Building record TR 35 NW 679 - Former Ash Radar Station

TR 299 573. The Radar Station at RAF Ash was constructed during the early 1950s as part of the RAF's Rotor programme to modernise Britain's radar defences. It became operational in August 1953 and succeeded an earlier wartime Radar Station RAF Sandwich (TR 35 NW 173). Its function was similar to its wartime predecessor as a Ground Control Intercept (GCI) station- to direct interceptor aircraft to a position close to intruding aircraft, from where the fighters could use close on the target using their own airborne radar. During the 1960s the station became part of the civil air -traffic network, but by the late 1980s the station was fully reoccupied by the RAF. Associated nuclear bunker, condition good.

The site comprises a double-level bunker known as an R3 - one of ten such bunkers built in Britain. This was extensively modernised during the late 1980s. On the surface are a number of radar plinths, and a late 1950s Type 80 radar modulator building. At the time of investigation in February 1998 the site was sale, it is believed that it has subsequently been sold.

A photographic record has been made of the bunker's interior and associated surface features. (1)

Summary and description. (2)

The Rotor programme was developed to advance the wartime radar technology in detecting and locating fast-flying jets. It was approved by the Air Council in June 1950. The first stage of the programme, Rotor 1, was to technically restore existing Chain Home, centrimetric early warning, Chain Home Extra Low and Ground Controlled Interception stations and put them under the control of RAF Fighter Command. There were three main components to the Rotor stations: the technical site, including the radars, operation blocks and other installations; the domestic site, where personnel were accommodated; and the stand-by set house, a reserve power supply. The technical site for Sandwich Rotor station was located at TR 297 575. The domestic site and stand-by set house were co-located at TR 334 585.

The two main constructions at Rotor stations were the operations block and guardhouse. Operations blocks were the largest structures built at Rotor stations. They were constructed of reinforced concrete and designed to withstand 2,000lb bombs. The outer walls and roof of the Rotor operations blocks were 3 metres thick and the internal walls between 0.15 to 0.6 metres wide. The exterior was coated with an asphalt damp course and surrounded by a 0.15 metre brick wall. The roof was usually flush with the ground surface and up to 4.34 metres of earth was mounded on top. The operations blocks, identified by a 'R' prefix, contained technical equipment, domestic facilities, workshops and a plant for air conditioning and gas filtration, all within a single complex. The guardhouses were designed to resemble bungalows. They were single-storey buildings capped with a flat, concrete roof, above which a pitched roof contained water tanks. They were generally constructed of brick, but were built to blend in with the local architectural style. The guard rooms also contained an armoury, store, rest room and lavatories. Those associated with underground operations blocks featured a projecting rear annex that housed a stairwell leading down to an access tunnel. (3-5)

Aerial photography from 1998 shows that the R3 operations block remains. An internal English Heritage inspection shows it to be in good condition. The guardhouse is present and the Type 80 modulator building is well-preserved. A large number of ancillary buildings are present and likely to be built during the later phases of the operation. A number of aerial plinths survive in good condition. (6)

RAF Ash is located on Marshborough Road between the villages of Woodnesborough and Ash. It was built to replace the former Second World War Chain Home Low station at Ash. Construction began in 1951 and it was operational sometime after 1952. It was reduced to care and maintenance by the mid 1960s and in 1965 had began to be returned to its former civillian owners and the rest was sold to the Civil Aviation Authority. The guardhouse was converted into a new office building. The site also operated as part of the Linesman/Mediator radar system for both military and civilian use. In the 1980s the site was repurchased by the Royal Air Force and renamed RAF Ash. The operations bunker was stripped out and two new bunkers were built on and adjacent to the Rotor bunker. The station later became a Reserve Control and Reporting Centre, an Operational Conversion Unit and a Ground Environment Operational Evaluation Unit. The site ceased to operate in the mid 1990s. (7)

Complex of buildings, some underground, and aerial platforms covering large are. No longer used by RAF, now used by a private company for computer data storage.
Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential :
Condition : good
Date of visit : 23/07/07

A survey of 1998, carried out by English Heritage when the station had been decommissioned and was due to be sold, recorded the history of the site and structures. The station was built as part of the post war Rotor programme, becoming operational on 8th May 1953. The control block was an R3 type bunker, a two storey structure, the lower storey being completely below ground, the upper being partially below ground and below a reinforced earth mound. It served as a CGI (A) station, a fighter control station. The programme was short-lived and it was proposed in the early 1960s for the station to become a civil air traffic control system. It is not known what purpose the station served between the 1960s and the late 1980s. In the late 1980s a new radar control system was implemented and Ash station was used as part of this, it was also used to test new software. It was operational until 1997 and put up for sale in 1998.

Surface features include bases for radar arrays, the original entrance to the bunker (via a guardhouse) and a 1980s Yarnold type pillbox. There is also a sewage works and an electricity sub station. The legal perimeter of the site is demarcated with concrete blocks.

Housing for some of the staff was provided at the RAF Station Sandwich. (1-2)

A walkover survey in 2008 recorded surviving structures in the southern part of the site. (3)

Historic england archive material: BF109317 RAF Ash, New Street, Ash
DEB01 Defence of Britain This material has not yet been fully catalogued. Copyright, date, and quantity information for this record may be incomplete or inaccurate.Box files containing the record sheets gathered from participants in the Defence of Britain Project. The project recorded, with the help of volunteers, the remains of military structures in Britain. The collection is arranged by county and split between anti-invasion and non anti-invasion defences. The record sheets record the visible structures and include location details, structure type and purpose and include photographs.

Peter Higginbotham, Higginbotham, Peter. 2000. The Workhouse. (Website). SKE53741.

Andrew Saunders and Victor Smith, 01/01/2000, Kent's Defence Heritage (Miscellaneous Material). SKE24108.

Council for British Archaeology, 01/01/89, Twentieth Century Fortifications in England, Vol. XI.2 The Cold War (1996) (Bibliographic reference). SKE13909.

Anderton, Michael J., 2000, Twentieth century military recording project: World War Two radar stations (Bibliographic reference). SWX23713.

<1> English Heritage, 1998, RAF Ash, Kent: Survey Report (Unpublished document). SKE17307.

<2> English Heritage, 2001, Cold War Monuments: an assessment by the Monuments Protection Programme (Unpublished document). SKE17446.

<3> Gifford and Partners, 2008, The Bunker: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE17898.