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Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. 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. Notable buildings in the town include; the 15th century parish church, originally a chapel of ease for the parish of Barking (with a unique double-hammerbeam roof), the mediaeval Limes Hotel, and the Stuart era school. 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, Cambridge and Peterborough. 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. Notable people from Needham include Joseph Priestley who discovered oxygen, EastEnders actress June Brown. The author George Ewart Evans lived in Needham Market. The Liberal Democrat peer Ros Scott chose her title after the town. The town of Needham, Massachusetts was named after Needham Market. The local football team, Needham Market F.C., has been very successful over recent years after reaching the semi-finals of the FA Vase. |
