Halesworth is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

in north-eastern

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

, on a tributary of the River Blyth, upstream from Southwold. The town is served by

Halesworth railway station Halesworth railway station is on the East Suffolk Line in the east of England, serving the town of Halesworth, Suffolk. It is also the nearest station to the seaside town of Southwold. It is down the line from and measured from London Liv ...

on the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

–

East Suffolk Line. It is twinned with Bouchain in France and

Eitorf Eitorf is a municipality in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Sieg, approx. 25 km east of Bonn city. History Early History The area encompassing Eitorf was originally inhabited by the ...

in Germany. Nearby villages include Cratfield, Wissett, Chediston, Walpole,

Blyford Blyford (formerly known as Blythford) is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about east of Halesworth and separated from Wenhaston by the River Blyth, Suffolk to the south. It is in the civil parish of ...

Linstead Parva Linstead Parva is a small village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. It has a small but notable 13th-century parish church, still in regular use. The village pub, The Greyhound, was already established ...

, Wenhaston, Thorington, Spexhall, Bramfield, Huntingfield,

Cookley Cookley is a village in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England, a few miles to the north of Kidderminster, and close to the villages of Kinver and Wolverley. It lies on the River Stour, and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Can ...

and Holton.

History

A Roman settlement, Halesworth has a medieval church; St Mary's with Victorian additions and a variety of houses, from early

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

buildings to the remnants of Victorian prosperity. Former

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s used to house the Halesworth & District Museum (open from May to September) but this has now been moved to

. There is a Town Trail walk. The place-name 'Halesworth' is first attested in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Healesuurda'' and ''Halesuuorda''. The name means 'Hæle's homestead'. The town's ''Angel Hotel'' dates from the 16th century.

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

, the

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and traveller, lived in Halesworth with his family.

In 1862 the only murder of modern times was recorded. Ebenezer Tye (died 25 November 1862, aged 24) was a policeman who was trying to stop a burglary in Chediston Street. However he was beaten to death and is now buried in Halesworth Cemetery. The murderer, John Ducker, was caught and was the last person to be publicly hanged in Suffolk. The archives of the Diocese of Norwich record the murder of a

chantry priest A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

in Halesworth in medieval times. In 1862 the Rifle Hall was presented to the town by the family of a late captain of the rifle corps, Andrew Johnston. It is so called because it was used as a drill hall by the rifle corps. The hall was originally built in 1792 as a theatre and was used from 1812 to 1844 by the theatre manager David Fisher. He owned an itinerant theatre group which travelled a circuit of theatres in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

(including the Fisher Theatre in

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at the neck of a mean ...

which has now been fully restored). A Halesworth bank used to issue its own

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

s. A 5

guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

banknote (£5.25), issued by the Suffolk and Halesworth Bank in 1799, is to be found in the Coins and Medals Collection at the British Museum, and the Museum also holds later examples. A short distance to the north-east of the town itself, in Holton, lies the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

airfield of

RAF Halesworth Royal Air Force Halesworth or more simply RAF Halesworth is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of the town of Halesworth, Suffolk, England and west of Southwold. United States Army Air Forces use Halesworth was built in 19 ...

. The airfield was constructed in 1942–1943, and initially the 56th Fighter Group of the United States 8th Army Air Force were stationed there. In 1944, it became the base of the 489th Bomb Group flying B24 Liberators. They played a part in the build-up and conduct of the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, from 6 June 1944. From July they switched to strategic offensive bombing until November, when they ceased operations to return to America. Between January and June 1945, the 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron operated from the base, flying "war-weary" P47 and B17 aircraft. Their mission was to carry dinghies and smoke markers to aid downed crews found at sea. The airfield closed for flying in February 1946. Today it is an industrial site owned by

Bernard Matthews Bernard Trevor Matthews CVO CBE QSM (24 January 1930 – 25 November 2010) was the founder of Bernard Matthews Farms, a company that is best known for producing turkey meat products. Early life Bernard Trevor Matthews was born in 1930 in Bro ...

, but there is a museum.

Governance

Since 2019, Halesworth has been governed by East Suffolk district council and

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the administrative authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Government Association. History Est ...

. Between 1974 and 2019 it was part of the Waveney district. Prior to 1974, local government functions had been carried out by Halesworth Urban District Council. Halesworth Town Council was also formed in 1974. The 12 Town Councillors are elected every four years. The chairman and vice-chair are elected by fellow councillors and usually serve for two years in office.

The Thoroughfare

Excavations outside the ''White Hart'' pub in 1991 discovered part of a causeway – probably dating from the late

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

period. A piece of oak pile from these excavations is in the Halesworth & District Museum. There are examples of 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th century buildings in the Thoroughfare. Number 8 is a former ironmonger's. This shop belonged to the grandfather of Sir

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

and the name of William Frost can still be seen underneath the archway next to the shop. A block of four shops next to this was originally built in 1474 as the Guildhall. This was the home of the Guild of

St John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

and Guild of St Love and St Anthony.

Arts and natural history

Halesworth is the home to the New Cut Arts Centre. The town has the largest

Millennium Green Millennium Greens are areas of green space for the benefit of local communities. 245 were created in cities, towns and villages across England to celebrate the turn of the Millennium. Their creation was funded in part by the National Lottery via ...

in the UK with around of grazing marsh providing a haven for wildlife close to the town centre. The rivers in this area are home to

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more north ...

s, common kingfishers and Eurasian otters.

Railways

is connected to

and

. Services are available to Lowestoft and Ipswich and are run by

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the J ...

. Other dates of importance to rail travel are 1854, when the railway arrived in Halesworth, 1859, when the station moved to its present position as the line was extended to Lowestoft, 1888, when a moveable platform was installed. It was renewed in 1922 and restored in 1999, so allowing the platforms to be extended across the adjacent level crossing. In 1958, Norwich Road railway bridge opened as an alternative to that level crossing. From 24 September 1879 until 11 April 1929 the narrow-gauge

Southwold Railway The Southwold Railway was a narrow gauge railway line between Halesworth and Southwold in the English county of Suffolk. long, it was narrow gauge. It opened in 1879 and closed in 1929. Intermediate stations were at Wenhaston, Blythbur ...

connected Halesworth to Southwold. There were plans by the Southwold Railway Society to revive the railway, partly on the original track and partly on new formation, but these have now been abandoned in favour of a railway park, to be situated at Southwold.

St Mary's Church

Halesworth is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, recording Ulf the priest to be in charge of the parish. The present church is essentially early 15th century, with outer aisles built and restoration taking place in the late 19th century. At the time of the restoration, some evidence was uncovered of a

round-tower church Round-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, mostly in East Anglia; of about 185 surviving examples in the country, 124 are in Norfolk, 38 in Suffolk, six in Essex, three in Sussex and two each in Cambridgeshire and Berksh ...

on the site. The carved Danestones in the church, depicting hands clutching foliage or tails, were found in the church during the 19th century and could be part of a cross shaft. Their original location is unknown, as is their date. However, Pevsner in ''The Buildings of England'' mentions them as being part of an Anglo-Saxon frieze, with a suggested date of the later 9th century. St Mary's became the centre of the eight-parish Halesworth Team Ministry in the 1980s. With the 1996 addition of the parishes of Bramfield, Thorington and Wenhaston, it is now part of the Blyth Valley Team Ministry of eleven parishes. The statue of the Madonna and Child in the

Lady Chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, ...

was fashioned from driftwood by

Peter Eugene Ball Peter Eugene Ball (19 March 1943) is an English sculptor. He is best known for his religious work which can be seen in churches and cathedrals throughout Britain. He also produces secular sculpture using predominantly driftwood and found obje ...

Pubs

There are historical records of some 30 pubs in Halesworth.Pub index.
/ref> At present there are four: the ''White Hart'', the ''Swan'', the ''Angel'' and the ''Triple Plea''.

Sports

Halesworth has a 27-hole golf club. Halesworth Town F.C., Wenhaston United F.C.are the local football clubs. Halesworth also has a tennis club with courts and has a bowls club both located at the Dairy Hill area.

References

External links

Halesworth Town Council
{{Authority control Towns in Suffolk Market towns in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Waveney District