Forest Heath was a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

in Suffolk,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. 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. The district's name reflected the fact that it contains parts of both

Thetford Forest Thetford Forest is the largest lowland pine forest in Britain and is located in a region straddling the north of Suffolk and the south of Norfolk in England. It covers over in the form of a Site of Special Scientific Interest. History The ...

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 Newmarket may refer to: Geography Australia *Newmarket, Queensland ** Newmarket Air Raid Shelter **Newmarket railway station, Brisbane ** Newmarket State School ** Newmarket State High School *Newmarket railway station, Melbourne *Big_Stable_Newm ...

and

Mildenhall Rural District Mildenhall Rural District was a rural district in the county of West Suffolk, England. It was created in 1894 out of the former Mildenhall rural sanitary district. In 1935 it was expanded by taking in parts of the disbanded Brandon and Moulto ...

. Forest Heath district was merged with the

borough of St Edmundsbury St Edmundsbury was a local government district and borough in Suffolk, England. It was named after its main town, Bury St Edmunds. The second town in the district was Haverhill. The population of the district was 111,008 at the 2011 Census. ...

on 1 April 2019 to form a new

West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...

district. Forest Heath was the home to two of the largest

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

(USAF) airbases in the UK:

RAF Lakenheath Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, north-east of Mildenhall and west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon. Despite being an RAF sta ...

and

RAF Mildenhall Royal Air Force Mildenhall or RAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as a Royal Air Force station, it primarily supports United States Air Force (USAF) operations, ...

, as well as the headquarters of British horse racing,

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of British horserac ...

. Forest Heath had had a high suicide rate when compared to the rest of Suffolk, to the East of England and to England overall. The reasons for this are unknown. In the English indices of deprivation 2010 report published by the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local governme ...

, two parts of Forest Heath have the highest employment out of 32483 areas in England.

Governance

As of the 2015 Local Government Elections, the Conservatives held overall control of the District Council.

Communities

The district contains three market towns and twenty

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...

Towns

Civil parishes

Education

The Shi-Tennoji School in UK in Herringswell, Forest Heath was in operation beginning in 1985, and ending on 17 July 2000.Establishment: Shi-Tennoji School
"
Archive

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

. Retrieved on 8 January 2014. "Shi-Tennoji School Herringswell Bury St Edmund's Suffolk IP28 6SW"

References

External links

Forest Heath District Council
{{Former local government areas in Suffolk Non-metropolitan districts of Suffolk Former non-metropolitan districts West Suffolk District