Madley

Madley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Herefordshire. It is located six miles west of the city of Hereford. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,200.

The parish includes the hamlets of Canon Bridge, Wormhill, Winmoor, Lulham, Upper & Lower Chilstone, Upper & Lower Shenmore, Cublington, Great & Little Brampton, Webton and Webton Court. Madley is the second largest parish in the county of Herefordshire.

Madley is most famous as the birthplace of Saint Dubricius, the 6th century evangelist of South Wales. He was actually born at Chilstone which is named after the 'Child Stone' that marked the spot . The parish has a fine medieval Church of England parish church which replaced that founded by St Dubricius. The church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the best known local examples of Norman architecture with gargoyles carved into the tower itself. It is a Grade I listed building.

The British Telecom's Madley Communications Centre is on part of the disused World War II airfield RAF Madley. It was built in 1940 by Welsh contractors and opened as a training centre for aircrew and ground wireless operators on 27 August 1941. In 1943 the grass airfield was reinforced with Sommerfeld Tracking and the centre's population rose to about 5,000. The site was visited in 1944 prior to D-Day by US General George S. Patton, and later by Rudolf Hess (who had been held prisoner near Abergavenny) on his way to the Nuremberg trials in 1946. Today only a few hangars remain.

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