NEWMARKET, a market-town, comprising the parish
of St-Mary, in the hundred of LACKFORD, county
of SUFFOLK, and the parish of All Saints, in the hundred
of CHEVELEY, county of CAMBRIDGE, 13 miles
(N.E. by E.) from Cambridge, and 61 (N.N.E.) from
London, on the road to Norwich, containing 2514 inhabitants.
The earliest account of this town has reference
to the year 1227, when it is supposed to have derived its
name from a market then recently established, which
is said to have been removed hither, on account of the
plague raging at Exning, a village about two miles dis-
tant, where was, probably, the parochial church; and in
the time of Edward III. it gave name to Thomas Merks, or
de Novo Mercatu, Bishop of Carlisle, who was probably a
native of the place. A house, called the King's house,
was originally built here by James I., for the purpose of
enjoying the diversion of hunting, and the subsequent
reputation of -this town for horse-racing seems to have
arisen from the spirit and swiftness. of some Spanish
horses, which having been wrecked with the vessels of
the Armada, were thrown ashore on the coast of Galloway
and brought hither. Its celebrity greatly increased
in the reign of Charles II., the grand patron
of the turf, who rebuilt the King's house, which had
fallen into decay during the civil war, and frequently
honoured the races with his presence. On the 22nd
of March, 1683, being the time of the races, the King,
-Queen, and Duke of York were present, but a sudden
conflagration compelled them to return hastily to London,
to which event some writers have attributed the
defeat of the Rye-house plot: by this disaster a great
part of the town was destroyed, and the damage was
estimated at £20,000. A second conflagration happened
about the beginning of the last century. At the close
of the civil war, Charles I. was removed from the house
of Lady Cutts, of Childerley, to Newmarket, on the 9th
of June, 1647, and remained here about ten days.
The town consists principally of one street, the north
side of which is in the county of Suffolk, and the south
in that of Cambridge; it is neither lighted nor paved;
the houses are modern and well built, and some, erected
for the occasional residence of visitors, are handsome:
the inhabitants are supplied with water from springs.
Coffee-houses, billiard-rooms, and others, furnish appropriate
accommodation for all meetings, preliminary to
the races. The race-course and training-grounds are
the finest in the kingdom; the former is on a grassy
heath hear the town, and in the county of Cambridge,
extending in length four miles; the training-ground is
more than a mile and a half long, on a very gentle acclivity,
admirably adapted to keep the horses in wind.
The races are held seven times in the year, and are, distinguished
as the Craven meeting, commencing on the
Monday in Easter week; the first and second spring
meetings, the former on the Monday fortnight following,
and the latter a fortnight afterwards; the July meeting j
the first and second October meetings, and the third
October, or Houghton meeting, the first of these commencing
on the Monday preceding the first Thursday in
that month; the king gives two plates annually. The
palace erected by King James has been- sold, and converted
into shops  the one added to the original structure
by King Charles is standing, and was the residence
of the late Duke of York during the meetings; belonging
to it are extensive stables for the king's horses.
The training of race-horses is a source of extensive
profit, several of them, among which are some of the
finest horses in the world, being constantly exported, at
exceedingly high prices; about four hundred are here
during the greater part of the year; and it is computed,
that the weekly consumption of oats in the town alone,
amounts to the amazing quantity of five hundred quarters.
The market, which was granted or confirmed in
1227, is held on Tuesday; and there are fairs on Whit-
Tuesday and November 8th, the latter being extensively
supplied with cattle, horses, corn, butter, cheese, hops,
&c. The county magistrates hold petty sessions here
every Tuesday 5 and a court leet is held occasionally.
The parishes of St. Mary and All Saints are in the
archdeaconry of Sudbury, and diocese of Norwich$ the
former is a discharged rectory, consolidated with the
vicarage of Wood-Ditton, rated in the king's books at
£4.15. 2., and in the patronage of the Duke of Rutland;
the church is a handsome structure with a fine
tower and spire. The latter is a perpetual curacy, endowed
with £400 royal bounty, and in the patronage of
the Bishop of Norwich. There is a place of worship
for Independents. Free schools are supported by a donation
of £50 per annum from Queen Anne, which is
equally divided, after the deduction of fees of the Exchequer,
between the master and the mistress, for which
they are required to teach twenty-one boys and twenty*
one girls: a National school haying been recently estaN
Wished, the twenty-one boys on Queen Annes foundation
are instructed there as free scholars; the remainder,
being about one hundred and ten, are paid
for by the subscribers; the girls, instructed by the
schoolmistress, are provided with cloaks and bonnets.
About a mile. and a half from the town is a rer
markable'excavation, called the "Devil's Dyke, extending
nearly in a straight line for. seven miles, and
being in some places above one hundred feet in width:
this work, unquestionably of very remote antiquity,
has been attributed to the Britons anterior to the time
of Caesar, and by some to Uffa, the first king of the
East Angles; but, notwithstanding that much pains
have been taken in the research, no authentic account
has ever yet appeared of this remarkable monument
of human industry and perseverance; it serves for the
boundary between the dioceses of Norwich and Ely.
Several Roman coins were found near Newmarket heath,
in the year 1750.