Wellesbourne Airfield & Museum

Wellesbourne Airfield is a small, fully operational, thriving airfield 5 miles east of Stratfrod-upon-Avon.

Early in 1941 the Government purchased over 200 acres of Warwickshire farmland 6 miles East of Stratford Upon Avon.

By Summer, new runways had replaced crops and livestock and the farmhouse of the Littler family. It was designated as RAF Wellesbourne Mountford, the base of No.22 Operational Training Unit until the close of the war in 1945. No. 22 OTU was equipped with Vickers Wellington bombers supplemented by Avro Anson navigational trainers.

The airfield was attacked from the air four times during May 1941.

In 1942 Wellesbourne aircraft from Wellesbourne were used in the 1,000 bomber raids on Germany, with many casualties. 

During the war Wellesbourne lost 96 Wellingtons in operational and training accidents. 80 airmen were injured and 315 killed. These comprised of 243 Canadians, 59 RAF, 9 New Zealand, 2 Belgian, 1 Australian and 1 WAAF.

On 25th July 1945 22 OTU was closed after having trained over 9000 airmen.

In Spring 1948 the airfield became a base for the School of Photography utilizing Avro Ansons, staying until 1964.Wellesbourne was closed  in 1964 and put on care and maintenance until it was sold back to it's pre-war owners, the Littler Family in 1965. During the next 15 years the site was then used for vehicle testing, a temporary base for Air Atlantique's DC-3s, microlighting and then in 1981 the airfield was licensed by the CAA for commercial activity. Flying Clubs soon began to arrive on the airfield, offering flying training and aircraft hire.

In February 1984, Avro Vulcan XM655 arrived on Runway 36 from RAF Waddington. The aircraft is parked in the north-west corner and is now looked after by the Vulcan XM655 Maintenance and Preservation Society. The aircraft is able to perform taxi runs for the public. For more info see the XM655 website.

A museum was set up in the late 1980s in the underground emergency wartime command and control bunker near the present day control tower. Displays cover the history of Wellesbourne Airfield, together with various aircraft components and memorabilia.

Please note the airfield is full operational and the museum is open Sundays 10am-4pm only.

Our Market is one of the largest outdoor markets in the UK and is open every Saturday and Bank Holiday Mondays.