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 Past Personalities 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

1943, when petrol was very hard to get, even if you had a vehicle to put it in.
Obviously this was no deterrent to these crowd returning along Cambridge Road from one of the wartime race meets on the July Course.

What's New

January 30th. Local man shares top internet prize, see Pg 2 Recent Events.

December 2011. The fifth in our series Newmarket's Personalities from the Past deals with a man of the 20th Century who has recently received much overdue but well deserved publicity. This is our tribute to William Tutte, a Newmarket born man who played a significant part in shortening World War II. To go to page select here

July 5th - 7th. The Channel 4 Time Team visited Newmarket to uncover evidence of what were probably the earliest racing stables in the world, at Palace House. Please go to Page 2 for pictures.

NLHS member Tony Pringle with the help of Bill Smith and Rodney Gibson has put much work into compiling a memorial website honouring the local dead of two world wars, including Newmarket's civilian casualties. This has now gone online and can be viewed at www.newmarket-remembers.info Well done Tony for your dedication, the site will make a good reference for anyone seeking information about those local people who lost their lives in service or as a result of war.

Commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the 1941 bombing of Newmarket
The exhibition ran in Newmarket Library until March. It contained detailed photographs & eye witness accounts and some artefacts, including a large fragment of one of the bombs which fell on the town.
This is possibly the last commemoration of the event before it passes from living memory (i.e. of people who were actually there) Our Society commemorated the 50th & 60th anniversaries.
As a result of the previous exhibitions and commemorations and the Society's book 'One Afternoon in February', much interest was generated. Also, Society members undertook a lot of research and collected numerous eye witness statements and set about compiling a comprehensive list of the deceased.
The culmination of all this was the public exhibition in Newmarket Library and a new book "The Bombing of Newmarket" which is not a reprint, but builds on the earlier book and has the addition of more eye witness accounts and pictures. This will be available shortly
Tony Pringle, Bill Smith, Sandra Easom and David Occomore have compiled a list of civilian casulaties suffered as a result of the bombing. To go to the list select here - and for some dramatic before and after pictures of the bombing take a look at Mike Mingay's 'Slicentime' website page http://www.slicentime.co.uk/1941.php

November 2010. Old coins give a physical link with the past and just to handle them gives a feeling for the generations whose hands they must have passed through over the centuries.
One of our members has made some extraordinary finds in his house and garden, the oldest going back to the reign of Charles I. To view the coins select here

Of local interest is a new 'podcast' about the Devil's Ditch, which includes sections on the history of Newmarket Town and the Racecourse. For those, like me, who were not familiar with podcasts, it's like an audio book that contains various verbal stories and accounts of our local archaeological treasure. It was produced by 'Shape-East' which sets out to put on record memories of interesting sites. You may need to use the Firefox browser to access the podcast, as I found that it would not work with Explorer. Give it a go at www.shape-east.org.uk

Newmarket resident Mike Mingay has put much effort in recording Newmarket's recent history and has a large number of pictures on his 'Slicentime' website www.slicentime.co.uk
Of particular interest to those who knew Newmarket in the 1960s is the picture of the 1964 year pupils of what was then the Newmarket Secondary Modern School (now the Newmarket College, Exning Road). Mike has divided the picture into sections which can be enlarged and he has put names to many of the faces. Just go to his site and click on the 1964 link.
Well worth a look.

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 92nd anniversary of the ending of The Great War was observed on November 11th 2010. 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 2011/12

All events commence at 7.30 pm unless otherwise stated

Tuesday November 15th - A Century of Motoring, Rod Vincent

Tuesday December 20th 2011 - Cheese & Wine Evening, The Link Singers

Tuesday January 17th 2012 - Palaces, Horses, Stables - Charles II at Newmarket,
     John Sutton

Tuesday 21st February - Talk on Ely Cathedral, Brian Parsley

Tuesday March 20th - Postcards from Newmarket - WWI and before,
     Roger Newman

Tuesday April 17th - AGM and talk on the History of Medicine, Sandra Easom

Tuesday May 15th - Visit to Burwell Church, Joan Shaw

Tuesday June 19th - Visit to Isleham - Vernon Place

Tuesday July 17th - Visit to be arranged

Tuesday September 18th - Talk on Crisswells Garage, Joe Moore

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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