Needham Market | |
---|---|
Hawks Mill, Needham Market now converted into flats | |
Location within Suffolk | |
Population | 4,700 (2021 Census) [1] |
OS grid reference | TM090548 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | IPSWICH |
Postcode district | IP6 |
Dialling code | 01449 |
Police | Suffolk |
Fire | Suffolk |
Ambulance | East of England |
UK Parliament | |
Needham Market is a small town in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, set in the Gipping Valley. Nearby villages include Barking, Darmsden, Badley and Creeting St Mary. The town is located just east of the A14 trunk road, between Ipswich to the south and Stowmarket to the north. The town is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) between Stowmarket and Ipswich, with the Needham Lake and the River Gipping located just east of the GEML close to the railway station. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the town had a population of 4,700 residents. [1]
The town of Needham, Massachusetts, was named after Needham Market. [2]
It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the Bubonic plague, which swept the town from 1663 to 1665. To prevent the spread of the disease, the town was chained at either end, which succeeded in its task but at the cost of two-thirds of the populace. The town did not recover for nearly two hundred years, with the canalisation of the River Gipping in the late 18th century and the introduction of the railway.
Modern Needham Market contains two road names that are linked to the plague. Chainhouse Road, named after the chains that ran across the East end of the town. The Causeway, is a modern variation of 'the corpseway' so called because of the route that plague victims were transported out of town, to neighbouring Barking Church for interment. [3]
Notable buildings in the town include:
Needham Market has a Non-League football club, Needham Market F.C., who play at Bloomfields. They have been very successful over recent years after reaching the semi-finals of the 2010/2011 FA Vase season. [7]
The town is on the route of the Dunwich Dynamo annual cycle ride, which takes place overnight. It is usually scheduled to take place on the Saturday night closest to the full moon in July.
The Needham Lake provides leisure facilities and a wildlife habitat which is located just east of the GEML and the railway station. [8] The lake is located on a nature reserve with the River Gipping running just east of it. It is a great destination for tourists. [9] The lake was initially a gravel pit before being converted to a lake.
Other attractions in the town include the Alder Carr Farm, selling one of Suffolk's best ice cream. [10]
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. Television signals are received from either the Tacolneston or Sudbury TV transmitters. [11] [12]
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Suffolk, Heart East, Nation Radio Suffolk, Greatest Hits Radio Ipswich & Suffolk, and Ipswich Community Radio, a community-based station. [13]
The town is served by the local newspapers, Ipswich Star and East Anglian Daily Times .
Like most of the UK, Ireland and much of France, Needham Market has an oceanic climate. This means that both the winter and summer temperatures are mild with not a huge difference between the winter and summer temperatures.
Climate data for Wattisham, elevation 87m, 1971–2000, extremes 1960– | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 14.1 (57.4) | 17.0 (62.6) | 21.7 (71.1) | 24.1 (75.4) | 27.6 (81.7) | 33.0 (91.4) | 32.1 (89.8) | 35.3 (95.5) | 28.5 (83.3) | 24.7 (76.5) | 17.9 (64.2) | 15.3 (59.5) | 35.3 (95.5) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.3 (43.3) | 6.6 (43.9) | 9.5 (49.1) | 11.9 (53.4) | 15.8 (60.4) | 18.7 (65.7) | 21.4 (70.5) | 21.6 (70.9) | 18.3 (64.9) | 13.9 (57.0) | 9.3 (48.7) | 7.1 (44.8) | 13.4 (56.1) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.7 (33.3) | 0.7 (33.3) | 2.3 (36.1) | 3.7 (38.7) | 6.8 (44.2) | 9.5 (49.1) | 11.8 (53.2) | 11.9 (53.4) | 9.9 (49.8) | 7.2 (45.0) | 3.5 (38.3) | 1.9 (35.4) | 5.8 (42.4) |
Record low °C (°F) | −14.6 (5.7) | −10 (14) | −8.6 (16.5) | −4.6 (23.7) | −2.3 (27.9) | −0.4 (31.3) | 3.8 (38.8) | 3.6 (38.5) | 1.5 (34.7) | −3.5 (25.7) | −7 (19) | −13.2 (8.2) | −14.6 (5.7) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 49.5 (1.95) | 35.1 (1.38) | 42.5 (1.67) | 41.2 (1.62) | 43.7 (1.72) | 52.2 (2.06) | 42.4 (1.67) | 47.1 (1.85) | 55.1 (2.17) | 57.2 (2.25) | 55.6 (2.19) | 52.1 (2.05) | 573.8 (22.59) |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 57.4 | 75.7 | 111.3 | 159.0 | 213.6 | 208.2 | 212.7 | 205.8 | 148.5 | 117.5 | 73.2 | 52.4 | 1,635.2 |
Source 1: Met Office [14] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: KNMI [15] |
The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) runs through the town, with the railway station providing an hourly service to Ipswich and Cambridge. It is a very small unstaffed station managed by Greater Anglia . Unlike every other GEML station, there are no direct services to London and Norwich. This means that passengers heading towards those destinations are required to change at Ipswich and Stowmarket respectively. It is also the quietest railway station on the GEML.
The A14 (although then the A45) once ran directly through the town, but a bypass was built in the 1970s leaving the road now known as the B1113. This has left the town with good road links to the surrounding area, but with less traffic than before.
First Eastern Counties (a sub-brand of FirstGroup), operates the 88 route, which serves the town and has bus services to Ipswich and Stowmarket twice an hour (once every 30 minutes) on weekdays. [16]
Notable people from Needham Market include:
Leiston is a town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is close to Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, 21 miles (34 km) north-east of Ipswich and 90 miles (145 km) north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at the 2011 Census.
The River Gipping is the source river for the River Orwell in the county of Suffolk in East Anglia, England, which is named from the village of Gipping, and which gave its name to the former Gipping Rural District. It rises near Mendlesham Green and flows in a south-westerly direction to reach Stowmarket. From there it flows towards the south or south east, passing through Needham Market then Baylham. The river continues to flow south between Great Blakenham and Claydon, and through Bramford and Sproughton until it flows into Ipswich, where it becomes the Orwell at Stoke Bridge. The river has supplied power to a number of watermills, several of which are still standing. None are operational, although the mill at Baylham retains most of its machinery, and is the only complete mill on the river.
Mid Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. The district is primarily a rural area, containing just three towns, being Stowmarket, Needham Market and Eye. Its council was based in Needham Market until 2017 when it moved to shared offices with neighbouring Babergh District Council in Ipswich, outside either district. In 2021 it had a population of 103,417.
Downham Market, sometimes simply referred to as Downham, is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, approximately 11 miles south of King's Lynn, 39 miles west of Norwich and 30 miles north of Cambridge.
BBC Radio Suffolk is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Suffolk.
Haverhill is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, next to the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It lies about 14 miles (23 km) southeast of Cambridge and 47 miles (76 km) northeast of central London. In 2021 it had a population of 26,860.
Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies 15 miles (24 km) south-west of Lowestoft, on a tributary of the River Blyth, nine miles upstream from Southwold. The town is served by Halesworth railway station on the Ipswich–Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. It is twinned with Bouchain in France and Eitorf in Germany. Nearby villages include Cratfield, Wissett, Chediston, Walpole, Blyford, Linstead Parva, Wenhaston, Thorington, Spexhall, Bramfield, Huntingfield, Cookley and Holton.
Stowmarket is a market town and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district, in Suffolk, England, on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edmunds to the west and Ipswich to the southeast. The town lies on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) between Diss and Needham Market, and lies on the River Gipping, which is joined by its tributary, the River Rat, to the south of the town.
Stowmarket railway station is a stop on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, serving the market town of Stowmarket, Suffolk. The station is 80 miles 9 chains (128.9 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street; it is situated between Needham Market to the south and Diss to the north. It is also the junction where the Ipswich to Ely Line joins the GEML. Its three-letter station code is SMK. The station is operated by Greater Anglia, which also runs all trains that serve the station.
Needham Market railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, serving the town of Needham Market, Suffolk. It is 77 miles 7 chains (124.1 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Ipswich to the south and Stowmarket to the north. Its three-letter station code is NMT.
The Tacolneston transmitting station is a facility for both analogue and digital VHF/FM radio and UHF television transmission near Tacolneston, 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Norwich, Norfolk, England.
Baylham is a village and civil parish, 1,349 acres size, in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Ipswich and 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Stowmarket.
The Suffolk and Ipswich Football League is a football competition based in Suffolk, England. The league has a total of eight divisions; the Senior Division and Divisions 1–3 for first teams, three divisions for reserve teams, and Division 4, which is for open to both first teams and reserves and is subordinate to both Division 3 and League C. The Senior Division is at step 7 of the National League System. The league was founded in 1896 as the Ipswich & District League changing its name in 1978.
Brandon is a town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. Brandon is located in the Breckland area of Suffolk in the extreme north-west of the county, close to the adjoining county of Norfolk. It lies between the towns of Bury St Edmunds, Thetford, Mildenhall, Downham Market and the city of Ely. The town is almost entirely surrounded by Thetford Forest.
National Cycle Route 51 is an English long distance cycle route running broadly east-west connecting Colchester and the port of Harwich to Oxford via Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Bicester, and Kidlington.
Stonham Aspal is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England, some five miles (8 km) east of the town of Stowmarket. Nearby villages include Mickfield, Little Stonham and Pettaugh. Its population in 2011 was 601. The village has a primary school. It is set in farmland, but has a busy main road, A1120, running through.
Ringshall is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around four miles south of Stowmarket, and 13 miles north west of Ipswich.
Ipswich is the county town of Suffolk, England. It is a medieval port and industrial town with a strong transport history; the urban area has a population of 122,000 and currently offers urban transport services for cars, cycles and buses. In addition there are 3 railway stations and regional coach services. London Stansted Airport is accessible by the airlink coach.
Frederick Barnes (1814–1898) was a British architect who is best remembered for his work on railway stations in East Anglia.