What is now a residential area
was simply farmland at the start of the 20th
century, part of the manor of Aperfield which was
given to Bishop Odo of Bayeux by his half-brother,
William the Conqueror. Today Biggin Hill is a
household name thanks to its association with war.
Its airfield was used in the First World War and
then in the Second when Hurricanes of 32 Squadron
and the Spitfires of 72, 94 and 610 Squadrons took
part in the Battle of Britain, shooting down some
400 enemy planes. Biggin Hill was also one of the
first locations where ground-to-air communications
was achieved in 1917.
