Throckmorton, Worcestershire

Throckmorton is a small village and civil parish in the administrative district of Wychavon, in the county of Worcestershire, England.

The village lies 5.2 miles northeast of Pershore (which has a rail station), five miles north-west of Evesham (which has a rail station) and 12 miles southeast of the city of Worcester. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 200.

The church

The village is ancient and the earliest extant remains are parts of the church and bell-tower (now a chapelry), dating from the 13th century. Excavations discovered the stone foundations of an even earlier church on the site. The church has no electricity and is lit by gas-lamps and candles.

RAF Throckmorton

At the periphery of the village is the military airfield RAF Throckmorton. The station has a long history. It was built in 1940 during the Second World War and was home to Wellington bombers. In the 1950s after the war, the airfield was home to the RAF Pershore Advanced Flying Training School. It was later home to Vulcan bombers, and is said to have one of the longest runways in UK. It is still in commission and is currently extensively used for training purposes by military special forces and police.

[http://worcestershire.whub.org.uk/home/wcc-arch-field-throckmorton2 Archeological investigations of the airfield] have suggested that it was originally a Roman site. There were recently government proposals to turn the airfield into a reception centre for illegal immigrants. The village was on a shortlist of eight sites, but it was successful campaigned against by local people (as 'PACT') and M.P. Peter Luff, and the plan was rejected by the House of Lords.

The Throckmorton family

The village gave its name to the Throckmorton family.

In the media

The village has had a number of television and radio documentaries made about it, notably by Channel 4's [http://www.channel4.com/history/timeteam/throckmorton.html Time Team] (2002) and BBC Radio 4 (2006).

Culture and countryside

The surrounding countryside is that celebrated by A.E. Housman and Edward Elgar, and there are numerous heritage sites locally.

External links

* [http://www.throckmorton.org.uk/ Village homepage]

* [http://wychavon.whub.org.uk/home/wccindex/wcc-arch/wcc-arch-field-index/wcc-arch-field-throckmorton2.htm Archaeology at Throckmorton]

* [http://wychavon.whub.org.uk/home/cs-research-census-parish-throckmorton-2.pdf Throckmorton Parish profile]