| Summary : The control tower at Weston Airfield (AMIE NMR number 1431637, ST36 SW77) is located adjacent to a large single-storey rectangular building to the south and a square garage to east; both of these building post-date it. The control tower itself was built on its present site in 1936 and consists of a small, timber-built, two-storey, rectangular structure. It was built by pilots from an old cab shelter from Weston-Super-Mare seafront. The ground floor is weather boarded and clad in Bitumen. The doorway to the ground floor is located within the eastern elevation and it has a simple timber door which has lost its glazing. To the north of the doorway is an unglazed window with a simple timber surround. The first floor is accessed by an external metal staircase to the north of the building and at first-floor level are the rusted remains of a walkway which would have surrounded the building. The simple doorway, similar to that on the ground-floor, is located in the north elevation, and the remaining elevations are partially glazed with windows extending the full width of the building. The lower portion of the east and west elevations have exposed weatherboarding whereas the north and south elevations are clad in Bitumen. It is known from photographic evidence that the roof has been replaced. The structure is currently roofed by a simple timber hipped roof, clad in Bitumen. |
More information : The Locking Road site was first proposed for the new Weston Airfield in 1933, following a flight given to local councillors by Norman Edgar, Managing Director of Western Airways Ltd. Originally specialising in motor cars, Edgar launched a twice-daily air service from Bristol-Cardiff in 1932 and his new company, Western Airways Ltd, was officially established in September 1933. Throughout the early 1930s the company grew quickly with routes extended to include Birmingham, Bournemouth and even Paris by 1935.
Works began on Weston Airfield in 1936 and the first buildings to be constructed on the site included the 14,000sq ft hanger, the 4,000sq ft airport terminal and the two-storey control tower. A published history of Western Airways Ltd claims that the airport terminal at Weston was converted from a re-erected First World War timber-built hospital and that the two-storey control tower was built by the pilots from an old cab shelter from Weston-Super-Mare seafront, with the important addition of a glass roof.
The first commercial flight flew into Weston on the 31 May 1936. Shortly afterwards, in early June, the first flight left Weston carrying passengers to Cardiff's Pengham Moor Airport. The association between Weston and Cardiff was important during this period, and as a testimony to this relationship the airport was officially opened on 25 June 1936 by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Cardiff. Following its official opening an article in the Weston-Super-Mare Gazette (27 March 1937) reports that: ¿an indication of the confidence the travelling public have in Western Airways is afforded by the fact that 20,000 passengers passed through the airport during the first seven months of its existence.¿
October 1938 saw the first domestic scheduled night flying service in Britain. The flight from Weston to Cardiff was broadcast live on the BBC by commentator Wynford Vaughan Thomas. A photograph from the Bristol Evening News (7 March 1939) shows the large flood-lights attached to the ¿control tower¿ and the caption below describes the building as ¿the hut which controls the powerful lights¿. Interestingly, the flood-lights also seem to obscure some of the view from this tower towards the airfield.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, the National Air Communications requisitioned the airfield and it was taken over by the Royal Air Force in 1940. Also in 1940 production of the Bristol Beaufighter aircraft began at the Old Mixon Shadow Factory on the west side of the airfield.
After the war, commercial flying resumed gradually at the airfield but the popularity of the short haul flights from Weston declined from the 1950s onwards and Western Airways finally relinquished its operating licence in 1978. Although at this time the council intended to close the airfield the Ministry of Defence refused and leased the land to Westland (Helicopters) Ltd. The Control Tower finally became obsolete in 1986.
The control tower at Weston Airfield is located adjacent to a large single-storey rectangular building to the south and a square garage to east; both of these building post-date it. The control tower itself was built on its present site in 1936 and consists of a small, timber-built, two-storey, rectangular structure. The ground floor is weather boarded and clad in Bitumen. The doorway to the ground floor is located within the eastern elevation and it has a simple timber door which has lost its glazing. To the north of the doorway is an unglazed window with a simple timber surround. The first floor is accessed by an external metal staircase to the north of the building and at first-floor level are the rusted remains of a walkway which would have surrounded the building. The simple doorway, similar to that on the ground-floor, is located in the north elevation, and the remaining elevations are partially glazed with windows extending the full width of the building. The lower portion of the east and west elevations have exposed weatherboarding whereas the north and south elevations are clad in Bitumen. It is known from photographic evidence that the roof has been replaced. The structure is currently roofed by a simple timber hipped roof, clad in Bitumen.
In common with all buildings considered for designation transport buildings have to be assessed in terms of their intrinsic value - their special architectural, planning, engineering and technological interest (English Heritage Selection Guides Transport Buildings 2007).
The first regular international service between London and Paris commenced in 1919 and, with the establishment of Croydon as the capital's main airport, the municipalities were keen to establish their own airfields. Many of these early airfield buildings were built in a futuristic art deco or modernist style to convey the `brave new world¿ that they embodied. Listed examples include the Aeroclub House and Control Tower at Walton-on-Thames (1932, Grade II); The Beehive at Gatwick (1934, Grade II*); Airport building comprising control tower and admin offices at Shoreham (1936, Grade II); Control Tower at Barton Aerodome (1937, Grade II) and Liverpool Airport Control and Terminal (1937-9, Grade II). These buildings are purpose built structures and are significant, both in terms of their pioneering design and plan form, and because of their architecture.
By contrast, the control tower at Weston was built by pilots from an old cab shelter from Weston-Super-Mare seafront. This is supported by a newspaper article from the 1970s which reports that the structure was a reused tramway hut; photographs from the early 20th century illustrate a number of similar, partially-glazed, timber structures present along the seafront.
The control tower, therefore, is not comparable with other listed airport structures of the 1930s; it was not a purpose-built, pioneering control tower but rather a temporary and opportunistic solution for a developing airfield. It is therefore not of special architectural interest within a national context.
Although the structure has an association with the introduction of commercial night flying in Britain in 1938, the changed character of the building means that a claim (as is required if historic interest is advanced as a reason for listing) that the physical fabric of the building reflects the particular historic event or process cannot reasonably be made. In any event, this was an era which saw constant innovation (and record breaking) in air travel, and not all such developments can be deemed to be of equal significance.
In conclusion, while acknowledging the local interest of the structure in the context of an early civilian, commercial airfield, it lacks both the architectural and the historic special interest required if a building is to be added to the national list. (1)
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