Lighthorne Heath is a village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Upper Lighthorne, in the Stratford-on-Avon District, in the county of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, England. It is located some six miles to the south east of Leamington Spa and is very close to the M40 motorway.

History

The village was established in the 1950s, situated to the north of

RAF Gaydon Royal Air Force Gaydon or more simply RAF Gaydon is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Wellesbourne, Warwickshire and north west of Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. RAF Gaydon opened in 1942 and is known for its role during the ...

it housed the married airmen and officers (those unmarried lived in barracks). Before that time the site was just farmland between

Gaydon Gaydon is a civil parish and village in Warwickshire, England, situated between Leamington Spa and Banbury. In the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 376, increasing to 446 at the 2011 Census. The village is at the junction of the ...

and Lighthorne with a few isolated buildings. After just over thirty years of active service most of the smaller houses on the base were sold off to

Stratford District Council Stratford District Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Whakaahurangi) is the territorial authority for the Stratford District of New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It c ...

between 1976 and 1981. Throughout the 1980s the larger houses were sold on the open market by the Ministry of Defence. The runway and

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

buildings were taken over in 1978 by

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

, and became a proving ground for its cars. This evolved into the Gaydon centre (where

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

has its headquarters) and the

British Motor Museum The British Motor Museum in Warwickshire, England holds the world's largest collection of historic British cars, with over 300 cars on display from the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust. History The creation ...

, a museum of many British cars. More recently Aston Martin built a factory here for its car production. A parish council was established in 2003. Before 2003 it shared a

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

Council with Lighthorne, a village 800m to the west. According to the 2011 Census Lighthorne Heath parish had a population of 898 living in 370 households. It is possible that

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...

has used incorrect parish boundaries to compile their statistics. The village has had a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

for many years. The school used to be called

Primary School but changed its name to Lighthorne Heath Primary School in the 1990s. Lighthorne Heath is part of the Mid-Fosse parishes which consist of a benefice of four parishes: Chesterton, Lighthorne, Moreton Morrell and Ashorne & Newbold Pacey. The Lighthorne Heath Community Church hold a Cafe Church style service based on the principles of the Fresh Expressions movement.

Governance

The village is in the

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

of Kenilworth and Southam and is represented by Jeremy Paul Wright (

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

) who was elected in the May 2010 general election with 53.6% of the vote. He was re-elected in May 2015 with 58.4% of the total vote on a 76.6% turnout of the electorate. The village is part of the

Kineton Kineton is a village and civil parish on the River Dene in south-east Warwickshire, England. The village is part of Stratford-on-Avon district, and in the 2001 census it had a population of 2,278, increasing to 2,337 at the 2011 Census. Kin ...

division of

Warwickshire County Council Warwickshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Warwickshire in England. Its headquarters are located at Shire Hall, Market Square, in centre of the county town of Warwick. Politically the county is ...

and is represented by Christopher Robin Williams (Conservative Party). He was re-elected on 2 May 2013 with 38.2% of the vote. The village is part of the

Harbury Harbury is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. It is about west-southwest of Southam and about southeast of Royal Leamington Spa. The parish includes the hamlet of Deppers Bridge. The 2011 C ...

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of Stratford-on-Avon District Council and is represented by Jacqui Harris (Conservative Party). She was elected on 7 May 2015 with 47.0% of the total vote on a 72.4% turnout of the electorate. The Parish council has 5 members; David Booth, David Brewin, Ian Campbell, Carol Crawshay-Newton and Zoe Dandridge-Brown. The next elections are expected in May 2019. The clerk of Lighthorne Heath Parish Council is Mrs Kirsty Buttle. On 1 April 2020 the parish was renamed from "Lighthorne Heath" to "Upper Lighthorne".

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Warwickshire Stratford-on-Avon District