There is a most interesting group of buildings, including Offley Place, which was rebuilt in 1810 but which retains a Tudor porch and a 17th-century wing.

Its nave is Early English, and the chancel was recased and its interior built by Sir Thomas Salusbury in the 18th century.

Close to the centre of the village is a water tower, which is painted white in response to a campaign started by a Liberal Democrat councilor candidate.

This is likely to be opposed by local residents and groups such as the Keep East of Luton Green[5] and Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

The Village Petrol station closed in the late 1980s although a garage operated on the site until 2001 when the land was sold for development.

At one time Great Offley had six pubs in the village, these have now decreased to two with a third being converted into a Chinese Restaurant.

The mansion was built in the style of Chequers by architects Sir Ernest George and Alfred Yeats and completed in 1911.

The grounds were redesigned by Edwin L Lutyens, soon to be recognised as the foremost architect of the era, and planted by Gertrude Jekyll, one of the first lady Victorian gardeners.

The land use in the parish is a mixture of arable, and woodland with some minor seasonal grazing for beef cattle and sheep.

Main crops include: Much of the woodland is not used for timber and is made up of oak, beech and horse chestnut trees, with smaller plantations of pine and spruce.

The aircraft LM616 (KO J) had left its base at RAF Witchford near Ely several hours earlier to support Allied ground forces taking part in Operation Goodwood during the Normandy campaign.

The aircraft had descended through low cloud only to see the high escarpment of the Chiltern Hills at Offley loom into view too late for the crew to take immediate action.

The aircraft hit trees in a wood on top of Birkitt Hill before colliding with the farmhouse at West End Farm.