The name "Harleston" possibly means Heoruwulf's[4] or Harold's stone.

[7] 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.

[9][10] 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.

[12] Harleston has a state-funded all-through school called Harleston Sancroft Academy,[13] a football club called Harleston Town which plays at Wilderness Lane,[14] a library on Swan Lane,[15] a museum called Harleston Museum,[16] a police station[17] at 12 Swan Lane[18] and a church called St John the Baptist.

[19] The Corn Exchange, completed in 1849, has been partitioned to create a series of shop units.