Baginton

Baginton is a village and civil parish in the Warwick district of Warwickshire, England, and has a common border with the City of Coventry / West Midlands county. With a population of 801 (2001 Census), Baginton village is south of central Coventry, northeast of Kenilworth (its post town) and north of Leamington Spa. The population had reduced slightly to 755 at the 2011 Census. The Lucy Price playing field is situated centrally in the village. Coventry Airport (built 1936), the Lunt Roman Fort and the ancient "Baginton oak" tree are within the village, whilst the Midland Air Museum is just outside Baginton. The road from Baginton to southern Coventry (the city's Finham district) passes over the River Sowe near an old mill, which now is inhabited by a restaurant and hotel called The Old Mill. Baginton is often misspelt / mispronounced as 'Bagington'. Baginton was populated since at least the Iron Age, and the Domesday Book of 1086 records that in the 11th century, Baginton consisted of 15 households and a mill. Baginton Castle was built around 1397 on the site of a house built during the 6th century, and 15th-16th century earthworks from the former village also survive. In December 2019, Roman and Anglo-Saxon artifacts, including pottery, jugs, and jewelry, were unearthed from burial grounds by archaeologists led by Nigel Page. The team of researchers believed that two of the graves belonged to a "high-status" rank officer and a Roman girl aged 6–12 years old. Findings from the Roman cremation burial site of a young girl included four brooches, a ring with an image of a cicada and a hair pin. Baginton is the site of Coventry Airport, which lies just southeast of the village. First opened in 1936 as Baginton Aerodrome, it has been used for general aviation, flight training and commercial freight and passenger flights. It had a grass surface for aeroplanes to land and take off. With the Second World War it became a fighter airfield. By October 1941, No. 308 Polish Fighter Squadron was located at Baginton.