More information : 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 of Goldsborough radar station was located at NZ 830 138. The domestic site and the stand-by set house was situated at NZ 828 129.
The two main constructions at Rotor stations were the operations block and guard room.
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 guard rooms 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. (1-3)
Aerial photography from 1966 shows that the R2 operations block, guard house, base for Mk. 7 gantry, derelict CHEL platform and other hardstandings are present at the site. The domestic site at NZ 828 129 is in good condition except for one building that is in need of roof repairs. In total over 20 buildings survive. (4)
Modern mapping (2008) shows the guard room and evidence of a plinth/gantry at the NGR given. An earthen mound to the rear of the guard room is possibly the underground operations block. (5)
Goldsborough Rotor station, codenamed JEX. Construction of the R2 operations block commenced in 1951 and was likely completed in 1952. It was destroyed in a fire in 1958. As of 2005 the underground bunker is reported as flooded. The guard house remains extant and after a period of use as a hostel was derelict. It was damaged in a fire in November 2004. (6)
The radar station consisting of guard house, gantry, operation blocks is visible as extant buildings and structures on air photographs, centred at NZ 8301 1381. The features appear to be still extant on the latest 2009 photography.
(7-8)
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