Windrush 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England, approximately five miles southeast of

Northleach Northleach is a market town and former civil parish, now in parish Northleach with Eastington, in the Cotswold District, Cotswold district, in Gloucestershire, England. The town is in the valley of the River Leach in the Cotswolds, about northe ...

. It lies in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

on the

River Windrush The River Windrush is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Snowshill in Gloucestershire and flows south east for via Burford and Witney to meet the Thames at Newbridge, River Thames, Newbridge in Oxfordshire. The ri ...

, from which it derives its name. The village name is first attested 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Wenric''.

History

''The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1868) says: During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the parish hosted

RAF Windrush Royal Air Force Windrush, or more simply RAF Windrush, is a former Royal Air Force satellite station near Windrush, Gloucestershire, England. It was opened in 1940 and closed on 12 July 1945. Initially it was a Relief Landing Ground for RAF Chi ...

, a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Relief Landing Ground. Although it closed for military purposes in 1945, the airfield remains in use for light aircraft and still has its

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled a ...

Governance

Windrush forms part of the

Cotswold District Cotswold is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England. It is named after the wider Cotswolds region and range of hills. The council is based in the district's largest town of Cirencester. The district also includes the towns of ...

, which together with

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in England. The council was created in 1889. The council's principal functions are county roads and rights of way, social servi ...

provides

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

services. It is part of the parliamentary constituency of

North Cotswolds North Cotswolds is a newly created constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Created as a result of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election, when it was won by Conserv ...

represented in

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

by the Conservative Sir

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Sir Geoffrey Robert Clifton-Brown (born 23 March 1953)Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 538 is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as a Memb ...

Notable people

Thomas Keble, the younger brother of

John Keble John Keble (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866) was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, is named after him. Early life Keble was born on 25 April 1792 in Fairford, Glouces ...

and also a notable

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man, had charge of the parish of Windrush in the early 19th century.

Notes

{{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Cotswold District