Podington is a village and

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 authority ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

, England, United Kingdom. The village is within the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

of Harrold in the

Borough of Bedford The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The bor ...

. Podington lies around northwest of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

and is about east of the county border with

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. Nearby there is

paintball Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy ai ...

ing. Podington Garden Centre, founded by village residents Colin & Norma Read in 1976 can be found in the High Street. Podington is a small picturesque rural village; many of its buildings are stone cottages dating from the 18th century, and some even earlier. Podington was included in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

1086, with a population of 29 households; prominent landowners included Walter of Flanders, Hugh of Flanders and William Peverer. The community was recorded as "''Podintone''" and "''Potintone''" from the 13th century and later as "''Puddington''". Today it is sometimes spelt (or misspelt) "Poddington". Located around southeast of the village are

RAF Podington Royal Air Force (RAF) Podington is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, station in northern Bedfordshire, England, south-east of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. History Podington airfield was originally built between 1940 and ...

and

Santa Pod Raceway Santa Pod Raceway, located in Podington, Bedfordshire, England, is Europe's first permanent drag racing venue for 1/4 and 1/8 mile racing. It was built on a disused Second World War air base, ( RAF Podington), once used by the USAAF's 92nd Bo ...

Hinwick House Hinwick House is a Grade I-listed Queen Anne country house located about 90 minutes from Central London, near Podington in North Bedfordshire. The estate consists of the Queen Anne main house, the Victorian wing, the Victorian wing extension, ...

is found at a crossroads under south of the village. Church of St Mary is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

church in Podington. It became a listed building on 13 July 1964. Some surviving architectural elements date back at least to the early 13th century. A 1912 report about the church indicated that it had a chancel, nave, north aisle, south aisle, south porch and west tower. The south arcade of the nave, the north arcade the chancel and tower were all dated to the 13th century. Richard Orlebar, the High Sheriff for Bedfordshire and his wife, the culinary writer

Diana Astry Diana Astry, (baptized 2 January 1671 – 4 December 1716) was an English diarist and compiler of a recipe book containing 375 recipes acquired from a number of sources including family and friends. Biography Astry lived at the Great House, Henb ...

, were both buried at this church in the 1700s. They had been the owners of

. The church's pipe organ was restored by the 92nd Bomb Group Memorial Association. The 92nd group had been stationed at the RAF Podington airfield during WW II and flew nearly 300 operational missions from that base.

Civil parish

The civil parish covering Podington also encompasses

Hinwick Hinwick ( ) is a hamlet (place), hamlet in northwest Bedfordshire, England, United Kingdom; it is around nine miles north west of Bedford and is about east of the county border with Northamptonshire which is also the Postal counties of the Unit ...

and

Farndish Farndish is a rural hamlet in northwest Bedfordshire, located about 500 metres (yards) east of the county border with Northamptonshire. The village is near the Northamptonshire villages of Irchester and Wollaston and the Bedfordshire village of ...

; although in the past Farndish had its own civil parish, it experienced depopulation and it was absorbed into the Podington parish. In the past and present the civil parish is usually referred to as "Podington and Hinwick" but sometimes "Podington with Hinwick" or just "Podington". The parish is within the historic

Hundred of Willey The Hundred of Willey is a historical land division, a hundred in the northwest corner of Bedfordshire, England. Its northwestern boundary is the county border with Northamptonshire, and its southwestern boundary the border with Buckinghamshire. So ...

Nearby places

Less than to the south is the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Hinwick; the closest nearby villages between 1.5 and 3 km (1 and 2 miles) away include Farndish to the northwest and

Wymington Wymington is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Bedford in northern Bedfordshire, England. It is located around a mile and a half south of Rushden, in the neighbouring county of Northamptonshire, and about 10 miles north-northwes ...

to the northeast. Nearby larger settlements include

Rushden Rushden is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some ...

to the north,

Irchester Irchester is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, two miles (3 km) south-east of Wellingborough and two miles south-west of Rushden. The population of the village at the 2011 Census was 5,706 and estimated in 2019 at 5,767. ...

to the northwest and Wollaston to the west, all around away.

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

, which is northwest of Podington, is the village's

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Borough of Bedford

Civil parish

Nearby places

See also

References

External links