Wiggonby Explained

Country:England
Static Image Name:Wiggonby (geograph 4347893).jpg
Static Image Caption:Wiggonby
Coordinates:54.867°N -3.097°W
Official Name:Wiggonby
Civil Parish:Aikton
Shire District:Allerdale
Shire County:Cumbria
Region:North West England
Constituency Westminster:Workington
Post Town:WIGTON
Postcode District:CA7
Postcode Area:CA
Dial Code:016973
Os Grid Reference:NY296530
Pushpin Map:United Kingdom Allerdale

Wiggonby is a hamlet in parish of Aikton and the district of Allerdale, in the English county of Cumbria. Historically in Cumberland, it seven miles away from the city of Carlisle and 2 miles from the village of Great Orton. The village has an area of 2,404 acres.[1] It has a primary school called Wiggonby CE School, which currently has 48 pupils.[2]

History

The village school was founded in 1792 and rebuilt in 1860.[3] Circa 1870, it had a population of 298 as recorded in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales.[4] The village was the site of RAF Great Orton, also known as Wiggonby airfield during World War II.[5] It was opened in June 1943 as a satellite of RAF Silloth, it closed in August 1952. The site of the airfield was also used to bury nearly half a million animal carcasses in the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak.[6]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Aikton Parish. Cumbria County History Trust.
  2. Web site: Home | Wiggonby CofE School. www.wiggonby.cumbria.sch.uk.
  3. Web site: Aikton Parish Council.
  4. Web site: History of Wiggonby, in Allerdale and Cumberland. Vision of Britain. 4 November 2018.
  5. Web site: Wiggonby Aerodrome Watch-office. www.users.globalnet.co.uk.
  6. Web site: Great Orton - Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust UK. www.abct.org.uk.