Monument record MLI43220 - RAF Stenigot

Summary

RAF Stenigot opened in 1939 as a Chain Home radar station. It continued in use during the Cold War as an Ace High communication station. It closed in the early 1990s, and many of the former base structures have since been demolished.

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Full Description

RAF Stenigot was one of twenty Chain Home radar stations, stretching from the Isle of Wight to the Orkneys. They were built as part of the air defence network of the United Kingdom, and were critical to the aerial response during the Battle of Britain. Construction of the base actually preceded the commencement of the Second World War, however, beginning here in 1938, with the station becoming operational in 1939. The Chain Home programme was the world's first operational air defence radar system, and was capable of detecting incoming aircraft flying at 35000ft, from a distance of 180 miles, and thereby helping to direct fighter aircraft to intercept. The system comprised a transmitter block, shielded by blast walls (see MLI93441), to broadcast the radar waves from four tall transmitter towers, only one of which now survives (see MLI93443). The concrete bases for the other three towers are still extant on the site, marking their former locations. The returning signals were gathered by a number of wooden receiving towers (none of which now survive), and then passed to the receiver block for analysis (see MLI93442). The receiver block was located at the northern end of the station, and was built to a similar design as the transmitter block, also being surrounded by blast walls. Further ancilliary structures, including a standby set-house, underground armoury, petrol store and guard post, were located on the site. The station is believed to have typically employed around 120 people. Duplicates of the transmitter and receiver blocks were constructed at the station after heavy enemy attacks on the south coast Chain Home stations on the 12th August 1940. These back-up facilities were entirely buried underground, to enable the station to continue in use should enemy bombing damage the original structures. This buried reserve is believed to have been located towards the eastern end of the station, in the area of TF 2565 8289. Further buildings were added to the site in 1942, when a station of the GEE Navigation System was established at the base. This system helped to guide allied bombing missions in raids on the continent up to 1945. {1}{2}{3}{4}{5} Military use of the site continued during the Cold War, when a relay station of the ACE High tropospheric scatter communications system was installed on the site, and operated for NATO by the Royal Corps of Signals. The facility was built within its own fenced compound inside the former chain home radar station, with construction work being completed in 1960. The relay station consisted of a large, single-storey central electronics building, flanked by two pairs of parabolic dish antennae. Each dish measured 60ft in diameter, and was supported on seven lattice legs made of steel girders, anchored to large concrete blocks. One pair of the dishes pointed north, to pass signals to the next relay station near Alnwick, Northumberland, whilst the other pair pointed south, to pass signals to the relay station near Maidstone, Kent. The station included a number of ancilliary structures, including a generator house, fuel tanks, and a poilce house and guard dog pens near to the entrance on the sourthern side. The entire site was surrounded by floodlights. The system continued in operation until the early 1990s, when new forms of communication technology rendered ACE High obsolete. {6}{7}{8} After a short period of abandonment, many of the former base structures were demolished in April 1997. The surviving transmitter tower, transmitter block and receiver block were listed prior to this demolition, however, and were left largely intact. A second phase of demolition appears to have been conducted in 1999, when the receiving block at the northern end of the station was demolished. Although removed from their supporting frames, the parabolic dishes used in the ACE High system appear to still be on site. {9}{10} Three of the four parabolic dishes used in the ACE High system were reportedly removed from the site and scrapped towards the end of 2018. Only one surviving dish can now be seen on the site. {11} The last surviving parabolic dish of the ACE High system has now also been removed from the site, and was scrapped at some point in mid to late 2020. {12}

Sources/Archives (12)

  •  Correspondence: Sir Edward Fennessy. 1996. Chain Home Radar Site at RAF Stenigot. -.
  •  Photograph: East Lindsey District Council. 1996. Chain Home Radar Station at RAF Stenigot. -.
  •  Article in Serial: C.J. Lester. 1997. 'The Chain Home Radar Station at RAF Stenigot' in Lincolnshire Past & Present. no.30, p.5.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Dr Mike Osborne. 1997. 20th Century Defences in Britain: Lincolnshire. pp.44-54.
  •  Report: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1996. RAF Stenigot, Donington on Bain. -.
  •  Article in Serial: Mark Bennet (ed.). 1997. 'Industrial Archaeology Notes' in Lincolnshire History and Archaeology. vol.32, pp.41-2.
  •  Report: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1997. NATO Forward Scatter Station Stenigot, Manor Hill, Donington on Bain. -.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Wayne D. Cocroft and Roger J.C. Thomas. 2003. Cold War: Building for Nuclear Confrontation 1946-1989. pp.140-2.
  •  Correspondence: Mowlem Facilities Management Ltd. 1996. Demolition of Radar Dishes and Buildings at RAF Stenigot. -.
  •  Website: Google. 2001->. Google Earth, Maps and Street View. Accessed 19/01/2018.
  •  Website: Google. 2001->. Google Earth, Maps and Street View. Accessed 24/06/2020.
  •  Article in Serial: David Robertson. 2021. 'Trash or Treasure: The Cautionary Tale of the ACE High Dishes' in Defence Electronics History Society Newsletter. no.104, part.1, pp.94-9.

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Location

Grid reference Centred TF 2555 8276 (458m by 605m) Estimated from sources
Civil Parish DONINGTON ON BAIN, EAST LINDSEY, LINCOLNSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (5)

Related Events/Activities (3)

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Record last edited

Jan 9 2024 2:24PM

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