Stansted Mountfitchet

51.9022222222220.19944444444444Koordinaten: 51 ° 54 'N, 0 ° 12'

Stansted Mountfitchet is a village in the English county of Essex, about 50 kilometers northeast of London, near the town of Bishop's Stortford and the border with Hertfordshire. It counts 5533 inhabitants (as of 2001) and belongs to the district of Uttlesford. The London Stansted Airport, which is only a few kilometers away, derives its name from the village.

History

The village was founded by the Anglo-Saxons, the name means in Old English " stony place ". After the invasion of the Normans in 1066 the place was given the Mountfitchet (after a Baron, who settled here). A small remnant of the castle has been preserved.

During the Second World War, the United States Air Force built an airfield east of the village. After the war it was taken over by the British government and converted into a commercial airport.

An attraction of the place is the House on the Hill Toy Museum largest toy museum in Europe. It was opened next to the castle in 1991 and shows over 80,000 different toys from 1950's to the 1980 's.