The Society meets every third Tuesday of the month from September to April at 7.30 pm at The Stable, High Street Newmarket (unless otherwise noted) when we have a visiting speaker. During the summer months (except August) we arrange trips to local places of historic interest.

N.L.H.S. SITE INDEX

Calendar of Meetings How to join NLHS Newmarket's Origins Newmarket and Horseracing Forthcoming events Correspondence & Queries Family History research Recent Events Mystery Places View our Guest Book, or add an entry Links to related sites Alex Henshaw MBE

Frederick Archer Local Fire Tragedies Crime & punishment in the 19th century Memories of the Home Guard Memories of two World Wars Local History & Other books Committee members Contact Us Old Icewell Hill. Woolworths history Rous Road Architecture The History of the Telephone Service in Newmarket The Admiralty Shutter Telegraph

There it was - gone! Another of Newmarket's old buildings has disappeared. The Technical Institute, built in 1912 was demolished before the end of 2009.
The picture right, taken on 12th January 2010, shows the site cleared in preparation for a hotel to be built in this position near to the Clock Tower.
The other building, seen in the distance, is the old Conservative Club built in 1892, which will soon be the new home for the Newmarket Snooker Club,
presently in All Saints' Road.

What's New

January 21st 2010. Local papers report that a statue of Charles II, the founder of British horse racing, may be installed in the middle of Newmarket's controversial roundabout.
"A Portland stone statue of the King, who established Newmarket as racing's headquarters in the 1660s, could be standing on the town's Clocktower roundabout by the end of this year - if there is public support for the project."

A HISTORY OF THE TELEPHONE SERVICE IN NEWMARKET. The telephone first arrived in Newmarket at the end of the 19th century when it was only available to a very few. The number of subscribers progressively increased during the first three decades of the 20th century, but callers had to speak to an operator at the exchange.
During World War II the Post Office and Telephone Exchange received a direct hit from a German bomb but such was the importance of the service great improvisation took place and the service was quickly restored.
After the war the telephone exchange became increasingly automated and was housed in the purpose made building in The Avenue.
For the story with pictures go to select here

Newmarket contains a wealth of architecture, much of it a legacy from the monied residents of the late Victorian era. An example of the varied styles of building exists in Rous Road and for a page of pictures select here

More on Icewell Hill. As more information becomes available we now have a second page devoted to Icewell Hill.
The old Icewell Hill complex was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the present day flats. The properties were becoming run down and living conditions were not deemed acceptable for the post war world. Today many people remember with affection the community spirit that existed in the narrow streets and tightly packed cottages of Icewell Hill.
Thanks to local historian Peter Norman, former resident of Icewell Hill Derek Coombes and NLHS archives we are able to look back at what life must have been like for those living in Icewell Hill. To start go to Page 5 of this site from where you can move to the second page. select here

For those who have not yet discovered the Francis Frith collection of photos of early to mid 20th century Newmarket take a look at Francis Frith's Newmarket Ninety one good quality photos that can be purchased if required. What a far sighted man to go around the country taking pictures of towns and villages that were fast changing

The 90th anniversary of the ending of The Great War was observed on November 11th 2008. It was a time to reflect on how local families were affected by their sons, brothers and husbands responding to the call to duty. A poignant reminder is the letter sent home by Private Frederick Woollard from Wood Ditton before embarking for the Western Front.
To read the letter select here For a page of pictures of Newmarket during The Great War select here
Newmarket's War Memorial as it is in 2009, inscribed with the names of 218 men who lost their lives in The Great War and 94 men and women during World War II select here
Newmarket's Roll of Honour for the two World Wars, with individual details of the fallen, now including Newmarket's civilian casualties has been researched and compiled by Rodney Gibson, aided by NLHS Archivist William Smith. Please go to Roll of Honour

Calendar of Events 2009/10

All events commence at 7.30 pm unless otherwise stated

Tuesday October 20th - Icewell Hill, Rod Vincent

Tuesday November 17th - Time Flyers, Jo Caruth

Tuesday December 15th 2009 - Cheese & Wine Evening (members only)

Tuesday January 19th 2010 - Town Hall Fire, Eric Dunning

Tuesday February 16th - Newmarket Railways, Richard Harris

Tuesday March 16th - The Suffolk Horseman’s Identity, Neil Lanham

Tuesday April 20th - AGM & Early Modern Medicine, Sandra Easom

Tuesday May 18th - Visit to the Leper Chapel, Cambridge, Janet Cornish

Tuesday June 15th - Visit to Mildenhall, Alan Benton

Sunday June 20th - Society outing to Lowestoft and Somerleyton Hall

Tuesday July 20th - Visit to Animal Health Trust, Kentford

Tuesday September 21st - Fifty Years of News, Rodney Tibbs

How do I join the Newmarket Local History Society?
It is quite simple really, you may do so by attending one of the programmed meetings, the doors open at 7 pm, and you can then join whilst there, the cost is just £8 per head, or you may wish to visit for one evening without commitment, this will cost £2 and you can go away and decide.

NEWMARKET'S ORIGINS (notes provided by N.L.H.S Committee Member Sandra Easom)
Mention Newmarket and most people think of the pounding hooves of horses and rolling expanses of green turf. The town is justly famous for both of these but its very long and varied history goes far beyond what most people expect.
Unlike most mediaeval towns, Newmarket is not centred on either of its parish churches, St. Mary's or All Saints. Rather, it is centred on the initial reason for its existence - the ancient Icknield Way - the oldest road in Britain. Its route approximated to the present High Street. People have journeyed along the Icknield Way since the Stone Age when flint was mined in Grimes Graves in Norfolk and then supplied an extensive trade network.
The area where Newmarket now stands has springs of water and a small river which is essential for any settlement. Bronze Age barrows, showing evidence of early occupation, were scattered across Newmarket Heath until the 19th century when they were cleared to make better conditions for horse racing.
Later, nearby Exning was a main settlement of the Iceni tribe (best remembered for their famous Queen Boudicca or Boadicea who led a major rebellion against the Romans). The Iceni were renowned breeders of horses and dogs, so the Heath has probably seen many more races than we are aware of!
The area where the town now stands was given as dowry to Sir Richard de Argentein in 1200 A.D. when he married Cassandra, daughter of Robert de Insula, Lord of the manor of Exning. Sir Richard encouraged development of the town and was granted a charter for a market almost immediately by the King. In 1223 Newmarket received its first charter for an annual fair. It is important to note that the Plague arrived at Exning in 1227. Therefore, the Victorian theory that people left Exning to start a new town at Newmarket at this time cannot be true (although it is very persistent!).
Newmarket thrived because of its market and a lucrative trade in accommodating travellers and so it continued for centuries, until King James I "discovered" its Heath in February 1604 as a great leisure venue for his court and Newmarket's sporting associations began.....

NEWMARKET AND HORSERACING
The local history of Newmarket is inextricably tied up with the history of horseracing. The town is home to the National Horseracing Museum, at present situated in part of the Jockey Club building. An enlightening article on Newmarket's racing history and the work of the museum written by the former Museum Director, Hilary Bracegirdle appears on this site select article here
The museum also has a very good website of its own www.nhrm.co.uk where much information on Newmarket's racing past is available.
Newmarket Local History Society and the National Horseracing Museum have much in common in that we both receive many queries from people on topics related to horseracing. Often people wish to enquire about their forebears who were jockeys, or in some way connected to racing. As Hilary says in her article, it is difficult to trace individuals unless they were high profile personalities. The best approach for persuing ordinary family history queries is through the Bury St Edmunds County Records office (for Suffolk related queries) or The Cambridgeshire Family History Society (for the Cambridgeshire part of Newmarket). Both the Museum and our Society wish to be as helpful as possible and welcome any queries of general interest. Queries to the Museum should be addressed in writing to Graham Snelling, Curator, National Horseracing Museum, 99 High Street, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 8JS. Our Society's postal and e-mail addresses are given on page 3.

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Website created and maintained by Rod Vincent (Silver surfer award winner 2004)

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