Chain Home Low Station Chl41a |
| Hob Uid: 1477502 | |
Location :
Northumberland
Bamburgh
|
| Grid Ref : NU1730035900 |
| Summary : The site of a Royal Air Force Chain Home Low radar station at Bamburgh established by 1940. It provided early warning of low-flying enemy aircraft approaching the north of England. Chain Home Low sites typically comprised two gantries carrying the transmitter and receiver aerial arrays, a transmitter and receiver hut, a standby set house for the reserve power, and a general purposes hut. Defence measures installed at radar stations included Light Anti-Aircraft gun emplacements, pillboxes, road blocks and air raid shelters. The site was upgraded in 1942 and fitted with centimetric radar to become a Chain Home Extra Low station, called site K157. Aerial photography from 1957 shows that the station had been removed and the site given over to agricultural use. |
More information : A Chain Home Low station located at Bamburgh (NU 173 359), called site CHL41A. It was established by 13-JAN-1940. Chain Home Low (CHL) stations provided early warning of approaching low-flying enemy aircraft during the Second World War. CHL stations used technology originally used by the Army to plot shipping for coastal batteries. In 1940 the Royal Air Force established the series of Chain Home Low stations to supplement the existing Chain Home stations as they were capable of detecting lower-flying aircraft. CHL sites typically comprised two gantries carrying the transmitter and receiver aerial arrays, a transmitter and receiver hut, a standby set house for the reserve power, and a general purposes hut. Defence measures installed at radar stations included Light Anti-Aircraft gun emplacements, pillboxes, road blocks and air raid shelters. From 1942 CHL sites were combined with the British Army's Coastal Defence/Chain Home Low (CD/CHL) sites to form one system of low-cover radar under the control of the Royal Air Force. These selected stations were upgraded with centimetric radars to become the K-series of Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL) stations. This improvement in radar technology meant that fewer stations were needed to give the same coverage and as a result many CHL and CD/CHL stations not upgraded were closed. Bamburgh became CHEL station K157. (1)
Chain Home Low Station at Bamburgh. Aerial photography from 1957 shows that the station had been removed and the site given over to agricultural use. (2) |