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PLACE NAMES


 
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Mildenhall
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 | Apex, Charter Square, Bury St Edmunds - 01284 764667
63 The Guineas, Newmarket - 01638 719749
tic@westsuffolk.gov.uk
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Mildenhall is a small market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is part of the non-metropolitan district of Forest Heath and has a population of 9,906 people, increasing to 10,315 at the 2011 Census. The town is near the A11 and is located 60 km (37 mi) north-west of county town, Ipswich. The large Royal Air Force base, RAF Mildenhall as well as RAF Lakenheath, are located north of the town. The former is used by the United States Air Force, as the headquarters of its 100th Air Refueling Wing and 352nd Special Operations Group.
Mildenhall centres on a market place with a 16th-century hexagonal market cross and town pump. The town's market is held here on every Friday and originated as a weekly chartered market in, it is believed, the 15th century. In 1934, Mildenhall was the start point of the MacRobertson Air Race to Melbourne, Australia. Mildenhall has its own radio station, ZACK FM (Forest Heath Public Radio), broadcasting on 105.3 FM; the transmitter is located at the top of St Mary's Church and radiates 100 W.
Due to the airbase, Mildenhall currently has the highest concentration of American residents in the country, as 18% of residents were born in the US.
Mildenhall is perhaps most famous for the discovery in 1942 of the Mildenhall Treasure. Now at the British Museum, the treasure is a hoard of Roman silver objects buried in the 4th century. In 1946 the discovery was made public and the treasure acquired by the British Museum; Roald Dahl wrote an article about the find which was published firstly in the Saturday Evening Post, and later as "The Mildenhall Treasure" (a short story) in his short story collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. The Mildenhall Museum in the centre of the town contains displays of local history and wildlife, the history of the RAF base, and information on the Mildenhall Treasure. Entrance is free, opening times vary throughout the year. The region between Devil's Dyke and the line between Littleport and Shippea Hill shows a remarkable amount of archaeological findings of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.
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