Nuthampstead is a small 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 authorit ...

in North East Hertfordshire located a few miles south of the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Royston. In the 2001 census the parish had 139 residents, increasing to 142 at the 2011 Census. Nuthampstead was historically a hamlet in the parish of

Barkway Barkway is a long-established village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England, about five miles south-east of Royston, 35 miles from London and 15 miles from the centre of Cambridge. The Prime Meridian pa ...

. The hamlet appointed its own

overseer of the poor An overseer of the poor was an official who administered poor relief such as money, food, and clothing in England and various other countries which derived their law from England such as the United States. England In England, overseers of the poo ...

, and as such became an separate

on 10 August 1866 under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866. Despite becoming a separate civil parish, it remains part of the ecclesiastical parish of Barkway. Nuthampstead was included in the Royston Poor Law Union from 1835. It formed part of the Ashwell Rural District from 1894 until 1935, when that district was absorbed into the

Hitchin Rural District Hitchin Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north of the county. Evolution The district had its origins in the Hitchin Rural Sanitary District. This had been created unde ...

. Since 1974, Nuthampstead has been part of North Hertfordshire. Due to its small size, Nuthampstead has a

parish meeting A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...

rather than a parish council. During the Second World War, RAF Nuthampstead, situated next to the village, was home initially to the 55th Fighter Group and subsequently the

398th Bombardment Group 398th may refer to: *398th Air Expeditionary Group, provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe *398th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit last assigned with the 92d Operations ...

of the U.S. Army Air Forces. This latter unit, the base's primary occupant, flew Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers on missions over occupied Europe. Known as USAAF Station 131 during the war, and less formally as AAF Nuthampstead, the airfield was constructed by U.S. Army engineer battalions starting in 1942. The site was formerly Scales Park, which was planted with oak trees after the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

. These were cleared to make room for the runways, hangars, and other wartime facilities. Visitors to the site will find that the main runways have since been removed, with a grass runway and service roads only remaining to allow the airfield to be used by light aircraft. In 1968–71 the Commission on the Third London Airport (the "

Roskill Commission The Roskill Commission (formally the Commission on the Third London Airport) was a UK Government Commission charged with looking into finding a site for a new airport for London. Chaired by High Court judge Eustace Roskill, it sat from 1968 to ...

") considered Nuthampstead as one of its four short-listed sites, along with

Cublington Cublington is a village and one of 110 civil parishes within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about seven miles (11 km) north of Aylesbury. The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means "Cubbel's estate". ...

Foulness Foulness Island () is a closed island on the east coast of Essex in England, which is separated from the mainland by narrow creeks. In the 2001 census, the usually resident population of the civil parish was 212, living in the settlements of Ch ...

(later known as

Maplin Sands The Maplin Sands are mudflats on the northern bank of the Thames estuary, off Foulness Island, near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, though they actually lie within the neighbouring borough of Rochford. They form a part of the Essex Estuarie ...

) and Thurleigh. Barkway

VOR VOR or vor may refer to: Organizations * Vale of Rheidol Railway in Wales * Voice of Russia, a radio broadcaster * Volvo Ocean Race, a yacht race Science, technology and medicine * VHF omnidirectional range, a radio navigation aid used in a ...

is located at Nuthampstead Airfield. Areas of the former airfield have been converted into a shooting ground. Since 1992, when planning permission was granted, the ground has developed to enable it to hold major championships in four international shooting disciplines. The village has a pub/restaurant with bed and breakfast facilities, called The Woodman. Outside The Woodman is a large memorial stone dedicated to the 398th squadron.

References

External links

* http://www.controltowers.co.uk/N/Nuthampstead.htm {{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire

See also

References

External links