Relhan Collection : 264 Newmarket. S view of the town

Relhan, Richard, 1782-1844

Relhan Collection

1800Newmarket sits in extensive chalk heathland, as did a broad swathe of S Cambs before Enclosure and conversion of much grassland to arable agriculture in the C19. This view is from the higher ground S of Newmarket and illustrates the appeal to sportsmen of this open downland. Newmarket was also on the Icknield Way, the most significant E-W route from Suffolk, on the county boundary (a good place to avoid too much interest from the law) and had attracted weekly markets and an annual fair from the Middle Ages. It was therefore a busy town with pubs, inns and entertainment, and lax law enforcement, appealing to moneyed visitors and those hoping to make money alike. It particularly appealed to James I as a centre to develop the new sport of horse-racing, where he could have relaxed fun away from the formal life of London but near enough to travel back and forth. He built 2 successive palaces here and visited each winter, and the small town expanded with suitable houses for rich courtiers, officials etc. Charles I, a keen and skilled horseman but more interested in ménage (dressage) than racing, also visited Newmarket, and after the Restoration racing was rapidly revived under Charles II, who was visiting the repaired palace in 1660. Races (and betting and other entertainments) were organised, attracting huge audiences as well as participants. James II was another enthusiast, and William III and Queen Anne also attended. Overseeing racing during several reigns was Tregonwell Frampton (10), who made his fortune breeding, training and betting on horses and by his royal appointment as Keeper of the Running Horses. Royal interest declined with the Hanoverians but C18 aristocratic enthusiasm led to many developments in breeding and racing and the town continued to grow. In 1763 ‘a Palace of the King’s, for his residence during the horse races, as well as some good houses of the nobility and gentry’ are noted. ’The Jockey Club was founded 1752 and took over the administration of Newmarket and regulation of racing nationally. The coming of the railway in 1848 increased audiences and participants, and royal interest returned with the future Edward VII as Prince of Wales. Even when horse-racing generally was banned in 1915 Newmarket was exempt. The Animal Health Trust's Equine Research Station was established 1946 and the National Stud moved here by 1967.Of the 3 churches Relhan shows the nearest is All Saints, which was rebuilt 1876-7 in a C13 style, when the nave and chancel were demolished and rebuilt against the heavily reconstructed tower in a roughly N to S orientation. It still has medieval fabric in the 3-storeyed tower, but there is now no spire. The church with the tall shingled spire is the parish church of St Mary’s (originally a chapel of ease for St Martin’s until 1834), basically C14 but heavily restored 1856. It retains a slim spire on its tower, which is smaller than in Relhan’s time. Beyond this is St Martin’s church in Exning, also much restored but with some C13 and C14 work, including the tower, although it now lacks the spire that Relhan shows. There is now (2020) no sign of the windmill. The road junction on the right corresponds with the modern main road to Bury St Edmunds and the minor road to Ashley, but there is no water here.Bob Carr pers comm; Pevsner 1961; Thurlburn and Woolyer 1763; VCH 2002