page_title: Halesworth
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Halesworth / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Town placard for Halesworth in Suffolk.
context_page_description: Halesworth is a small market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the northeastern corner of Suffolk, England. The population was measured at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It is located 15 miles south west of Lowestoft, and stands on a small tributary of the River Blyth, 9 miles upstream from Southwold. The town is served by Halesworth railway station on the Ipswich–Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Halesworth is twinned with both Bouchain in France and Eitorf in Germany.
  A Roman settlement, Halesworth has a medieval church; St Mary's with Victorian additions and a variety of houses, from early timber-framed buildings to the remnants of Victorian prosperity. Former almshouses used to house the Halesworth & District Museum but this has now been moved to Halesworth railway station. The Town Trail walk provides opportunity to discover the history of Halesworth.
  Halesworth is the home to the New Cut Arts Centre, which hosts the annual Halesworth Arts Festival.
  Halesworth has the largest Millennium Green in the UK with around 44 acres of grazing marsh providing a haven for wildlife close to the town centre.
context_section_description: The place-name 'Halesworth' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Healesuurda and Halesuuorda. The name means 'Hæle's homestead'.
  The town's Angel Hotel dates to the sixteenth century.
  Joseph Dalton Hooker, the botanist 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 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 1812–44 by the theatre manager David Fisher. He owned an itinerant theatre group which travelled a circuit of theatres in East Anglia (including the Fisher Theatre in Bungay which has now been fully restored). It would take the company two years to complete the circuit travelling with their costumes, props and sets and publicising their plays as they went.
  A Halesworth bank used to issue its own banknotes. A 5 guinea 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 airfield of RAF Halesworth. The airfield was constructed in 1942-1943, and initially the 56th Fighter Group of the United States 8th Army Air Force were stationed there. Later, in 1944, it became the base of the 489th Bomb Group flying B24 Liberators. They played a part in the buildup to and during D-Day on 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, and while it is still closed for flying, there is a museum staffed by locals who help to keep alive the memories of those it hosted.
caption: Town placard, as of July 2012.
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