| Summary : A Second World War and 20th Century air gunnery and bombing range which later became a weapons testing site, visible as a collection of military buildings, mast structures, range marker, access roads, slipways and piers, was mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1946, 1950, 1954, 1970, 1978, 1979 and 1985. Located on the grass at St. Thomas's Head, the site was used during the Second World War for air gunnery practice by aircraft like the Gloster Gladiator aircraft. The site expands from 1946, where the site is visible only as four rectangular military huts and a range marker in the form of a directional arrow pointing northwest to Langford Grounds. A rectangular concrete plinth at the cliff edge has been suggested as the site of a Second World War searchlight battery, but no structures were visible on aerial photographs taken in 1946. By 1948, additional buildings, masts and a long raised pier constructed on piles with a braced framework had been constructed. By 1970, the site was undergoing an upgrade of facilities, with additional brick-built buildings, a large mast-like structure with a square base and braced by tripod legs, more substantial access roads and the construction of a second pier. In aerial photographs taken in 1979, a curvilinear slipway long has been built. By 1985, aerial photographs show that only two of the original wartime air gunnery range buildings remained and that the range marker arrow was overgrown but still faintly visible. In 2007, the 11 acre site, centred at ST 3482 6689, was still in use by the military, being taken over by QinetiQ and used as an Explosives and Shock Test Facility. |
More information : A Second World War and 20th Century air gunnery and bombing range which later became a weapons testing site, centred at ST 3482 6689 and visible as a collection of military buildings, structures, range marker, access roads, slipways and jetties, was mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1946, 1950, 1954, 1970, 1978, 1979 and 1985.
A first hand account from the Second World War describes the air gunnery range targets off St. Thomas's Head being strafed by the machine-guns of diving Gloster Gladiator aircraft.
On aerial photographs taken in 1946, the site is visible only as four rectangular military huts with pitched roofs, a concrete plinth and a range marker in the form of a directional arrow. Located on the grass at St. Thomas's Head, the four buildings (centred at ST 3483 6696, ST 3484 6696, ST 3486 6696 and ST 3487 6696) are between 6 and 7 metres long and 4 to 5 metres wide. They are presumed to be the control and communications room, observation posts and ancillary buildings needed to run and direct the range operations. The rectangular concrete plinth sited at the cliff edge, centred at ST 3468 6699, is about 9.5 metres long and 5 metres wide. It has been suggested as the site of a Second World War searchlight battery, but no structures were visible on aerial photographs taken in 1946. The white concrete target direction arrow is pointing northwest to Langford Grounds and is about 11 metres long and 1.2 metres wide.
In aerial photographs taken in 1948, additional buildings have also been constructed and masts or aerials are visible. A long raised pier, aligned WSW-ENE and about 2 metres wide, has also been constructed on piles with a braced framework and extends about 60 metres from the shore into the mud (ST 3491 6694 to ST 3487 6690).
Aerial photographs taken in 1954 and 1958 show that further military buildings had been constructed but, in aerial photographs taken in 1969 and 1970, the site was undergoing an upgrade of facilities, with additional brick-built buildings, more substantial access roads and the construction of a second pier about 186 metres south of the first, being further up the mouth of the River Banwell. Also built as a raised structure with bracing supports, the pier measures about 27 metres long and 3 metres wide (ST 3348 6670 to ST 3492 6672). A large mast-like structure, with a square base and braced by tripod legs, was located at ST 3485 6691 although its function unknown.
In aerial photographs taken in 1979, a curvilinear slipway long has been built from the north shore of St. Thomas's Head. Constructed in sections, the NNW-south aligned feature measures about 105 metres long and 4.5 metres wide. In most of the aerial photographs viewed from the 1940s to the 1980s, various sized barge-like vessels are visible on the mud foreshore below the site and alongside the jetties, presumably being associated with the operations of the military site to access range targets in the mud or to transport explosives to the test area in the mudflats.
By 1985, aerial photographs show that only two of the original wartime air gunnery range buildings remained and that the range marker arrow was overgrown but still faintly visible. In 2007, the 11 acre site, centred at ST 3482 6689, was still in use by the military, being taken over by QinetiQ and used as an Explosives and Shock Test Facility. (1-12)
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