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RAF Stenigot | |
---|---|
Stenigot, Lincolnshire. in England | |
Coordinates | 53°19′37″N0°06′58″W / 53.327°N 0.116°W |
Site information | |
Owner | Ministry of Defence |
Operator | Royal Air Force |
Site history | |
Built | 1938 |
In use | 1939-1996 |
Battles/wars | Second World War Cold War |
RAF Stenigot is a former Second World War radar station situated at Stenigot, near Donington on Bain, Lincolnshire.
It was built in 1938 by Blaw-Knox [1] as part of the Chain Home early-warning radar network. [2] Initially, the site’s main feature was an octet of aerial towers. These were supported by some low-lying buildings.
The station was upgraded in 1959 to GEE H [3] communications relay site as part of the ACE High programme, which involved adding four tropospheric scatter dishes. [4] The site was decommissioned in the late 1980s and was mostly demolished by 1996.
The radar tower is a Grade II listed structure because it is the best preserved and most complete Chain Home transmitter tower surviving in its original location in the British Isles. The site is still in use by the RAF Aerial Erector School for selection tests for possible recruits. [5]
Three of four dishes on site were scrapped in the winter of 2018. A local construction firm admitted to scrapping three of the four dishes, the legality of this is disputed. [5] The first dish was removed from its supports sometime before 14 October, [6] with two more dishes being felled over the following days. The fourth and last remaining dish was removed in mid to end–November 2020.
Horncastle is a market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, England. It is 17 miles (27 km) east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains.
Chain Home, or CH for short, was the codename for the ring of coastal early warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Initially known as RDF, and given the official name Air Ministry Experimental Station Type 1 in 1940, the radar units were also known as Chain Home for most of their life. Chain Home was the first early warning radar network in the world and the first military radar system to reach operational status. Its effect on the war made it one of the most powerful weapons of what became known as the "Wizard War".
Donington on Bain is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.
The Swingate transmitting station is a facility for FM-transmission in the village of Swingate, near Dover, Kent. For many years there were three lattice towers with a height of 111 metres (364 ft). This station was one of the first 5 Chain Home Radar stations completed in 1936 and was originally designated AMES 04 Dover. The FM transmitting antennas are attached to what was the middle tower; microwave link dishes and mobile telephone antennas were spread across all three towers. The south tower was dismantled in March 2010, as a result, only two remain.
Ingoldmells is a coastal village, civil parish and resort in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A52, and 3 miles (5 km) north from the resort town of Skegness.
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Donna Nook Air Weapons Range is a Ministry of Defence air weapons range in East Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England. The range, as well as a now defunct airfield and radar station, were previously operated by the Royal Air Force and known as RAF Donna Nook.
Royal Air Force Bempton or more simply RAF Bempton is a former Royal Air Force station situated at Bempton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 6 miles (10 km) north of Bridlington. During the Second World War it was established as a radar station, becoming part of the Chain Home Low (CHL) network.
Royal Air Force Goldsborough or more simply RAF Goldsborough is a former Royal Air Force station located in North Yorkshire, England.
Royal Air Force Ventnor or more simply RAF Ventnor is a former Royal Air Force radar station located 0.7 miles (1.1 km) north east of Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, England. It was initially constructed in 1937 as part of a World War II coastal defence programme codenamed Chain Home. The site played an important role during the Second World War, providing early warnings of incoming bomber attacks carried out by the Luftwaffe.
Royal Air Force Coleby Grange or more simply RAF Coleby Grange was a Royal Air Force satellite station situated alongside the western edge of the A15 on open heathland between the villages of Coleby and Nocton Heath and lying 7.4 mi (11.9 km) due south of the county town Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.
Horbling is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the B1177, 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Sleaford, 14.5 miles (23 km) north-east of Grantham and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north of Billingborough.
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South Willingham is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, and partly within the Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,. It is situated 1 mile (2 km) south of the A157 Lincoln to Louth road, 15 miles (24 km) west of Lincoln, where the central Lincolnshire Vale and the Lincolnshire Wolds meet. Its population was 160 at the 2011 census, down from a maximum of 341 in 1851.
Stenigot is a village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is in the Lincolnshire Wolds, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about 6 miles (9.7 km) south-west from the town of Louth, and 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east from the village of Donington on Bain. It includes the hamlet of Cold Harbour. The population is included in the civil parish of Asterby.
Bent Rigg Radar Station,, was a radar site located at Bent Rigg, 0.6 miles (1 km) south of Ravenscar, North Yorkshire, England. Several radar stations had been located in the Ravenscar area from 1938, but a more permanent site was built at Bent Rigg in 1941, which was crewed by technicians and other staff from the Royal Air Force. Bent Rigg, and the wider location around Ravenscar, was deemed "attractive" for the siting of long-range finding equipment. It was originally part of the Coastal Defence/Chain Home Low (CD/CHL) system, designed to detect shipping. Later, it was upgraded with more powerful equipment as part of the Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL). The last recorded use of the station was in September 1944, and it is believed that the site closed soon afterwards.
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RAF Ringstead is a former Royal Air Force radar station at Ringstead Bay, Dorset, England. It is notable for having served three separate functions: first as a Chain Home early-warning radar station during WWII and then, during the Cold War, as a Rotor station and then, finally, as a USAF Tropospheric scatter station. The first of these functions commenced in 1942; the last of the functions ceased in 1974. The structural remains were Grade II listed in 2020.