Monument record 1156702038 - WADDESDON MANOR ESTATE

Waddesdon Manor estate main drives and parkland were requisitioned for use as an Army open-air fuel storage dump in 1941. Fuel and oil was ferried to the dump from Quainton railway station through 1943 and then transported away in 1944 to the fields of war (B8).
Buildings can still be seen on RAF vertical aerial photographs of 1947 (B9, B10). NGR to centre of spread.

An expansive Second World War military depot, No. 9 Petrol Depot RASC (Royal Army Service Corps) Waddesdon, is visible on historic aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located along the roadsides of the parkland for Lodge Hill and Waddesodon Manor south of Waddesdon village and centred at SP 74326 15990, aerial photographs taken in 1947 show that at that time the depot comprised about 36 rectangular military buildings of various sizes, some of which are temporary pitched roof and some are Nissen type. These likely provided administrative and logistical services for the depot. These buildings are scattered across the depot, the petrol being stored on at least 79 rectangular concrete hard standings of various sizes, though many are 16 metres square. These are situated along both sides of purpose made concrete roads south of the village along the roadside and in the fields. In some places the depot is bordered by a fence. A large military camp for the petrol depot’s RASC personnel is situated within the village less than a kilometre to the north. In 1946 the No.9 Petroleum Depot RASC (36 Group) permanently moved from Waddesdon to No 1 Petroleum Reserve Depot RASC at West Moors near Bournemouth in Dorset. Between 1948 and 1952, about 31 buildings and 24 hard standings are demolished. Between 1952 and 1961 a further 58 hard standings and 3 buildings are demolished. The final two original wartime buildings remain intact in 1976, but they too have been demolished by 2003. On aerial photographs taken in 2023 and recent remote sensing data, some of the former platforms or hard standing areas are still visible as earthworks in the parkland grass (11-28).

Second World War No. 9 Petrol Depot (Royal Army Service Corps) is visible on historic aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located along both sides of the trackway from Eythrope Park Farm and The Pavilion and centred at SP 76285 14241, 16 and 17 metres square areas of (concrete?) hardstanding and loops of roadway are scattered along the side of track, as well as four variously sized military buildings. The buildings appear to have been demolished on aerial photographs taken in 1950 but the remaining hardstanding areas remain visible. None of the remaining features are visible in 1961 (29-36).