About DeHavilland Park

We are refering to the development site as DeHavilland Park in recognition of the past association of the land with the Hatfield centred operations of the famous De Havilland Aircraft Company.

Development of the land that became Panshanger Aerodrome took place in 1940 to provide a decoy factory made from lightweight material, mimicking the scale of the De Havilland factory at Hatfield. The role of the decoy buildings was to divert enemy bombers from the actual factory.

De Havilland went on to operate flight training at the site and run the airfield after the end of the Second World War. De Havilland sold the land to a private individual in the 1950s, ending their association with the land and the airfield.

While originally containing four grass runways, in the following decades the airfield was steadily reduced in scale as housing was built over large parts of it.