:

(trying to hold in a temper)

Please stand, and take good care of the Gate.
It is a special place, a symbol of Ipswich’s future and fate.
It may be Lincoln whose parishioners I serve,
But even I can see
That you are all so brazen with the nerve
To sit idly back, to bully those whose backs are bent by books,
To whom scholarship and curiosity is also an end.
To moan and snipe and imagine rhetorically, and to say in passing:
“How curious would it be if the college were long-lasting?”
There’s no need for the white stole or stone,
Nor is there need for Wolsey’s exact letter.
But please at least take the time and effort, all,
To make Ipswich’s education better.

The People of Ipswich are energised, and dance accordingly.

The scholars are more confident in their dancing, and eventually choreograph amongst the people of Ipswich.

A dance finale, possibly with fugal music. At the very least, it should be full of energy and life.

I love the logo for Ipswich Town Football Club. It’s great. So much symbolism. Nothing needs to be added or taken away. Just… perfect.

The crest for Ipswich Town FC normally has a crenelated border, lending to its distinctive design. This represents Wolsey’s Gate.

• Whilst the Gate looms large in ITFC symbolism, its physical site is neglected
• Wolsey’s Gate is an important national landmark, representing the only surviving site of a grand educational project for England centred at Ipswich. This project neither survives physically nor in the spirit of the town.
• It is hemmed in on one side by a busy road, and on the other by private land. This makes access, for visiting and restoring, very difficult.
• This suggests that Wolsey’s Gate is treated as an afterthought. We need to do something to correct this. Such work would ensure that it can be properly appreciated for generations to come, rather than as a Grade I car park ornament.

*(this is sarcasm. No copyright infringement is intended)

Recently, I published a poem which was submitted as part of a festival in Ipswich. If you are confused about the festival, and why I haven’t posted much about it since, you are not alone.

On the 29th June 1200, King John granted Ipswich a royal charter. This granted the town various freedoms, in return to being subject to taxations from the Crown.

To mark the 825th anniversary of this Charter, the people of Ipswich were asked to create poetry and art inspired by it.

However, out of the roughly 140,000 people who live in Ipswich, only 6 actually submitted. Not six thousand. Six.

Initially, the Charter 825 Poetry and Art Festival was going to be at the Town Hall from the 21st June to the 29th June. On the 21st, I went to the Ipswich Town Hall and they had no idea what event I was alluding to.

As it was commissioned by Ipswich Minster, I decided to ask about it there. Again, no one knew, and I was asked to see if the exhibition was at Christchurch Mansion.

However, I discovered the exhibition by accident. During the interval of the Charter 825 concert (which various people I spoke to assumed I had meant), there were poems displayed. Upon closer inspection, my work (“Motto”) had indeed been exhibited.

They were displayed within the Town Hall building — however, for those not local to the area, this was the Corn Exchange. A separate thing entirely.

In the promotional materials, it stated that some works would be more prominently displayed. I thought that six was a strange number, as the top five poems would normally be displayed. So, with this in mind, I gathered that this was all of the poems that were submitted.

Earlier today, I went to find out if this were the case. I had hoped to see the rest of the poems, but realistically I carried the assumption that the ones I had seen the night before were the only ones.

When I had arrived, all the poems had gone!

It was then explained that the Festival “wasn’t happening”, seemingly just quietly dropped. The final details were not finalised, and no-one had bothered to tell anyone about it. There was still confusion about whether I was referring to the Charter 825 concert the previous night!

People complain that there is nothing to do in Ipswich, yet the things that there are remain obscure to the point that they are quietly dropped.

Ipswich has a self-image problem, regardless of whether this is caused by the lack of acknowledgement towards Wolsey’s Ipswich college.

It can be partly resolved with local art exhibits, showcasing the voice and imagination of the town. Ipswich advocacy organisations need to provide clear information and communicate effectively.

Enough of a rant.

The reason that I wanted to write today was that I managed to capture the poems that were on display alongside Motto. The selection is drawn from six writers local to Suffolk, including me.

I will present the text of each poem without commentary. Previous poems submitted here have analysis, as I am their author. I had done this to provide any guidance for educators who, for some reason, would ever choose to touch my poetry with a ten-foot pole.

The poems are given in the order from left to right, as displayed at the Corn Exchange on the 27th June 2025.

With this said, please enjoy the Charter 825 Poetry and Art Festival submissions.

Motto

Whether you have been in Ipswich long or not, all the same -
Let me utter an important refrain;
“Our town’s motto still confined to obscurity,
Speaks to us today of who we are, and who we want to be.”
Let me explain, my friends -
Duty, city, treasure and citizen is what literal translation rends.

To each other, what do we owe?
Beyond our common human ties and civic pride,
Beyond our duty to flourish out of tended soil,
What in Ipswich is there to sow?
Might I suggest that we owe ourselves and our famous Cardinal son his college:
“What can its vision bring beyond Whitehall marble and white plastic?”
“How do we mingle pleasure with study for all?”
These and more we must acknowledge.
But whatever unique good to the town we choose to give,
We must prove that it is something we are willing to outlive.

We have many of the trappings of a city, save its name.
To list some: Many people, a Mansion, a Minster, some historic fame.
To Ipswich, people come from far and wide;
Bringing life, creating civic pride.
Though we may not demand our fame,
We are becoming ever more notable as a place.
Works great and small need to be done for our town,
though at the risk of talking it down,
I say that we are right to critique if only to dream of better civic space.

The treasure of Ipswich is an iridescent jewel we hold in both hands,
Admiring its hues:
The greens of natural space around which our town is built;
The purple hues of nights reclaimed, of a town made safer;
The richer pink of Suffolk;
The bright orange corners of new music;
The rising yellow sun of scholarship;
Against the memory of our fallen red son,
Shared in the Blues of humble beginnings
And rising national success.

“The role of a town is to bring out the best of its citizens”, reads the motto in a better translation.
Signed between people and town:
“The best public service must be provided now.
In return, we will be the best that we can be — here, in the region, in the nation.”
To each other, what does this contract show?
Nothing more than who we are and what we want to be:
Now, our congeniality
Amongst our town and our Artois twin
Amongst people wishing to visit
Amongst our shared history.
In future, should we choose,
Amongst a seat of learning,
Amongst greater treasure of Ipswich mind and body,
our collegiality?

Whatever duty, city, treasure and citizen we make of us,
Whether this refrain is heeded or not,
In whatever shape our identity takes, our voices must be heard,
Especially if we don’t speak the obscure Latin words:
Munia civitatis decus civium.

(Poem by Andrew Bolt)

The freedom of the charter

A promise whispered, a future untold,
Freedom’s banner, brave and bold.
Rights enshrined, a sacred art,
A charter’s blessing, plays its part.

Voices rising, strong and clear,
Dispelling shadows, conquering fear.
Liberty’s song, a hopeful tune,
Beneath the sunlight, afternoon.

To speak our minds, to choose our way,
In this bright dawn, a brand new day.
The charter guards, with watchful eye,
As freedoms flourish, reaching high.

A shield against the rising tide,
Where justice dwells, and truths abide.
So let us cherish, and defend,
The charter’s gift, until the end.

(Poem by Sarah Lou Cawdron)

Ipswich Charter 825

By charter King John set our fair town free,
Pledging folk could make its own trade choices.
A turning point in Ipswich history.

O’er come by the town’s ability
To barter left to its own devices,
By charter King John set our fair town free.

And in 1200 by royal decree
The churchyard was filled with cheering voices,
A turning point in Ipswich history.

St Mary le Tower the place to be
As lately The Minster it rejoices,
By charter King John set our fair town free.

Now in 2025 filled with glee
We celebrate with jubilant noises,
A turning point in Ipswich history.

So let us all cheer loud and fervently
For his majesty being so gracious.
By charter King John set our fair town free,
A turning point in Ipswich history.

(Poem by Beverley Bowry)

Thomas

Through chartered rights, our town found voice,
Hope kindled where serfs once had no choice.
Open hands shaped guilds and trade anew,
Men elected leaders, just and true.
Aspirations rose with each new day,
St Mary’s oath lit Ipswich’s way.

Wolsey

Wolsey, born of humble stock, rose high,
Overcoming bounds, he touched the sky.
Learning’s champion, he built a school,
Seeking to make knowledge the rule.
Even now, his dreams inspire our youth,
Yearning for a future steeped in truth.

(Poem by Dale Craven)

The Spring

Not a river,
nor a stream — 
a small, significant spring:
of Liberty, Democracy,
and future freedoms our country will see.

One church, one town,
one Charter — 
the year of our Lord, twelve hundred.
Like the Orwell reaching the sea,
from this spring, the story of Ipswich flows.

(Poem by Rachel Clarke)

Town on the Orwell

Bathed in wide skies and salty fragrances, ghosts of Danes and Saxons, clippers and spritstails forever sail the ‘Ha’penny Breeze’ to port.

’Tis a river awash with tales and art. Of Ransome, Roberts, and Simper, and Gentry, Seago, and Squirrel. A river of smugglers, secret paths, and a Strand… a legacy from the North.

And our town, an ancient town blessed with Kings and Queens, and brimmed with Beadles and Burgesses, and Portmen. A town Cobbled with parks and mansions. A town of Sparrowes and Wolsey, and Nelson and Slade.

A town built by those who toiled… and those who gave. A town of saga and Charter, a town like no other.

And forever thankful for our past, our heritage, our town, we look to future…

(Poem by Bob Pearson)

Why, Ipswich, do you feel so troubled,
and let yourself be ground down?
There’s no need to rest on rotting laurels,
Your people need you even more now.

If ‘restoring the college’ daunts you,
then you should not let it.
No Whitehall marble need be placed, no centre street destroyed.
Instead, let everything that exists in you become collegiate:

If you let yourself remain curious, kind, public-spirited;
If you encourage the brightest to come and stay;
If you value the education and creativity of your people,
Then your college is made.

(Poem by Andrew Bolt)

Analysis

As part of an ongoing project to examine Ipswich’s relationship to Cardinal Wolsey’s College (1528–30), I realised that the idea of ‘restoring’ a college envisioned by one of the most important people in England was rather overwhelming. During my meeting with Thomas Wolsey 550, conversation soon turned into the shipping of the same marble to Whitehall.

A vision is needed, but even a purely idealised one is fraught with a large scope. It is arguable that Wolsey wanted an institution equal to Eton College for the people of Ipswich, somewhere that would put the town on the map for the quality of its educational provision.

From recent stories about school stabbings, teacher strikes over student behaviour, there is clearly a long way to go.

However, this poem invites the reader not to worry about the restoration. This is somewhat counterintuitive, but the poem sets out the idea that focussing on the values of an elite educational institution will necessarily be followed by a college restoration.

The structure of the poem is based on an aria (BWV 516) from the Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach. In the text*, Bach is advising his wife not to worry about whether she is saved and to focus instead on following God’s will.

*I will be using the translation of BWV 516 provided by Ruth van Baak Griffioen for the Netherlands Bach Society.

This poem borrows this idea by asking:

Why, Ipswich, do you feel so troubled,
and let yourself be ground down?

This is taken almost directly from the text of BWV 516

Why are you troubled so,
and let yourself be ground down,
my ever-tortured soul,
my dull and weary mind?

In the former quotation, there is an appeal to the town. This differs from the latter, which appeals to a dull and weary mind. The similar phrasing is intentional, as it draws a parallel between Ipswich and its “dull and weary mind” — within the context of the poem, this dullness can be caused by a loss of the town’s identity or its ignorance of the college.

The following line transforms the metaphor of “resting on one’s laurels” by referring to “rotting laurels”. That is, laurels that have been neglected for such a long time that they are presently rotting — this interpretation refers to Wolsey’s Gate, having been left in a state of disrepair and disuse. It can be considered as something of a laurel due to its symbolic presence across Ipswich, though this is a strictly symbolic presence.

The next stanza is designed to respond to the fact that a literal restoration is a source of anxiety:

If ‘restoring the college’ daunts you,
then you should not let it.
No Whitehall marble need be placed, no centre street destroyed.
Instead, let everything that exists in you become collegiate:

Outright, this stanza starts by advising Ipswich against being daunted by the challenge.

The next lines refer to what the college would have been like. It is inspired by the rendering produced by All About Ipswich, which shows that the college would have taken up many of the central streets in Ipswich. It is also known that the college used marble before the Bane of Ipswich stole it for the Palace of Whitehall. The line refers to the fact that a modern vision of a ‘college’ (or at least, Ipswich as an important centre for education) is completely compatible with the contemporary town.

The final stanza most strikingly inverts the tone of BWV 516. In the aria, the composer warns Anna Magdalena Bach that if she does not trust in God’s will, then she will not know peace:

If you don’t let God’s will
securely ground and lead you,
Then in eternity
true peace too will elude you.

The poem inverts this by being affirmative — rather than warning against not doing something bad, the poem advises in favour of good things:

If you let yourself remain curious, kind, public-spirited;
If you encourage the brightest to come and stay;
If you value the education and creativity of your people,
then your college is made.

This approach is intended to assure the reader of the poem, a personification of the town of Ipswich, and to offer a vision of positive change. It outlines a definition for collegiality referenced in the previous stanza. Each line is something which can be achieved without financial cost, as they pertain to character growth.

Whether you have been in Ipswich long or not, all the same -
Let me utter an important refrain;
“Our town’s motto still confined to obscurity,
Speaks to us today of who we are, and who we want to be.”
Let me explain, my friends -
Duty, city, treasure and citizen is what literal translation rends.

To each other, what do we owe?
Beyond our common human ties and civic pride,
Beyond our duty to flourish out of tended soil,
What in Ipswich is there to sow?
Might I suggest that we owe ourselves and our famous Cardinal son his college:
“What can its vision bring beyond Whitehall marble and white plastic?”
“How do we mingle pleasure with study for all?”
These and more we must acknowledge.
But whatever unique good to the town we choose to give,
We must prove that it is something we are willing to outlive.

We have many of the trappings of a city, save its name.
To list some: Many people, a Mansion, a Minster, some historic fame.
To Ipswich, people come from far and wide;
Bringing life, creating civic pride.
Though we may not demand our fame,
We are becoming ever more notable as a place.
Works great and small need to be done for our town,
though at the risk of talking it down,
I say that we are right to critique if only to dream of better civic space.

The treasure of Ipswich is an iridescent jewel we hold in both hands,
Admiring its hues:
The greens of natural space around which our town is built;
The purple hues of nights reclaimed, of a town made safer;
The richer pink of Suffolk;
The bright orange corners of new music;
The rising yellow sun of scholarship;
Against the memory of our fallen red son,
Shared in the Blues of humble beginnings
And rising national success.

“The role of a town is to bring out the best of its citizens”, reads the motto in a better translation.
Signed between people and town:
“The best public service must be provided now.
In return, we will be the best that we can be — here, in the region, in the nation.”
To each other, what does this contract show?
Nothing more than who we are and what we want to be:
Now, our congeniality
Amongst our town and our Artois twin
Amongst people wishing to visit
Amongst our shared history.
In future, should we choose,
Amongst a seat of learning,
Amongst greater treasure of Ipswich mind and body,
our collegiality?

Whatever duty, city, treasure and citizen we make of us,
Whether this refrain is heeded or not,
In whatever shape our identity takes, our voices must be heard,
Especially if we don’t speak the obscure Latin words:
Munia civitatis decus civium.

(Poem by Andrew Bolt)

Dear Thomas,

I saw what you have done for the town and I thank you for it.
But, on all occasions possible, I must decline you.

There will be no whispers of any grounds,
Nor what they would mean for me.

No reflection on my Ipswich’s part,
Save through the windows whose shops our light parades pass.

See what we have done for you, and thank us for it.
The sounds of your name and face and costume carry on,
At least in someone else’s ear.

“One of the greatest seats of education a nation could bestow” -
Frankly, I can’t sit on chairs.
I prefer to lie on cold concrete in heavy stupor.

Therefore, I simply say: no.
No to the good to us you tried to give.
Even its reminder is something we are keen to outlive.

Yours, with the remainder of our sincerity,
___________________

(Poem by Andrew Bolt)

Analysis

This poem takes the form of a letter, replete with a recipient and a sender. It is intended to present a scenario in which the lack of acknowledgement towards the College that Cardinal Wolsey had founded in Ipswich is entirely intentional.

That is, it is a conscious refusal to do anything. However, this is a contradiction between the reality — there is no conscious refusal, as people often don’t know about the significance of the College from the outset. This “letter” serves to incense the audience, asking them to reflect on whether a lack of a College is something which they really want. It is implied, rather than presented directly.

The reader is supposed to choose to sign the letter at the end, confirming its contents. However, its contents are designed to be polemic so that the reader refuses and protests.

The letter starts by addressing Thomas, rather than as a Cardinal. This is important as it arguably shows the contempt with which the reader supposedly regards Wolsey.

The idea that we have not done enough on Wolsey’s legacy, educational or otherwise, is quickly refuted. In fact, the line “see what we have done for you, and thank us for it” abrasively and patronisingly suggests that we have done enough in the act of naming a few places after him.

Much of the poem presents metaphors which are then taken literally and concretely. This is intended to imply a face-value analysis from the people of Ipswich:

No reflection on my Ipswich’s part [figurative: thinking, pondering etc.],

Save through the windows whose shops our light parades pass. [literal: light reflections in windows. There is also a pun, in that ‘light’ also refers to the numbers present in the parade…!]

and

“One of the greatest seats of education a nation could bestow” [figurative: in the sense of being an important centre of education] -

Frankly, I can’t sit on chairs. [literal: chairs…]

This latter passage then follows with “I prefer to lie on cold concrete in heavy stupor”. This presents the idea that Ipswich people prefer to go out and get drunk rather than investing in their education — this is because lying on concrete “in heavy stupor” implies that they are passed out in the street. This polemic line is intended to goad the audience into protesting that they are not made in this mould, and to re-assert themselves as supportive of Ipswich’s becoming a seat of learning.

The last paragraph before the valediction plays on the passage from Shakespeare “All is True”:

Ipswich and Oxford! One of which fell with him, unwilling to outlive the good that did it

In this passage, the character of Griffith seems to suggest that Ipswich’s fall as a twin of learning is a conscious decision — this is shown in the word “unwilling”. Likewise, this unwillingness is reflected explicitly —effectively, given the above information, I am saying no.

Therefore, I simply say: no.
No to the good to us you tried to give.
Even its reminder is something we are keen to outlive.

The letter then concludes that they don’t want to be reminded of the College ever again. Outside of the letter, this is implied through awareness initiatives like Thomas Wolsey 550.