For Immediate Release                           For Further information Contact:
July 1, 1999                         Francis Kenney, Senior Vice President & CFO
                               Ipswich Bancshares, Inc. and Ipswich Savings Bank
                                             23 Market Street, Ipswich, MA 01938
                                                                  (978) 356-7777


                                  IPSWICHBANK

                                IPSWICHBANK AND
                            IPSWICH BANCSHARES, INC.
                            ANNOUNCE HOLDING COMPANY
                                EFFECTIVE TODAY


IPSWICH,  MA, July 1, 1999 - (NASDAQ  NMS:  IPSW).  Ipswich  Savings Bank (d/b/a
IpswichBank)  and  Ipswich   Bancshares,   Inc.  announced  today  that  Ipswich
Bancshares,  Inc. has become the bank holding  company of Ipswich  Savings Bank.
The one-bank holding company  formation was effected  pursuant to the terms of a
Plan of Reorganization  and Acquisition,  which was approved by the stockholders
of the Bank at the Annual Meeting held on April 28, 1999.

Ipswich  Bancshares,  Inc. is a  Massachusetts  chartered  corporation  that was
organized  solely for the purpose of becoming the holding  company for the Bank.
Pursuant to the Plan of  Reorganization,  each share of common stock of the Bank
has been  automatically  converted  into one share of Ipswich  Bancshares,  Inc.
common  stock,  and the Bank has  become a wholly  owned  subsidiary  of Ipswich
Bancshares,  Inc.  The  common  stock  of  Ipswich  Bancshares,  Inc.  has  been
substituted  for the common  stock of the Bank on the Nasdaq Stock  Market,  and
will continue to trade under the symbol IPSW.

IpswichBank will continue to conduct business form the same locations and in the
same manner as prior to the reorganization.