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   Museum Treasure - March 2011                                                      

       The Beacon Course Starting Post

                                                                                         on display in Gallery 1

                                                

The Beacon Post is a square wooden post.  It is 1.96 metres (6ft 5inches) tall and 28 centimetres (11 inches) square.  It is capped by zinc plating.  The metal plate on the side reads ‘SP Beacon Course’. Its original position was in a field near Four Mile Stable Farm, along side the A1303 (Newmarket to Bottisham road) close to where it crosses the A11 spur off the A14, before it came to the Museum and was replaced with a replica.

                     The replica Beacon Post on the right and the A14 is on the left. Click here for more images

The post represents all the posts that have been dotted about Newmarket Heath since the 17th Century marking the starts and finishes of courses, the turning points on those courses and the places to bet. This post marked the start of the Beacon Course. The post is four-miles (more accurately 4miles 1 furlong 143 yards) from the finish of the course and the King's Stand, which were opposite the location of the Newmarket Cemetery of today. The King’s Stand (long since demolished) was built at the finish in the late 17th Century.

Late 1760s: Chapman's Map of the Newmarket Courses: LC (8m Long Course) and BC (4m1f  Beacon Course). You would be able to see this map in greater detail by visiting The Heath and the Horse exhibition

The earliest course at Newmarket was the Long Course and was at least eight miles long.  This started near Fleam Dyke (about 3 miles north-west of Balsham). The first recorded horse-race near Newmarket was in 1613, when the ‘scarcity of lodgings in the town compelled many courtiers to stay at Linton near the other end of the course’.  This suggests that the course was in existence as early as 1613.  The course was used primarily for races between two horses, known as Matches, over long distances.

The Long Course had mile-posts along its length which marked the starts for shorter races, all ending just outside Newmarket.  There were stables at 6-miles, 5-miles and 4-miles that could be used for preparing the horses.  Over time four miles became the most popular race distance and the Beacon Course became the spine of Newmarket racing.  The name of the Beacon is found in 1680.  Races finishing at the end of the Beacon feature in many paintings of the 18th Century.

                      Attributed to J Ross: Finish of the Beacon Course with the King's Stand on the right

Parts of the Beacon Course are still used today. The ROWLEY MILE, named after the favourite hack of Charles II was first used in 1714 for mile races.  This used a mile section of the Beacon Course.  The Rowley Mile is the name given to the racecourse on the Newmarket side of the Devil’s Dyke, the Saxon earthwork that runs across the Heath

Through the 18th Century the trend was for shorter and shorter races to suit the younger and more finely bred horses that were being used more and more for racing.  To cater for these races shorter sections of the Beacon were used.  Variety was added by providing a range of conditions and distances that would suit the varying needs of the racehorses. The shorter two-year-old races finished on an easy downslope.  On the other hand, the longer races for older horses could use the DITCH IN (2m 97y) that finished with 6 furlongs uphill or the easier TWO MIDDLE MILES that finished at the Bushes near the present grandstand

Today, all races on the Rowley Mile Course finish at the Rowley Mile Grandstand.  Gone are the days when racing was a sport for the racehorse owners and their friends.  Starts and finishes could be at different points around the Heath.  Up to the 1850s it was essential for the followers of the race to have their own transport, either a riding horse or a carriage. With the coming of the railways, racing became a spectator sport for thousands.  This required the races to finish at a fixed point and for grandstands to be built to accommodate those crowds.

The first grandstand at the finish of the Rowley Mile was opened n 1857 and then eighteen years later it was replaced by a larger building. The third grandstand was built in 1926. It was longer and had a second tier. Changes were made to this stand in 1967/68 and 1986. A completely new stand, the Millennium Stand, was opened in May 2000.

In 1665 Charles II set up the ROUND COURSE on the Cambridge side of the Devil’s Dyke.  The start and finish were near the current finish of the JULY COURSE.  As with the Beacon, the Round Course has been shortened.  All finishes are now in front of the July Course stands.

A second post is found in the Betting Gallery of the Museum.  It is the old Red Post, which was a betting post near the end of the Beacon Course.  This was rescued by the trainer Felix Leach and stood in the lawn at his stables at Graham Place until it was presented to the Museum in 1980.

Text by Tim Cox

Now it is time to come and visit The Heath and the Horse exhibition at the Museum and explore the full story of the 18th Century landscape of Newmarket Heath.