Finningley

Finningley
Finningley
Village and civil parish
	Finningley Pond
	Finningley Location within Borough of Doncaster Finningley Location within South Yorkshire
Area	3.74 sq mi (9.7 km2)
Population	1,497 (2011 census)
• Density	400/sq mi (150/km2)
OS grid reference	SK674990
Civil parish	Finningley;
Metropolitan borough	City of Doncaster;
Metropolitan county	South Yorkshire;
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DONCASTER
Postcode district	DN9
Dialling code	01302
Police	South Yorkshire
Fire	South Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
UK Parliament	Don Valley;
	List of places UK England Yorkshire 53°28′59″N 0°58′59″W / 53.483°N 0.983°W

Finningley is a village and civil parish in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Historically in Nottinghamshire,^[1] it lies on the A614 road between Bawtry and Thorne, about 6 miles south-east of Doncaster. In the 2011 census, it had a population of 1,497.^[2]^[3]^[4] The Finningley ward of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council covers 16.8 square miles, including the villages of Auckley, Branton, Blaxton, Hayfield and Bessacarr Grange, and part of Cantley.

History

The parish church of Holy Trinity is Norman, with a 13th-century chancel.^[5]

The place name Finningley contains the Old English word, fenn, a fen, a marsh, marshland + -ingas (Old English), the people of...; the people called after... + lēah (Old English), a glade, clearing; (later) a pasture, meadow... so a "Clearing of the fen-dwellers".^[6]

Airport

Finningley is known for its airport, once RAF Finningley. The station housed a 'V' force of Vulcan bombers in the Cold War, and for 35 years hosted a regular air show, which by the 1990s was the country's largest one-day event of its kind.^[7] However, the end of the Cold War led to the airfield closing in April 1996 and the air show coming to an end.

The 3,000-yard (2,700 m) long runway, currently the second longest in Northern England, was large enough to take even Concorde, and in the period after the closure of the RAF airfield there were several campaigns to turn Finningley into a commercial airport for the unserved South Yorkshire region, along with neighbouring Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire).

Plans for the conversion were approved in 2003 and the first flights served in April 2005. The airport was named Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield, then renamed Doncaster Sheffield Airport. In November 2022 it closed to passenger traffic. Planning permission had been given for a railway station – the former Finningley railway station, which closed in 1961 – but it is now unlikely to be built.^[8]

Notable businesses

Leon Motors, a company located in Finningley, operated bus services in Doncaster. Formed in 1922, it was taken over by MASS of North Anston in 2004 but has since ceased operating from the Old Bawtry Road site in Finningley.

Finningley is home to a Motocross venue.^[9]

Notable people

Elsie Howey (1884–1963), a leading suffragette, was born here.

References

^ More about our Village – Finningley Village Community Group Retrieved 13 March 2018.
^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
^ "Area: Finningley CP (Parish)"
^ City Pop. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
^ Nikolaus Pevsner, 1979. The Buildings of England:Nottinghamshire, p. 127. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin.
^ J. Gover, A. Mawer & F. M. Stenton, eds., Place Names of Nottinghamshire. Cambridge, 1940, p. 79; A. D. Mills, Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford, 2002, p. 139; E .Ekwall, Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names. Oxford, 1960, p. 180.
^ Burke, Darren (28 September 2016). "Remembering RAF Finningley 20 years after its closure". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
^ Take Off For Airport Station Plans Railnews.co.uk. Accessed 4 September 2008.
^ Doncaster Moto Parc Motocross.

External links

[1] More about our Village – Finningley Village Community Group Retrieved 13 March 2018.

[2] "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 March 2016.

[3] "Area: Finningley CP (Parish)"

[4] City Pop. Retrieved 18 March 2021.

[5] Nikolaus Pevsner, 1979. The Buildings of England:Nottinghamshire, p. 127. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin.

[6] J. Gover, A. Mawer & F. M. Stenton, eds., Place Names of Nottinghamshire. Cambridge, 1940, p. 79; A. D. Mills, Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford, 2002, p. 139; E .Ekwall, Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names. Oxford, 1960, p. 180.

[7] Burke, Darren (28 September 2016). "Remembering RAF Finningley 20 years after its closure". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 2 October 2017.

[8] Take Off For Airport Station Plans Railnews.co.uk. Accessed 4 September 2008.

[9] Doncaster Moto Parc Motocross.

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v t e Ceremonial county of South Yorkshire
Yorkshire Portal
Metropolitan districts	Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley City of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham City of Sheffield
Major settlements (cities in italics)	Adwick le Street Askern Barnsley Bawtry Chapeltown Conisbrough Cudworth Dinnington Doncaster Edlington Hatfield Hoyland Maltby Mexborough Mosborough Penistone Rawmarsh Rossington Rotherham Royston Sheffield Stainforth Stocksbridge Swinton Thorne Tickhill Wath upon Dearne Wombwell See also: List of civil parishes in South Yorkshire
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