Description

RUSHBROOKE WITH ROUGHAM

490/0/10011 RAF Rougham: radar building
19-APR-07

GV II
A seven-bay radar building, built 1942/43, constructed of rendered brick and has projecting steel columns on all elevations. There are crittall casement windows throughout and the gable roof as a contemporary corrugated covering, possibly asbestos. The facade has central double doors, which have been replaced and a projecting switch gear store, with louvred doors, attached at the South-East corner. On the North elevation, one doorway has been blocked and there has been some necessary rebuilding at the North-West corner of the structure, undertaken during the restoration.

INTERIOR.
The building has an unaltered plan-form. The main room lies to the East and presumably contained the radar equipment. There are two smaller central rooms, one having a contemporary safe with armoured door and concrete shelving above, and some remnants of graffiti on the wall. The other is the former radio room containing some radio equipment believed to be from other airbases. The room to the West provides clear visibility of the flying field. All of the door and window openings and frames are original, and most of the interior doors are original, although a small number have been sourced from other airfield structures of the same date. The roof structure is a complete metal 'A' frame.

HISTORY
RAF Rougham was a 'temporary' military airfield, constructed between 1941/1942 as an RAF night-fighter station, but was immediately in use by USAAF, initially housing the 47th bomb group, but afterwards the 322nd and 94th bomb groups. From 1943, B17 Flying Fortresses flew from Rougham and the airfield was modified to accommodate these massive aircraft. After the war, the 94th stayed on to carry out leaflet and food distribution throughout Europe, finally leaving Rougham in December 1945. The airfield closed in 1948, and the control tower was converted into a residence, but was restored as a museum in the early C21 and is a listed grade II building.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE
The Radar building at RAF Rougham was constructed in 1942/43 and sympathetically restored in 2004. The building has the original roof structure, window and door openings and plan-form and interior features such as the safe and shelving. Although increased numbers of survivals of C20 military structures make greater selectivity necessary, the Radar building is remarkably intact and has visual and functional group value with the contemporary listed control tower.

Listing NGR TL8919764134

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671266

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living