Duxford Chapel.

Duxford Chapel is a chapel that was once part of the Hospital of St. John at Duxford, in Cambridgeshire, England.

Built in the 14th century, only the chapel survives today.^[1]

The Chapel of the Hospital of St John the Baptist is a small rectangular chapel which mostly dates to around 1337 and was built using flint rubble for the walls and limestone for the doorways and windows. Some sections of the building, including a small part of the southern wall, are considered to date from its 13th century predecessor, which formed part of a hospital. ^[2]

The chapel is a single storey building. The main entrance is near the western end of the north wall. There are two similar doors in the south wall, one directly opposite the main entrance, the other (a priest's door) located towards the eastern end. The north wall is pierced by four windows, dated to circa 1330-1360, each containing a single light with tracery of trefoil design. The four windows on the southern side are of similar date and design, although each formerly contained two lights divided by a central mullion.^[3]

In 1548 the chapel was suppressed during the dissolution of chantries in the reign of Edward VI and sometime after 1554 the chapel was used as a barn. ^[4]

The chapel was acquired and restored by the Ministry of Works in 1947-54 and is currently (2011) under the guardianship of English Heritage.

There are some pictures and a description at the Cambridgeshire Churches website [1].

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Duxford Chapel

• History and Research on Duxford Chapel: English Heritage

Coordinates: 52°06′14″N 0°10′00″E / 52.10387°N 0.1668°E / 52.10387; 0.1668

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

Duxford
Duxford  Duxford shown within Cambridgeshire
Population	1,836 [1]
OS grid reference	TL481461
District	South Cambridgeshire
Shire county	Cambridgeshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Cambridge
Postcode district	CB22
Dialling code	01223
Police	Cambridgeshire
Fire	Cambridgeshire
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	South Cambridgeshire
List of places: UK • England • Cambridgeshire

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

History[link]

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.^[2]

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".^[3]

Churches[link]

St John's church

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.^[2]

St Peter's church

The southerly church has been dedicated to St Peter since at least 1275, and serves as Duxford's present parish church. Built with a chancel, an aisled and clerestoried nave, and a west tower, it too was originally built in the 12th century, and the tower and part of the chancel remain from this period. The nave was rebuilt in the 14th or 15th century. In 1728 the tower had the existing tall spire removed and replaced with the present shorter one. By the time the parishes were merged, the building was also in a poor state, and had to be extensively repaired in the 1880s.^[2]

To the north of the village close to the Royston to Newmarket road lies Duxford Chapel, a 14th-century chantry chapel that was probably part of the Hospital of St John.^[4]

A Congregational chapel was built in the late 18th century and licensed in 1794, and at its peak in 1850 had a weekly congregation of 350. The chapel was still active in 1970 but is now closed.^[2]

Airfield[link]

Duxford gives its name to RAF Duxford, a former Royal Air Force airfield that was used as a sector station during the Battle of Britain. Duxford Aerodrome was the home of Douglas Bader's Big Wing during that battle. Duxford airfield later became a fighter airfield for the United States Army Air Forces operating P47 Thunderbolt aircraft. In 1972 the Ministry of Defence began to house historically important aircraft in the hangars, which became the Imperial War Museum Duxford.

The airfield was used in the motion picture The Battle of Britain. During that production one of the hangars was blown up to simulate a Luftwaffe bombing raid.

Village life[link]

The village has three remaining pubs – the John Barleycorn, the Plough and The Wheatsheaf. Former pubs include The Three Horseshoes, first recorded in 1786, and The King's Head which opened in the mid-19th century.^[2]

References[link]

See also[link]

• St John's Church, Duxford
• Duxford Chapel
• Imperial War Museum Duxford

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Duxford

• Duxford Village website
• Imperial War Museum Duxford