and met representatives from local organisations while the Duke of Edinburgh met students who took part in The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and viewed a display at the Museum of East Anglian Life. Landmarks The church of St Peter and St Mary is in the Decorated style and dates to the 14th century. The 16th-century former vicarage, now the town council offices and register office, has associations with John Milton; Milton's Tree in its grounds is believed to be an offshoot of one of the many trees he planted there. Haughley Park is an historical house situated in Haughley to the west of the town, of some significance, listed in the English Heritage Register. It is a large red brick country house built in about 1620 for the Sulyard family who were very prominent landowners in this area. Opened in 1967, The Food Museum (formerly the Museum of East Anglian Life) occupies a site close to the town centre. The Karnser is a raised pavement in Station Road West, next to the church. The name is the East Anglian dialect word caunsey, meaning a causey (causeway). Transportation In the 18th century the Gipping was made navigable between Stowmarket and Ipswich by a series of locks. The newly created canal was known as the Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation. Stowmarket railway station, on the Great Eastern Main Line, is served by numerous train services operated by Greater Anglia: Peterbrough to Ipswich (via Ely, Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket); Cambridge to Ipswich (via Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and Needham Market); and Norwich to London Liverpool Street (via Diss / Ipswich / Colchester / Chelmsford / Stratford). Suffolk County Council has built a road from the Central Roundabout, a short distance to the east of Stowmarket, to Gipping Way in central Stowmarket at a cost of £21 million. The scheme was completed in summer 2010. The new road bridges the railway line and the River Gipping. Governance Stowmarket Town Council is the first tier of local government for Stowmarket. Formed in 1974 from the Stowmarket Urban District Council, the Town Council serves a population of approximately 20,000 people in four wards. It is made up of 16 elected members backed up by a staff of over 30. The council is located in the historic Milton House. Stowmarket is also home to Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Council offices. County Councillors Sport and leisure