Walking through Grafton Underwood, a village in England’s Midlands on a late Spring day, I find myself thinking “this is the quiet English village that I’ve seen in my mind through dozens of mysteries and other novels over the years, quietly minding its own business.”
It’s old enough to have been listed and counted in the Doomsday Book, a record ordered by William the Conqueror of all properties in his newly-conquered realm.
The population is small, about 130 at the last census, and the buildings are gracefully aged, many with well-kept thatched roofs. A stream runs along the village road, and footpaths cross the road and lead out into surrounding fields.
All that makes it difficult to imagine how different it must have seemed in 1941, when nearby level fields were paved over to create a base for bombers, first from the Royal Air Force and from 1942 the U.S. Eighth Air Force, which flew B-17s on missions against airfields and factories in France and Germany.
Adding several hundred, perhaps a thousand men assigned to the base must have created quite a stir, even though larger towns nearby must have been the destination for any off-base passes. The base itself had its own theater and clubs for officers and NCOs.
Peter Hopkins has produced a YouTube video on the base and what remains of its site today; the historic photographs here are borrowed from his film.
Today, what remains of the base have returned to farming and woodlands, owned by the Duke of Buccleuch’s Boughton Estate, but along the road from Grafton Underwood to Geddington there is a memorial to the main unit assigned to the base, the 384th Bombardment Group.
The village carries another mark of its time with the Air Force, a memorial stained-glass window in the village church, St James the Apostle, a Grade-I listed monument that has stood in the village for eight centuries.
The church is worth a visit for itself, not just for the memorial window.
Its oldest piece is the baptismal font, dating to the early 1200s. Other parts were built in the 14th and 15th centuries, along with a 19th-century organ. There is also some beautiful traditional stained glass as well as a stunning installation of quite-recent windows.
Called “Windows of Light,” they are by Thomas Denny, a contemporary artist working in glass. They were a gift to the church four years ago from David Laing, the retiring Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire. Click HERE for a fascinating documentary on the making of the Denny windows.
The church also has a few issues, which it shares with others. One sign warns thieves who might covet the church’s lead roof; another reminds to close the visitor book “to prevent defacing by bats” who apparently are not scared away by the unintentionally comic gargoyles outside.
And a touching memorial that helps remind us that not all things have always been as we see them, and not all ‘miracles’ are divine.
And a final touch: In Grafton Underwood, the life-saving defibrillator has been mounted on the back of the red phone box, leaving room inside for a miniature lending library.
Very interesting. I love England and long to get back. Great article!