The early history of Haverhill and district:

 In 60 AD a famous battle was fought in the wooded valley of the river Stour near Haverhill. According to local tradition Blood Field at Great Wratting on the outskirts of Haverhill was the scene of a famous victory, where the Iceni-Trinovantes-Catuvellauni alliance led by Boudica ambushed and defeated the The IX Hispana Roman Legion. The Roman Commander Petillius Cerealis lost 1,000 men and narrowly escaped death as he fled the scene with only a handful of his cavalry men. Some local historians believe that this great battle took place at an undisclosed site on the south eastern fringes of Haverhill near Sturmer in Essex.

 The Haverhill area was not previously associated with the Iceni tribe until 1787, when labourers working amongst the Chalkstone Hills uncovered a hoard of 50 gold coins all bearing the head of Prasutagus, (ruler of the Iceni  AD 48 – 60, and husband of Boudica).  

 Archaeologists unearthed a Roman settlement site on Coupals Way estate, and subsequent excavations revealed that the site had been continuously occupied from the Iron Age and Roman period’s right through to the 4th century AD.

 One other late Iron Age and 1^st – 2^nd century Roman settlement site was discovered in recent times on Helions Bumpstead Road.

 Remains of a substantial Roman villa were unearthed just outside Haverhill, and a Roman cemetery was discovered at Castle Walk.

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Roman jewellery find provides a valuable clue: