Honington, Suffolk

Signpost in Honington

Honington
Honington  Honington shown within Suffolk
Population	1,247 [1]
OS grid reference	TL911746
District	St Edmundsbury
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BURY ST EDMUNDS
Postcode district	IP31
Dialling code	01284
Police	Suffolk
Fire	Suffolk
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	Bury St Edmunds
List of places UK England Suffolk

Coordinates: 52°20′10″N 0°48′13″E / 52.33619°N 0.80350°E / 52.33619; 0.80350

Honington is a small village in the county of Suffolk in England, located near the county's border with Norfolk border. The village lies on the River Blackbourn, approximately 8 miles from Bury St Edmunds and 6 miles from Thetford, Norfolk. Much of the surrounding farm land falls within the estate of the Duke of Grafton.

The village is probably best known for its RAF base, RAF Honington, and for being the birthplace of poet Robert Bloomfield.

Honington is bordered to the north-east by Sapiston, to the north-west by Fakenham Magna, to the north by Euston, to the east by Bardwell, to the south-west by Troston, and to the south by Ixworth Thorpe.

It is also near two Joint RAF/USAF Bases, RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall

History

Honington Church and the Bloomfield cottage

The village's most famous past resident, Robert Bloomfield, was born in Honington 1766.^[2] The peasant poet is most noted for his first poem for his famous poem The Farmers Boy.^[2] A biography of Bloomfield co-written by the then Headmaster of the village school, William Wickett, was published in 1969. Bllomfield is buried some miles away at Shefford in Bedfordshire where he spent the latter part of his life.

The local lord of the manor was the Duke of Grafton in neighbouring Euston.^[3] The first Duke of Grafton, previously Earl of Euston, was Henry Fitzroy, the son of King Charles II. The third Duke of Grafton was briefly Prime Minister. The current Duke of Grafton is the 12th. Prior to the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII the land in the village formde part of the holdings of the Abbot of the great monastery at Bury St Edmunds. The existence of the village is recorded in the Doomsday Book.

RAF Honington opened on May 3, 1937, as one of six operational airfields within No 3 Group Bomber Command. "From Barren Rocks to Living Stones" records that Honington was able to play a part in accommodating British evacuees from the terrorism in Aden in 1967. This was a major British operation at the time. In 1994 flying operations stopped and the Honington Air Traffic Control Zone ceased to exist in preparation for Honington becoming home of the RAF Regiment. The base now sees only very occasional air traffic. On one occasion in recent years the runway and ground facilities have been "borrowed" by the USAF for a short period while work was carried out on the runway at the nearby RAF Lakenheath.

A successful Church of England Voluntary Controlled primary school founded in the nineteenth century operates in the village.

The parishes of Sapiston and Honington were combined in 1972 and, although Sapiston's church is redundant, occasional services are still held there.The church at Honington is one eleven church buildings in the Ixworth Deanery of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, that make up the Blackbourne Team.

Village Life & Folk Remembered a book by Syd Thurlow was written detailing many local stories about Honington & Sapiston.

Dad's Army

This sleepy part of Suffolk proved to be an ideal filming location for the 1970s British TV show Dad's Army. In common with much of the surrounding area, Sapiston and Honington were used for part of the series, in particular the episode "Dads Army Things that go Bump in the Night". The outside of the village school appeared as the church hall used for the Home Guard drill hall in a number of episodes.

David Croft the co-writer of Dad's Army, 'Allo 'Allo!, Are You Being Served?, Hi-de-Hi!, etc. lived in Honington until his death in 2011.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Honington, Suffolk.

• Pages including Honington from:
  • Kelly's Directory of Suffolk, 1912
• "The Farmers Boy"