Monument record 0944602000 - South of The Firs

A Second World War weapon testing and research site is visible on historic aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located in fields south of Whitchurch village to the west of the A413 road and centred at SP 80307 20022, this is part of the testing site for weapons that were being developed at The Firs in Whitchurch village. A 3.5 metres wide concrete slab road, accessed by a gateway and a sentry building/guardroom, leads 550 metres W from the A413 to three (munitions?) bunkers, two of which are 6.5 metres square and the third is 11x7 metres. Each bunker is surrounded by a blast wall against which is piled earthwork banks on 3 and a half sides, the entrance to each facing N to the track. These remain extant in 2023. In the field adjacent the A413, the road joins another at right angles that leads N to The Firs. On either side of the road are military buildings and/or structures of uncertain function. Scattered across the weapon test site field are numerous structures of uncertain function, including water filled tanks and ditch, but no doubt relates to the purpose of the facility. Still in situ on aerial photographs taken in 1950, all structures but one have been removed by 1961. However, the imprint of some of the structures remain visible on 2021 dated remote sensing data in the ridge and furrow cultivation. Similarly, in 1950, all the site buildings and what appear to be two communication masts in the testing field remain extant but have been demolished by 1961, along with part of the road that leads to The Firs. The main road from the road to the bunkers remains intact in 2023 (15-21).