A planning application has been submitted to convert a 160-year-old Ipswich pub into flats.

The applicant, property development company Keltic, proposes turning the Golden Ship, on Cliff Road, into five two bedroom flats.

Dating from the 1860s, the pub was known as The Ship Launch until 2010, when it closed after several sets of managers tried to revitalise it.

It became a Chinese takeaway bearing the current name, The Golden Ship, which closed in 2018.


Owned for years by the nearby Tolly Cobbold brewery, the pub provided generations of dock workers and locals a place to let their hair down.

The pub was located away from residential areas, close to the dock front and thus had to survive on the passing yard workers for business.

The plans involve creating four two storey, two bedroom flats in the pub building, and converting an outbuilding into another flat, and a shared amenity area.

Seven parking spaces that formerly belonged to the pub will be available for new residents.

Ipswich Borough Council will decide the fate of the application.