Witchford
| Witchford | |
| Cambridgeshire | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TL501788 |
| Location: | 52°23’13"N, -0°12’16"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 2,385 (2011) |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | East Cambridgeshire |
Witchford is a small village just west of Ely in Cambridgeshire.
Witchford is one of the larger villages of the fen, home ot over 2,000 souls, and houses the secondary school, Witchford Village College, that serves all of the surrounding villages, including Haddenham, Little Thetford, Mepal, Stretham, Sutton, Wilburton and Witcham.
The village hosts the Grunty Fen Half Marathon road race, which has been staged annually in the village since 1991.[1] The race begins and ends at Witchford Village College and involves two laps into the nearby Grunty Fen.
RAF Witchford
The village was once the home to RAF Witchford, an RAF Bomber Command station that was built in 1942 and closed and broken up in 1946. It was initially home to the Vickers Wellington bombers of No. 196 Squadron RAF, but after they relocated to RAF Leicester East their place was taken by No. 115 Squadron RAF flying Avro Lancasters. It was proposed to become a missile base thereafter (rumours were it was to become a Blue Streak base), which is why some of the older residents refer to the site (now an industrial park) as "The Rocket Base".
A museum dedicated to RAF Witchford is located in the village.[2]
Archaeology
A cemetery was discovered here during Second World War whilst constructing the aerodrome.[3] Archaeologist Major Gordon Fowler reported witnessing a bulldozer levelling off ground and in so doing was crushing skeletons. Little archaeological work could be undertaken as the urgent war effort could not be stopped. He was however able to recover some objects from the graves, which were later dated by Lethbridge to be consistent with the period AD 450–650.[4] More recent survey work found Iron-Age and Roman period domestic and other remains.
An Anglo-Saxon cemetery was not found at that time leading to the conclusion that this was not the site of the lost village of Cratendune.[5]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Witchford) |
References
- "Cambridgeshire Archaeology Historic Environment Team Annual Report:Lancaster Way, East Cambridgeshire" (PDF). Cambridgeshire County Council. 2008–2009. http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D38E6C6C-D36E-431B-84FF-FDFC5F193DD8/0/CambridgeshireArchaeologyannualreport2008_09.pdf. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
- Fowler, Gordon (1948), "Cratendune: A problem of the Dark Ages", Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society (For the Cambridge Antiquarian Society by Bowes and Bowes) XLI: 70–73, http://books.google.com/books?id=VF5nAAAAMAAJ, retrieved 29 September 2010