Mildenhall, Suffolk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mildenhall | |
  Mildenhall shown within Suffolk |
|
| Population | 9,906[1] (2001 Census) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| - London | 75 mi (121 km) |
| Parish | Mildenhall |
| District | Forest Heath |
| Shire county | Suffolk |
| Region | East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BURY ST. EDMUNDS |
| Postcode district | IP28 |
| Dialling code | 01638 |
| Police | Suffolk |
| Fire | Suffolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| European Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | West Suffolk |
| Website: www.mildenhall.suffolk.gov.uk | |
| List of places: UK • England • Suffolk | |
Mildenhall is a small market town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. It is run by Forest Heath District Council and has a population of 9,906 people. The town is just off of the A11 and is located some 18 km (11 mi) north-west of the town of Bury St. Edmunds, 30 km (19 mi) north-east of the city of Cambridge, and 60 km (37 mi) north-west of Suffolk's county town of Ipswich.[2] Mildenhall has five schools: two primary schools, two middle schools and one upper school.
The Primary Schools are St. Mary's Primary School and Great Heath School; the Middle Schools are College Heath Middle School and Riverside Middle school; the High School is Mildenhall College of Technology. "MCT" as it is known locally has a sixth form for students who have left the standard curriculum and who want a different option to college or university. The large Royal Air Force base, RAF Mildenhall, is located immediately north of the town. The base is used by the United States Air Force, as the headquarters of its 100th Air Refueling Wing and 352nd Special Operations Group.
The town centres around the market place with its 16th century hexagonal market cross and town pump; the town's market is held here on every Friday and originated as a weekly Chartered Market in medieval times (since the 15th century it is believed). The Mildenhall Museum in the centre of the town contains displays of times past, the local wildlife, the history of the RAF base from its opening in 1934, and information on the Mildenhall Treasure. The town has an array of family-owned stores from a traditional fish and chip shop, to a pet shop with supplies and small animals. A Sainsburys supermarket has replaced the Budgens supermarket and everything else has stayed as normal. The parish council has also constructed a controversial new bus station in the style of the market cross. The bus station replaced an old car park, and was finally built in 2005.
[edit] Archaeology
Mildenhall is perhaps most famous for the discovery in 1943 of the Mildenhall Treasure. Now at the British Museum, the treasure is a hoard of Roman silver objects buried in the 4th century. In 1946 the discovery was made public and the treasure acquired by the British Museum; Roald Dahl wrote an article about the find which was published firstly in the Saturday Evening Post, and later as "The Mildenhall Treasure" in his short story collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More.[3][4] The region between Devil's Dyke and the line between Littleport and Shippea Hill shows a remarkable amount of archaeological findings of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. [5]
[edit] References
- ^ Neighbourhood Statistics - Parish Headcounts. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
- ^ Ordnance Survey (2006). OS Explorer Map 226 - Ely & Newmarket. ISBN 0-319-21857-0.
- ^ The Mildenhall Treasure. Mildenhall Museum. Retrieved on May 4, 2006.
- ^ Dahl, Roald (1995). The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, 5th edition, London: Penguin Group, 215. ISBN 0-14-037348-9.
- ^ Hall, David [1994]. Fenland survey : an essay in landscape and persistence / David Hall and John Coles. London; English Heritage. ISBN 1-85074-477-7., pp. 81-88.
