Summary : The site of a centimetric early warning radar station built in the early 1950s as part of the Rotor programme to modernise the United Kingdom's radar defences. This was a remodelling of the Chain Home Extra Low station at Bempton (see HOB UID 1415819). The station was equipped with one Type 14 Mk. 9 and one Type 14 Mk. 8 plan positioning radar head, one Type 13 Mk. 7 and two Type 13 Mk. 6 height finder radar heads mounted on plinths and 25 feet gantries, and one AN FPS3 radar with a 200 mile range. The site was equipped with a guardhouse designed to resemble a bungalow, which gave access to a single-storey, underground R1 operations block. The station closed in 1964 and operated as a satellite station to RAF Patrington until 1972. Aerial photography from 1997 shows that this site is a good example of a site that has developed from a radar to Rotor station. Surviving features from the Rotor period include the guardhouse, the R1 operations block, a Type 80 modulator building, over five Type 13 and 14 aerial bases and a sewage works. Air ventilation shafts and the emergency stairwell from the R1 bunker are visible on air photographs published online in 2009. |
More information : No features were visible at this sites location on 1941 photographs site (1)
In the immediate post war period (1950) this site consisted of a rectangular fenced enclosure circa 1 hectare centred at TA 1932 7417. Within the enclosure there were at least 6 military buildings arranged around a looped trackway that entered the enclosure from the west. Just to the north of the enclosure there was a possible weapons pit (TA 1928 7426) and to the south (TA 1922 7410) there was a possible structure that may also have been associated with the station.(2)
By 1969 nearly 7 hectares of land around the original station had been fenced off. The paved trackway was no longer visible but the buildings were still standing. (3)
This site was still in use in 1994 and more structures had been built since 1969. (4)
The Rotor programme was developed to advance the wartime radar technology in detecting and locating fast-flying jets. It was approved by the Air Council in June 1950. The first phase of the programme, Rotor 1, was to technically restore existing Chain Home, centrimetric early warning, Chain Home Extra Low and Ground Controlled Interception stations and put them under the control of RAF Fighter Command. There were three main components to the Rotor stations: the technical site, including the radars, operation blocks and other installations; the domestic site, where personnel were accommodated; and the stand-by set house, a reserve power supply. The technical site for Bempton Rotor station was located at TA 192 736. The domestic site and stand-by set house were co-located at TA 193 724.
The two main constructions at Rotor stations were the operations block and guardhouse. Operations blocks were the largest structures built at Rotor stations. They were constructed of reinforced concrete and designed to withstand 2,000lb bombs. The outer walls and roof of the Rotor operations blocks were 3 metres thick and the internal walls between 0.15 to 0.6 metres wide. The exterior was coated with an asphalt damp course and surrounded by a 0.15 metre brick wall. The roof was usually flush with the ground surface and up to 4.34 metres of earth was mounded on top. The guardhouses were designed to resemble bungalows. They were single-storey buildings capped with a flat, concrete roof, above which a pitched roof contained water tanks. They were generally constructed of brick, but were built to blend in with the local architectural style. The guard rooms also contained an armoury, store, rest room and lavatories. Those associated with underground operations blocks featured a projecting rear annex that housed a stairwell leading down to an access tunnel. (5-7)
Aerial photography from 1997 shows that this site is a good example of a site that has developed from a radar to Rotor station. Surviving features from the Rotor period include the guardhouse, the R1 operations block, a Type 80 building, over five Type 13/14 aerial bases and a sewage works. (8)
The guardhouse and the air ventilation shafts and emergency stairwell from the R1 bunker are visible on air photographs published online in 2009. (9)
RAF Bempton underwent reconstruction in the early 1950s as part of the Rotor programme. It was transferred to Fighter Command in 1950 and closed in 1964. It then operated as a satellite station of RAF Patrington until 1972. The site was decommissioned in circa 1980. (10)
An apparent 'underground control room', camouflaged as a ruined barn or cottage. [Recorder unable to inspect closely owing to foot and mouth disease]. At the old RAF station inland from Bempton Cliffs. (11) |