Place:Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England

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NameDuxford
Alt namesDochesuuordesource: Domesday Book (1985) p 47
Dodesuuordesource: Domesday Book (1985) p 47
TypeCivil parish
Coordinates52.093°N 0.159°E
Located inCambridgeshire, England
See alsoWittlesford Hundred, Cambridgeshire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Linton Rural, Cambridgeshire, Englandrural district 1894-1934
South Cambridgeshire Rural, Cambridgeshire, Englandrural district 1934-1974
South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Duxford is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, about 10 miles (16 km) south of Cambridge. In th UK census of 2001 Duxford had a population of 1,836, rising to 2,099 in the UK census of 2011.

The village grew on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex. One of the more populous settlements in Wittlesford Hundred, it was split into two ecclesiastical parishes in medieval times until they were united in 1874.

From medieval times the village was unusual in possessing two parish churches, each with a separate incumbent - these were St John's Church (Duxford St. John) and St Peter's Church (Duxford St. Peter), only the latter of which still functions as a church. To the north of the village close to the Royston to Newmarket road lies Duxford Chapel, a 14th-century chantry chapel that was probably part of the Hospital of St John.

Duxford gives its name to RAF Duxford, a former Royal Air Force airfield that was used as a sector station during the Battle of Britain (1940-41). Duxford Aerodrome was the home of Douglas Bader's Big Wing during that battle. Duxford airfield later became a fighter airfield for the United States Army Air Forces operating P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft. In 1972 the Ministry of Defence began to house historically important aircraft in the hangars, which became the Imperial War Museum Duxford.

Research Tips

  • Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at Shire Hall, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4GS
  • The Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society has transcribed the parish registers for many if not all the ancient parishes of Cambridgeshire and these can be purchased from the Society as separate pdfs.
  • A History of the County of Cambridge. Seven volumes from British History Online (Victoria County Histories). This is by far the most complete history of the parishes of the county to be found online. From the numbering it would appear that some parts of the county are yet to be published online, but the first two volumes for any county are of little interest to the genealogist. The chapters are ordered by the divisions of the county called hundreds, but each parish is listed in the volume's content page.
  • GENUKI has a page on Cambridgeshire and pages for each of the ecclesiastical or ancient parishes in the county. These give references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. Each parish page includes a map of the parish provided by Open Street Maps.
  • The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time, section "Units and Statistics" for each parish and borough leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974.
  • Map of Cambridgeshire divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
  • Map of Cambridge divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Duxford. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.