Wymington

Wymington is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Bedford in northern Bedfordshire, England. It is located around a mile and a half south of Rushden, in the neighbouring county of Northamptonshire, and about 10 mile (16 km) north northwest of Bedford. As of 2011, the parish of Wymington had a population of 876. The village is home to a 14th century parish church, a Wesleyan chapel, a school, and a pub. One bus line stops in the village and provides service to Rushden and Bedford. A small brook runs through the village that drains into the River Nene about 3 miles north. Wymington is home to numerous listed buildings in the village, including the Grade 1 listed parish church.

Evidence exists of Neolithic and Bronze age settlement of the Wymington area. Flint implements have been discovered in the area, and in the 1860s a hoard of 60 socketed axes was found on a farm near Wymington, possibly from an ancient bronze smith's stock. Substantial evidence of Roman and Romano Belgic settlement exists. A complex of enclosures visible today in the form of cropmarks and ditches as well as buried roof tiles and sherds about 700m south of the modern village probably dates from the 1st to 5th century. Additional evidence of Roman occupation has been discovered northwest of the village, where 3rd century pottery, a quern, building rubble, coins, belt buckles, and jewelry have been discovered.

Evidence of Saxon settlement was uncovered during an expansion of the Wymington school. Shards of early to middle Saxon pottery were discovered in ditches that had probably been dug in the 12th to 13th century. Wymington was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a parish within the Hundred of Willey, a part of the barony held by Alured de Lincoln, with a population of 23 households. By the 1350s, John Curteys had taken possession of one of the larger of two manors in the parish. Curteys, who was mayor of the wool staple of Calais, held considerable wealth. He provided funds to re build the village church, completed in 1377, and made a loan to Richard II in the sum of £20 in 1379, an extremely substantial amount at the time. The church is the only remaining medieval building in the village. On Curteys's death in 1391, control of the manor passed to his wife, Albreda. By 1621, ownership of at least one of the manors, possibly both, was under one William Bletsoe. It remained in the Bletsoe family until it passed to a John Sawyer in 1708. In 1713, the manor was sold to Major General John Livesay, who had purchased nearby Hinwick House in 1706 and was a former governor of Jamaica. Wymington has hosted at least one football club in its history, the Wymington Stars. The organization was founded before 1896, and fielded teams at least through 1931. In the mid 18th century, Wymington was referenced as a "obscure and ruinous village," with 35 stone thatched houses and a population of 216. During the Second World War, families in and near Wymington took in children evacuated from urban areas in response to bombing raids, as was typical of many rural towns and villages. In August, 1944 a damaged United States Army Air Forces B 17 "Miss Liberty Belle" based at nearby RAF Chelveston crashed while returning to base on its 65th mission. The aircraft, having sustained battle damage over Saarbrucken following a raid over Merkwiller, was placed into a holding pattern above the village while other aircraft could land at the airfield. While waiting for clearance to land, the aircraft lost power to all but one engine and began losing altitude quickly. The crew narrowly avoided the church tower and school, colliding with a stand of trees and landing in a field on the southern edge of the village. Eight villagers as well as a soldier of the Czech Army billeted nearby were able to pull all the crew members from the flaming wreckage, though only one survived. A B 17G on display at the Grissom Air Museum is painted with the markings of the aircraft that crashed in Wymington. In the mid 20th century, much of the old 16th to 18th century housing was demolished as part of a development project headed by the Rural Council. Council housing was constructed in the middle of the village along the High Street, and a housing estate was built to the south.

As with many rural English villages, the economy from ancient times until the Industrial Revolution was focused on manorial agriculture. By the 19th century, the shoe and boot industry in nearby Northamptonshire had led to the development of cottage shoemaking in the village and outside employment. By the late 20th century, however, with increased automation and the decline of shoe and boot making, the economy began to return to one supported by agriculture, small industry, and services. In 2022, a plan was submitted to convert fields adjacent to the industrial estate to a 10.5MW solar farm.

Sharnbrook Summit and Wymington Meadow nature reserve is located near Wymington to the south.

In the mid 14th century the only grade I listed building in the village, the Parish Church of St. Lawrence, was built. Curteys died in 1391 and was buried in the church. The church is also home to the tomb of Sir Thomas Brounflet, cupbearer for Richard II.

A war memorial commemorating the men of the village killed in war resides in the church cemetery. It holds the names of the 24 men who died in the First World War, and the names of the 8 killed in the Second World War. Additionally, the village hall was dedicated as a memorial to those killed in the wars. A memorial to the crew of the B 17 that crashed in the village in 1944 sits in a grove south of the village. The memorial consists of a plaque, iron bench with the symbol of the 8th Air Force, and a flag pole, and was dedicated on 7 May 2000.