Duxford Aerodrome

Duxford Aerodrome (ICAO: EGSU) is located 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi) south of Cambridge, within the Parish of Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England and nearly 1-mile (1.6 km) west of the village.

The airfield is owned by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and is the site of the Imperial War Museum Duxford and the American Air Museum.

Duxford Aerodrome has a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Ordinary Licence (Number P678) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Cambridgeshire County Council). The aerodrome is not licensed for night use.

History

Royal Air Force

Duxford airfield dates to 1918 when many of the buildings were constructed by German prisoner-of-war labour. The airfield housed 8 Squadron in 1919–1920 which was equipped with Bristol Fighters. The airfield was then used by No. 2 Flying Training School RAF until April 1923, when 19 Squadron was formed at Duxford with Sopwith Snipes.

By 1925 Duxford's three fighter squadrons had expanded to include the Gloster Grebes and Armstrong Whitworth Siskins. No.19 Squadron was re-equipped with Bristol Bulldogs in 1931, and in 1935, was the first squadron to fly the RAF's fastest new fighter, the Gloster Gauntlet, capable of 230 mph (375 km/h). The station was enlarged between 1928 and 1932. In 1935, Duxford was the venue for the Silver Jubilee Review before King George V and Queen Mary, the resident squadron still being No. 19. This squadron gave a special demonstration over Duxford for the King.

Duxford

Coordinates: 52°05′32″N 0°09′34″E / 52.09226°N 0.15944°E / 52.09226; 0.15944

Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, about 10 miles (16 km) south of Cambridge.

History

The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex. One of the more populous settlements in its hundred it was split into two ecclesiastical parishes in medieval times until they were united in 1874.

Originally known as Duxworth and listed as Dukeswrthe in the 10th century, and Dochesuuorde in the Domesday Book the village's name comes from "Worth (enclosure) of a man called Duc".

Churches

From medieval times the village was unusual in possessing two parish churches, each with a separate incumbent.

The church of St John the Baptist, as it's been known since at least 1260, consists of a chancel and north chapel, a central tower and a nave with north aisle and south porch. The chancel, nave and lower part of the tower were all built in the 12th century, with the tower raised in the 13th century. By the 1860s the building was in disrepair and after the parishes were merged in 1874, the church fell into disuse, and became increasingly dilapidated during the 20th century, despite receiving a new roof and stone floor in the 1960s. Since 1979 it has been run by the Churches Conservation Trust.