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Newmarket is a unique market town with a fascinating history. Newmarket stands on the prehistoric Icknield Way, used by travellers to cross Newmarket Heath. Eventually the Normans were to divide the country into manors, held by their nobles, at which point Newmarket entered written history.

In 1200 A.D. Sir Richard de Argentein married Cassandra, daughter of the Lord of the Manor of Exning. Newmarket was gifted as part of Cassandra’s marriage dowry. Sir Richard, now Lord of the Manor of Newmarket, obtained permission from the King to hold weekly markets, and by 1223 had permission to hold annual fairs.

The Medieval town, is marked by small alleyways off the High Street which are the remnants of property boundaries. James l bought two inns near the Jockey Club in the High Street to create a “palace”, so that he could indulge in his passion for hunting. The first “palace” was a ramshackle affair and collapsed with the King inside it! He was pulled clear, unhurt, and appointed Inigo Jones to build a more impressive building.

Charles l was a keen horseman and was credited with building the first grandstand on Newmarket Heath. During the Civil War, he became a prisoner in his palace in Newmarket, which later suffered damage and decline.

The nobility began to build houses in the area and develop stud farms. The arrival of the Jockey Club in 1752 was a major event in the town’s history and its lease of a coffee house soon turned into the permanent headquarters’ for the racing industry.