Forest Heath District

{{Infobox settlement   |timezone = GMT |utc_offset = 0 |timezone_DST = BST |utc_offset_DST = +1  |settlement_type = Non-metropolitan district |subdivision_type = Sovereign state |subdivision_type1 = Constituent country |subdivision_type2 = Region |subdivision_type3 = Non-metropolitan county |subdivision_type4 = Status |subdivision_type5 = Admin HQ |subdivision_name = United Kingdom |subdivision_name1 = England |subdivision_name4 = Non-metropolitan district |government_type = Non-metropolitan district council |leader_title = Leadership |leader_title1 = |established_title1 = Incorporated |extinct_title = Abolished |extinct_date = 31 March 2019 |population_density_km2 = auto |population_blank1_title = Ethnicity |blank1_name = ONS code |blank2_name = OS grid reference  |name = Forest Heath |other_name = Forest Heath District |image_skyline = Marketplace Mildenhall - geograph.org.uk - 822218.jpg |imagesize = |image_alt = |image_caption = Mildenhall |image_shield = |shield_size = |shield_alt = |shield_link = |image_map = Forest Heath UK locator map.svg |mapsize = 150px |map_alt = |map_caption = Forest Heath shown within Suffolk |subdivision_name2 = East of England |subdivision_name3 = Suffolk |subdivision_name5 = Mildenhall |established_date1 = 1 April 1974 |governing_body = Forest Heath District Council |leader_party = |leader_name = |leader_name1 = |area_total_km2 = 377.7 |population_total = 65,500 |population_as_of = mid-2018 |population_rank = |population_blank1 = 91.0% White<br />3.0% Black<br />1.3% S.Asian<br />3.1% mixed race |blank1_info = 42UC (ONS)<br />E07000201 (GSS) |blank2_info = {{gbmappingsmall|TL7156375032}} |website = [https://www.westsuffolk.gov.uk www.westsuffolk.gov.uk] }} '''Forest Heath''' was a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council was based in Mildenhall. Other towns in the district included Newmarket. The population of the district at the 2011 Census was 59,748.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=6275103&c=Forest+Heath&d=13&e=62&g=6465757&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1471286437713&enc=1|title=District population 2011|access-date=15 August 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics|archive-date=12 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012183401/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=6275103&c=Forest%20Heath&d=13&e=62&g=6465757&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1471286437713&enc=1|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The district's name reflected the fact that it contains parts of both Thetford Forest and the heathlands of Breckland. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of Newmarket Urban District and Mildenhall Rural District. Forest Heath district was merged with the borough of St Edmundsbury on 1 April 2019 to form a new West Suffolk district.<ref name ="WS LGC 2018">{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/639/contents/made|title=The West Suffolk (Local Government Changes) Order 2018|author=Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government|date=24 May 2018|access-date=2018-05-28|website=legislation.gov.uk}}</ref>

Forest Heath was the home to two of the largest United States Air Force (USAF) airbases in the UK: RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, as well as the headquarters of British horse racing, Newmarket Racecourse.

In the English indices of deprivation 2010 report published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, two parts of Forest Heath have the highest employment out of 32,483 areas in England.<ref>{{cite web|title=English indices of deprivation 2010|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2010|work=Department for Communities and Local Government|publisher=Gov.uk|access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref>

==Communities== The district contained three market towns and twenty civil parishes.

===Towns=== {{columns-list|colwidth=22em| *Mildenhall *Newmarket *Brandon }}

===Civil parishes=== {{columns-list|colwidth=22em| *Barton Mills *Beck Row, Holywell Row and Kenny Hill *Cavenham *Dalham *Elveden *Eriswell *Exning *Freckenham *Gazeley *Herringswell *Higham *Icklingham *Kentford *Lakenheath *Moulton *Red Lodge *Santon Downham *Tuddenham *Worlington }}

==Governance== {{further|Forest Heath District Council elections}} thumb|Council Offices, College Heath Road, Mildenhall Forest Heath District Council provided district-level functions. County-level functions were provided by Suffolk County Council. The whole district was also divided into civil parishes, which provided a third tier of local government. The district council was based at offices on College Heath Road in Mildenhall.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The A11 Trunk Road (Fiveways Roundabout, Barton Mills, Suffolk) (40 miles per hour and 50 miles per hour speed limit) Order 2018 |journal=London Gazette |date=8 November 2018 |issue=62461 |page=20348 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3147625 |access-date=4 June 2025}}</ref> The building was purpose-built for the council and opened in 1980.<ref>{{cite news |title=No fanfare for new offices |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0003223%2F19800717&page=1 |access-date=4 June 2025 |work=Newmarket Journal |date=17 July 1980 |page=1}}</ref> After the council's abolition in 2019, the building was deemed surplus to requirements, and it was subsequently demolished.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Noble |first1=Jason |title=Old council offices and library in Mildenhall set to be knocked down to make way for new homes |url=https://www.suffolknews.co.uk/mildenhall/towns-old-council-offices-set-to-be-knocked-down-to-make-wa-9240720/ |access-date=4 June 2025 |work=Suffolk News |date=17 February 2022}}</ref>

==Education== {{expand section|date=January 2019}} The Shi-Tennoji School in UK in Herringswell, Forest Heath was in operation beginning in 1985,<ref>McNeill, Phil. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20100425060806/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/3359022/Shrine-of-the-times.html Shrine of the times]." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140302063429/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/3359022/Shrine-of-the-times.html Archive]) ''The Telegraph''. 22 July 2007. Retrieved on 8 January 2014.</ref> and ending on 17 July 2000.<ref>"[http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=124894 Establishment: Shi-Tennoji School]." ([https://archive.today/20140109022433/http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=124894 Archive]) Department for Education. Retrieved on 8 January 2014. "Shi-Tennoji School Herringswell Bury St Edmund's Suffolk IP28 6SW"</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Portal|England}} {{commons category|Forest Heath}} *[http://www.westsuffolk.gov.uk Forest Heath District Council]

{{coord|52.3461|0.5190|type:adm3rd_dim:35000_region:GB-SFK|display=title}}

Category:Forest Heath Category:Former non-metropolitan districts of Suffolk Category:West Suffolk District