Harleston, Norfolk

Harleston is a town in the civil parish of Redenhall with Harleston, in the South Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is 16 mi from Norwich. In 2018, it had an estimated population of 5,067. Harleston is on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, close to the River Waveney. Harleston has two markets every Wednesday.

Harleston is an electoral ward comprising the civil parishes of Needham, Redenhall with Harleston, and Wortwell. At the last election, in May 2019, two Conservative councillors were elected to South Norfolk Council.

History
The name "Harleston" possibly means "Heoruwulf" or "Harolds Stone". Harleston was recorded in the Domesday Book as Heroluestuna. Harleston was a chapelry in Reddenhall parish.

The right to hold an eight-day fair during the period of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist was granted to Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk by Henry III in 1259.

Many Georgian residences and much earlier building, with Georgian frontages, line the streets of Harleston. Although there is no record of a royal charter, Harleston has been a market town since at least 1369 and still holds a Wednesday market.

One of the plots to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I was to be launched on Midsummer Day 1570 at the Harleston Fair by proclamations and the sound of trumpets and drums. The Elizabethan play Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay features this in one of its scenes.

Amenities
Harleston has a state-funded all-through school called Harleston Sancroft Academy, a football club called Harleston Town which plays at Wilderness Lane, a library on Swan Lane, a museum called Harleston Museum, a police station at 12 Swan Lane and a church called St John the Baptist. The Corn Exchange, completed in 1849, has been partitioned to create a series of shop units.

Harleston railway station closed in 1953. The nearest station is now Diss, which is ten miles to the west.