Haverhill, Suffolk

Encyclopedia : H : HA : HAV : Haverhill, Suffolk

redirect

Haverhill is an industrial market town in the county of Suffolk, England, situated next to the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It lies approximately 18 miles southeast of Cambridge and 60 miles north of London. It is the second town of the borough of St Edmundsbury, and has a population of around 22,000.

Haverhill dates back to at least Saxon times, and the town's market is recorded in the Doomsday book (1086). Whilst most of its historical buildings were lost to the great fire on June 14th 1667, it does however retain one notable Tudor house (Reportedly given to Anne of Cleves as part of her divorce from Henry VIII) and many interesting Victorian buildings. Nowadays, Haverhill is predominantly a modern and young town, having experienced a large influx of people through being designated an expansion town following World War II. The relatively small town centre is surrounded by many large housing developments, completed at various periods between the 1950s and the present. It is at quite a high elevation (relative to much of East Anglia), being set on the chalk hills of the Newmarket Ridge. Unfortunely, this means the local people have very bad radio and terrestrial television reception. Recently, it has seen a growth in a small, but noticeable Portuguese and Polish communities.

Contents

0.1 The missing railway
0.2 Economy

1 Other information
2 External links

The missing railway

Haverhill has no railway station. It was on the Cambridge to Sudbury line, which was closed in 1967. Much of its route and infrastructure is still visible in Haverhill and beyond. In recent years, a local campaign has been started to try to bring the railway back to the town. This would help to relieve serious traffic congestion on the main road to Cambridge, along which many Haverhill residents commute daily.

Economy

The town's economy is dominated by industry, and has a huge industrial area on its southern side of the town is home to a large number of manufacturing companies such as Wisdom toothbrushes, Gurteen clothing, Winmau Dartboards, Grampian Foods (in Little Wratting near Haverhill) and Workspace office furniture (formerly Project). Other companies deal in chemical (International Flavours & Fragrances), waste processing, transport and construction. More recently, some cutting edge biotechnology firms (eg Genzyme) have also moved in.

In November 2004, Haverhill achieved a world first, becoming the only known town to feature a laser-lit sculpture on a roundabout. The steel sculpture, called Spirit of Enterprise, dominates the main gateway roundabout on the road from Cambridge, and has caused controversy among local people. Some residents consider it an unnecessary eyesore. Many people affectionately (or not) call it "The Giant Bog Roll" - for its uncanny resemblance to the bathroom aid.

Other information

Nathaniel Ward, the author of the first constitution in North America, was born in Haverhill in 1578. The town is namesake to Haverhill, Massachusetts, a city in the eastern United States.

External links

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.