Monument record 0801000000 - SE of Dorcas Farm: WW2 Radio Station

Summary

Aerial photogaphs taken in 1946 show a range of radio masts in fields surrounding a cluster of huts. RAF Stoke Hammond, a Second World War and Cold War telecommunications station

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Map

Type and Period (24)

  • RADIO STATION (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • ROYAL AIR FORCE BASE (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • ROYAL AIR FORCE CAMP (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • BOILER HOUSE (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • STOREHOUSE (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • FUEL STORE (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • MILITARY OFFICE (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • BARRACKS (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • GUARDHOUSE (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • SERGEANTS MESS (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • ABLUTIONS BLOCK (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • WORKSHOP (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • WORKSHOP (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • BICYCLE SHED (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • MESS (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • MILITARY SUPPORT BUILDING (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • TRANSMITTER SITE (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • WALL (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • BARBED WIRE OBSTRUCTION (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • AIR RAID SHELTER (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • FILTER BED (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • ELECTRICITY SUB STATION (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
  • MILITARY ROAD (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)

Description

Aerial photograhs taken in December 1946 show over 50 masts in field N and S of the road centred on 2 ranges of buildings, some with light and some with dark roofs (1). Later runs of aerial photographs reveal that the masts were still in place into the 1960s (2).

Royal Air Force Stoke Hammond, a Second World War and Cold War telecommunications station is visible on historic aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304). Located on Dorcas Lane and centred at SP 86823 29086, RAF Stoke Hammond was constructed in 1942, coming into service in March 1943. It was one of three units (along with the Government Code & Cypher School at nearby Bletchley Park and RAF Greatworth) under the RAF’s No.26 (Signals) Group, called 372 Wireless Unit. Bletchley Park used the RAF base as its key wireless receiving station and final collection point for highly secret coded messages being sent by various intelligence and resistance groups across the world. As the Second World War ended and the Cold War began, the RAF base remained operational as a classified wireless network terminal, with the capacity of its wireless receiver buildings doubled until it finally ceased operations and closed in 1973. In 1946 aerial photographs record the small RAF base comprising an access road from Dorcas Lane with a guardhouse at the entrance, leading to a large rectangular building that served as the wireless transmitter receiving station, serviced by a surrounding group of small buildings and infrastructure and bounded by barbed wiring on at least three sides. Three (asbestos) buildings served as airmens’ quarters, whilst other buildings were for the sergeants mess, airmens’ mess, ablutions block, administrative office, storehouses and workshops. Limited accommodation was provided on site for RAF personnel, many of whom were transported from RAF Church Green in Milton Keynes. In the fields around the base there are about 75 high frequency receiver masts, some towers constructed of timber up to 90 feet in height and others made of tubular steel. Other base structures include a Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) plinth, boiler houses, stand by set house, bicycle shed and fuel compounds. A probable emergency water supply tank was located some way from the buildings, along with a possible earth-covered air raid shelter. By 1959, the Cold War RAF base had changed considerably. Many of the wartime buildings and ancillary structures had been demolished and only their concrete bases remained visible. Sixty of the wartime era masts had been demolished by 1959 but twenty seven new masts had also been constructed in various locations across the base and a further twenty three erected by 1962. The wartime office hut remained extant and a new 32 x 7.5 metres rectangular building that served as the w/t receiving station was constructed about 40 metres north of the former buildings, which was extended at each end to 44 metres by 1962. By 1973 when the RAF base closed, about eighteen wartime and forty-four post-war masts remained extant, though all were demolished by 1993. Of the wartime base, only the access road, the mechanical & electrical (M&E) plinth and the sewage works filter bed remains extant. Of the Cold War base, the extended w/t receiving station building remains extant, thought has since been modified. The site is now a small commercial/industrial estate (3-11).

Sources (11)

  • <1>SBC20232 Aerial Photograph: RAF 598 Squadron. 1946. RAF Vertical Aerial Photograph, 1946: Run 368, frame 3187. SP86702850.
  • <2>SBC20262 Aerial Photograph: Fairey Air Surveys Ltd. 1963. Fairey Air Survey aerial photo: run 539, frame 3004. SP 8701 2950. Yes.
  • <3>SBC25582 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2022. RAF-CPE-UK-1897 RP 3187 12-DEC-1946.
  • <4>SBC25583 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2022. RAF-CPE-UK-2008 RP 3065 16-APR-1947.
  • <5>SBC25584 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2022. RAF-543-673 F44 0044 24-AUG-1959.
  • <6>SBC25585 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2022. RAF-58-5517 F21 0227 18-OCT-1962.
  • <7>SBC25587 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2022. OS-73284 V 227 14-JUN-1973.
  • <8>SBC25588 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2022. OS-93562 V 048 19-AUG-1993.
  • <9>SBC25589 Digital archive: Royal Air Force. 2022. Stoke Hammond Record Site Plan (All Sites), 1/2500 scale, Air Ministry D.G. of W. No. 5819/45, November 1945..
  • <10>SBC25590 Digital archive: -. 2022. RAF Stoke Hammond.
  • <11>SBC25593 Aerial Photograph: Google Earth. Google Earth Pro. Dated 01-JAN-2003 date accessed 03-FEB-2022.

Location

Grid reference SP 86792 29044 (point)
Civil Parish STOKE HAMMOND, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire
Civil Parish DRAYTON PARSLOW, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

  • Event - Survey: Aerial investigation and mapping project (Ref: 7768) (EBC18304)

Record last edited

Apr 21 2022 10:18AM

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