Biggin Hill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Biggin Hill is a place in the London Borough of Bromley in London, England. It lies on the Bromley to Westerham road (A233).
The earliest record dates back to the Norman invasion, when the area (then known as the parish of "cowdom") was given as a gift by William the conqueror to his half brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, in thanks for having commissioned the Bayeux tapestry.
The name Biggin Hill is of recent origin. Until 1835 it was Aperfield Manor, an area of farms and scattered cottages, within the parish of Cudham; at that date Frederick Dougal from Wandsworth bought the Manor. He parcelled up the land and sold it for speculative building. Although development slowed after Dougal's death, Biggin Hill gradually grew in size; as the history says "as can be seen from the maps of 1939, the land was now heavily built upon and there was further development in the 1960’s when suburbanisation was popular. People wanted to move out from the centre of towns into the countryside. The maps of 1968 shows the further development".
In 1918 the Royal Air Force built an aerodrome on the high ground in Biggin Hill. RAF Biggin Hill was the home airbase of the first aircraft to take part in air to ground radio communications, and of the first British aircraft to shoot down a German aircraft in World War II. It was a crucial RAF Sector airfield during the Battle of Britain and hosted the "Operations Room" for the Operation Crossbow V-1 flying bomb defense.[1] It is now London Biggin Hill Airport; airshows are a regular feature there.
The nearest places:
Nearest railway stations (ordered by distance):
- Orpington railway station
- Hayes railway station
- Bromley South railway station
- Bromley North railway station
- Sevenoaks railway station
[edit] Education
Charles Darwin School is the only secondary school in the immediate area. There are two infant schools and two junior schools in the area; Biggin Hill Infant and Junior schools and Oaklands Infant and Junior schools.
[edit] Ghosts
Interestingly, Biggin Hill is a place that supposedly is a home to many ghosts. This is commonly attributed to the fact that it is the home of a World War II airbase.
