Editing Newmarket, Suffolk (section)

==Geography and governance==
[[File:The Jockey Club, Newmarket, UK.jpg|thumb|right|A view of the Jockey Club Rooms at [[Newmarket Racecourse]]]]
The area of Suffolk containing Newmarket is nearly an [[exclave]], with only a narrow strip of territory linking it to the rest of the county. There are three tiers of local government covering Newmarket, at parish (town), district, and county level: Newmarket Town Council, [[West Suffolk District Council]], and [[Suffolk County Council]].

The town lies in the Parliamentary constituency of [[West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency)|West Suffolk]], which since 2024 has been represented by MP [[Nick Timothy]].

===Administrative history===
{{Infobox former subdivision
|Name=Newmarket
|subdivision_type=[[Local board of health|Local Board District]] (1851{{ndash}}1894)<br>[[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|Urban District]] (1894{{ndash}}1974)
|HQ=Newmarket
<!-- Statuses -->
|Start=7 August 1851 (Local Board)<br>31 December 1894 (Urban District)
|End=31 March 1974
|Replace=[[Forest Heath District|Forest Heath]]
|arms_image   = [[File:Newmarket Escutcheon.png|Newmarket Escutcheon|center|150px]]
<!-- Memberships -->
| membership_title1     = [[Court of quarter sessions|Quarter Sessions]] (until 1889)<br>County Council (after 1889)
| membership1           = Suffolk and Cambridgeshire (until 1889)<br>West Suffolk (after 1889)
|PopulationFirst=6,213<ref>{{cite web |title=Newmarket Urban Sanitary District |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10043311 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref>
|PopulationLast=12,360<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10133622 |title=Newmarket Urban District, ''A Vision of Britain through Time'' |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref>          
   |PopulationFirstYear=1891
   |PopulationLastYear=1971
}}

Historically the town was split between parishes and counties, with one parish – St Mary – in Suffolk, and the other – All Saints – in [[Cambridgeshire]]. The boundary between the two parishes followed the High Street through the middle of the town, with St Mary's parish and Suffolk to the north, and All Saints' parish and Cambridgeshire to the south. In 1851 a [[local board of health]] was established to govern the town, with its territory covering the two Newmarket parishes and parts of the neighbouring parishes of [[Exning]] (Suffolk) and [[Woodditton]] (Cambridgeshire).<ref>{{cite book |title=The Public Health Supplemental Act 1851 No. 2 (14 & 15 Vict. c. 98) |date=7 August 1851 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wL8uAAAAIAAJ&dq=Newmarket+board+of+health&pg=PA656 |access-date=12 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Newmarket: Local Board of Health |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=12 March 2022 |work=Cambridge Chronicle and University Journal |date=6 September 1851 |page=4}}</ref>

The [[Local Government Act 1888]] established county councils, and directed that [[urban sanitary district]]s such as Newmarket Local Board should not straddle county boundaries. As such, the whole local board district was brought within [[West Suffolk (county)|West Suffolk]] on 1 April 1889. The [[Local Government Act 1894]] established elected parish and district councils, with Newmarket Local Board becoming Newmarket Urban District Council on 31 December 1894. Newmarket Urban District Council held its first meeting on 31 December 1894 at [[Newmarket Town Hall]] at 29 High Street, a converted theatre which had previously been used by the old local board for meetings.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1351290|desc=29 High Street, Newmarket|fewer-links=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Newmarket Local Board: The last meeting |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=13 March 2022 |work=Newmarket Journal |date=22 December 1894 |page=8}}</ref> The first chairman of the urban district council was Joseph Rogers, who had been the last chairman of the local board.<ref>{{cite news |title=Newmarket Urban District Council: First meeting |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=13 March 2022 |work=Newmarket Journal |date=5 January 1895 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Death of Mr Joseph Rogers at Newmarket |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=14 March 2022 |work=Evening Star |date=26 July 1904 |location=Ipswich |page=4}}</ref> On 1 October 1895 the urban district was enlarged by absorbing the rest of Exning parish and additional areas from Woodditton parish (the latter being added to the civil parish of Newmarket All Saints). Thereafter Newmarket Urban District covered three civil parishes: Newmarket St Mary, Newmarket All Saints, and Exning. These were [[Civil parish#Urban parishes|urban parishes]] and so did not have parish councils of their own, but were directly administered by Newmarket Urban District Council.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic A. |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Volume 1: Southern England |date=1979 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0-901050-67-9 |page=684}}</ref>

The urban district council was based at the Town Hall at 29 High Street until 1922, when it moved to Godolphin House at 2 The Avenue, and sold the Town Hall to be converted into commercial premises.<ref>{{cite news |title=Newmarket Urban Council |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=13 March 2022 |work=Bury Free Press |date=15 July 1922 |location=Bury St Edmunds |page=5}}</ref> By 1937 the council had moved its main offices to Stratford House at 29 Old Station Road, but continued to use Godolphin House for some departments.<ref>{{cite news |title=Newmarket Urban District Council |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=14 March 2022 |work=Chelmsford Chronicle |date=4 June 1937 |page=6}}</ref><ref>Post Office Telephone Directory, 1937: Newmarket Urban District Council: Clerk, accountant and rating office listed at Stratford House, surveyor's office at Godolphin House.</ref> Around 1948 the council acquired Severals House at 3 Bury Road, which then served as its offices and meeting place until the council's abolition in 1974.<ref>Post Office Telephone Directory, 1948: Newmarket Urban District Council, Severals House</ref> Newmarket Urban District Council was granted a [[coat of arms]] on 15 November 1951.<ref name=heraldry/>

The [[Local Government Commission for England (1958–1967)|Local Government Commission for England]] suggested in the 1960s that the border around Newmarket could be altered in [[West Suffolk (county)|West Suffolk]]'s favour. Conversely, the 1972 [[Local Government Act 1972|Local Government Bill]], as originally proposed, would have transferred the town (and Haverhill) to Cambridgeshire. Newmarket Urban District Council supported the move to Cambridgeshire, but ultimately the government decided to withdraw this proposal and keep the existing boundary, despite lobbying from the Urban District Council.<ref>{{cite Hansard |date=6 July 1972 |column_start=1002 |column_end=1005 |house=House of Commons}}</ref>

Newmarket Urban District was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, merging with neighbouring [[Mildenhall Rural District]] to become [[Forest Heath District]] on 1 April 1974.<ref>{{cite book |title=The English Non-Metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972 (S.I. 1972 No. 2039) |date=1972 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1972/2039/made |access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref> No [[successor parish]] was created for the former urban district, and so it became an [[unparished area]], remaining unparished until 1999 when the area was split between two parishes called Newmarket and Exning, with the parish council for Newmarket adopting the name Newmarket Town Council.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Forest Heath (Parishes) Order 1999 |date=1999 |url=https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/12298/forest-heath-parishes-order-1999.pdf |access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Newmarket Town Council |url=https://www.newmarket.gov.uk/ |access-date=14 March 2022}}</ref> Forest Heath District Council had its main offices at [[Mildenhall, Suffolk|Mildenhall]]. Forest Heath merged with neighbouring St Edmundsbury in 2019 to become West Suffolk, administered from [[Bury St Edmunds]].