General Facts

Mildenhall is a small market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. The town is near the A11 and is located 37 mi north-west of Ipswich, the county town. The large Royal Air Force station, 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.

Mildenhall History

The area around Mildenhall has been settled by humans since at least the Bronze Age. Following the Roman Empire invasion of Britain, Mildenhall was the site of a Roman settlement, which at some point contained the Mildenhall Treasure. The name of the town was first recorded in 1050 as Mildenhale, believed to mean a nook of land belonging to a woman called “Milde” or a man called “Milda”.

With the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, ownership of the town was transferred to Edward North, 1st Baron North, whose son, Roger North, became resident in Mildenhall for a time. Ownership of the Mildenhall estate remained with the North family for many decades. It was Henry North, who upon retirement, built the Manor house at Mildenhall. The Bunbury family held the manor of Mildenhall until the estate was broken up in 1933. RAF Mildenhall was officially opened in 1934 and served as a base for RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War. In 1950, the US Air Force took over its operation.

Tree Surgeon Mildenhall