Needham Market
| Needham Market | |
|---|---|
 Hawks Mill, Needham Market now converted into flats |
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 Needham Market
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| Needham Market shown within Suffolk | |
| Population | 4,528 (2011 Census) |
| 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 |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. The town of Needham, Massachusetts was named after Needham Market.
It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the 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.
The village contains many businesses; a post office and stationers, hairdressers, Bretts Bakery, Smiths Butchers, Pauls Hardware shop and many more.
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 FA Vase.
The town is on the route of the Dunwich Dynamo annual cycle ride.
Needham Lake (a former gravel pit) provides leisure facilities and a wildlife habitat.
The East Anglia Main Line railway runs through the town, with Needham Market railway station providing trains to Ipswich and Cambridge. The A14 (although then the A45) once ran directly through Needham Market, but a bypass was built in the 1970s. This has left the town with good road links to the surrounding area, but with less traffic than before.
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Wikipedia