The Ipswich Corporation was a municipal corporation that owned property and government in the Borough of Ipswich. The corporation kept highly detailed accounts of their operation, a great deal of which survives to this day. After a successful period of four centuries, surviving plague and many other challenges governance of the borough descended into chaos after the restoration in 1660. This lasted until new structures were imposed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 which created the municipal borough of Ipswich. Since the Local Government Act 1972 Ipswich has been a non-metropolitan district with borough status.