Podington

{{Short description|Village in Bedfordshire, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}

{{infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|52.254|-0.623|display=inline,title}}

| official_name = Podington

| civil_parish = Podington

| population = 435

| population_ref = (2011 Census including Farndish & Hinwick){{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11127619&c=NN29+7HJ&d=16&e=62&g=6403057&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1478543733343&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=7 November 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}

| unitary_england = Bedford

| lieutenancy_england = Bedfordshire

| region = East of England

| constituency_westminster = North East Bedfordshire)

| post_town = WELLINGBOROUGH

| postcode_district = NN29

| postcode_area = NN

| dial_code = 01933

| os_grid_reference = SP940626

|static_image= Thatched cottages in Podington - geograph.org.uk - 528746.jpg

|static_image_width= 240px

|static_image_caption= Thatched cottages in Podington

}}

Podington is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, United Kingdom. The village is within the electoral ward of Harrold in the Borough of Bedford. Podington lies around {{convert|16|km|mi|abbr=on}} northwest of Bedford and is about {{convert|2|km|mi|abbr=on}} east of the county border with Northamptonshire.

Podington is a small picturesque rural village; many of its buildings are stone cottages dating from the 18th century, and some even earlier.

Podington was included in the Domesday Book 1086, with a population of 29 households; prominent landowners included Walter of Flanders, Hugh of Flanders and William Peverer.{{cite web |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/SP9462/podington/ |title=Podington |date=11 July 2017 |publisher=Open Domesday |access-date=4 December 2019 }}

The community was recorded as "Podintone" and "Potintone" from the 13th century and later as "Puddington".[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42387 British History Online – Older spellings – 1700s stone cottages] Today it is sometimes spelt (or misspelt) "Poddington". Located around {{convert|3|km|mi|abbr=on}} southeast of the village are RAF Podington and Santa Pod Raceway. Hinwick House is found at a crossroads under {{convert|1|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of the village.

Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed church in Podington. It became a listed building on 13 July 1964.{{cite web|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-37184-parish-church-of-st-mary-podington|title=Church of St Mary, Podington|publisher=British Listed Buildings|access-date=1 December 2011}} Some surviving architectural elements date back at least to the early 13th century. A 1912 report about the church indicated that it had a chancel, nave, north aisle, south aisle, south porch and west tower. The south arcade of the nave, the north arcade the chancel and tower were all dated to the 13th century.{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/beds/vol3/pp80-87|title = Parishes: Podington and Hinwick | British History Online}}

Mary I of England gave the manor to one of her servants George Brediman in 1557.Daniel Lysons, Magna Britannia;: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, vol. 1 (London, 1806), p. 125. Richard Orlebar, the High Sheriff for Bedfordshire and his wife, the culinary writer Diana Astry, were both buried at this church in the 1700s. They had been the owners of Hinwick House.

The church's pipe organ was restored by the 92nd Bomb Group Memorial Association. The 92nd group had been stationed at the RAF Podington airfield during WW II and flew nearly 300 operational missions from that base.{{Cite web|url=https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/262448|title = 8th USAAF 92nd Bomb Group - Podington - War Memorials Online}}