- Bovingdon
infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 51.723031
longitude= -0.532317
official_name= Bovingdon
static_
static_image_caption= Bovingdon High Street looking north with The Bell public house opposite
population=
shire_district=Dacorum
shire_county =Hertfordshire
region= East of England
FireandRescue= Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
constituency_westminster= South West Hertfordshire
post_town=
postcode_district = HP3
postcode_area= WD
dial_code= 01442
os_grid_reference= TL013037Bovingdon is a large
village in theChiltern Hills , inHertfordshire ,England , close to thetown ofHemel Hempstead and within the local authority area ofDacorum . It forms the largest part of the ward of Bovingdon, Flaunden and Chipperfield, which had a population of 8,819 at the 2001 census. [ [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=5945614&c=bovingdon&d=14&e=13&g=453759&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=75 National Statistics] Population of Bovingdon, Flaunden & Chipperfield ward at 2001 census. Accessed August 2007]Description
The name is first mentioned in deeds from 1200 as "Bovyndon". It could originate from
Old English "Bufan dune" meaning "above the down" or from "Bofa's down", the down belonging to Bofa.It is located near the border to Buckinghamshire.
St Lawrence Church was built in 1845 by Talbot Bury. The churchyard is the second largest in Hertfordshire and includes an avenue of clipped yew trees. The village also includes some old cottages. There are two pubs in the village centre, The Bull and The Bell. A third, the Wheatsheaf, is now closed.
The village is sometimes confused with
Bovington Camp inDorset . Halfpenny Green Airfield inShropshire was renamed fromBobbington , the name of the local village, during WWII after a B-17 tried to land there when the crew became lost.The village is known for its
affluence and exclusivity, with some notable residents (below). As being a medieval village, it is full of cottages and old chapel houses. The village is located between Watford and Hemel Hempstead.Bovingdon airfield
Next to Bovingdon is the disused former
World War II ,Eighth Air Force and post-warRoyal Air Force airfield ,RAF Bovingdon .The airfield was built in 1942. Between 1943 and 1946 it became a B-17 operational training base for units such as 92nd Bomber Group,
B-17 Flying Fortress Combat Crew Replacement Centre (CCRC), 11th CCRC, and 8th USAAF HQ Squadron. The RAF resumed control until 1951, then theUSAF took over again until 1962 flyingB-26 Marauder s,B-29 Superfortress es, andB-50 Superfortress es. GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower 's personal aircraft was said to be based here, as Bovingdon was the closest Eighth Air Force base to London.Flying ceased in 1969, though some flying scenes for the film "Hanover Street" were shot there in 1978. The field served as airport for
Hemel Hempstead during most of the postwar period.Several films were made there including "
The War Lover ,633 Squadron , Hanover Street", an episode of "the Persuaders "," The Man With The Golden Gun" (theflying car scene) and "Mosquito Squadron ."The airfield site houses a VOR navigational beacon, code BNN. The airspace above the airfield and nearby
Chesham is known as theBovingdon stack and is a holding area foraircraft approachingHeathrow Airport , 20 miles to the south. At busy times on a clear day a dozen planes circle.The remainder of the site is used for a Saturday market and there is a permanent circuit for
banger racing . The airfield is also a site forpaintballing .Of the three original
runway s, the North East/South West runway is still complete, and used for parking on market days.The North West/South East runway is completely gone. The East/West runway is still complete, the Eastern end of which is used for the weekend Market, the Western end used to be used by the Farmers aircraft. The
control tower still exists, but is in a very poor state. A lot of thetaxiway s, and the 2nd World War Bomb Dump trackways are mostly gone, a victim of hardcore reclamation, a common end of a large number of disused airfields in the UK.Notable Residents
*
Goldie - drum-and-bass DJ.
*Frances de la Tour - actressInfamous crime
In 1971 the poisoner
Graham Frederick Young committed two murders while working for a local photographic company, John Hadland.References
External links
* [http://www.bovingdon.org/index.htm Bovingdon history group]
* [http://www.bovingdoncc.com Bovingdon Cricket Club]
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