Ipswich is one of England's oldest Anglo-Saxon towns. It was founded in the late 6th early 7th Century, where the estuary of the River Orwell joins up with the River Gipping. The town has an area of around 16 square miles and is a North Sea port situated at the head of the Orwell Estuary. The harbour stretches 11 miles downstream to Shotley Point. Ipswich is a major regional centre with a population of around 130,000, and lies in the heart of East Anglia and the heart of Europe. It is the regional centre for business, shopping, sport and entertainment and is proud of its 800-year Royal Charter and it's long maritime tradition. The town has a great heritage and fine parks. Ipswich prospers mainly as a major agricultural market and service centre for the extensive and rich farming area of Suffolk. The town developed into a prosperous port and trading centre with an important pottery industry. After a period of Viking occupation, Ipswich continued to flourish and it was given its own mint and prospered as a port exporting East Anglian textiles from medieval times to the 17th century. Outstanding buildings in Ipswich include Christchurch mansion, a 16th century building situated in the grounds of Christchurch Park, which is open to the public to walk about or view inside the mansion. The older churches round here are nearly all towered flint structures, wholly or mainly perpendicular in style. There are several old coaching inns, including the Great White Horse of Pickwick Papers fame. Ipswich was the birthplace of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.