Description

NEATISHEAD

1237/0/10021 RAF NEATISHEAD
22-FEB-08 R3 Underground Operations Block

II
R3 underground operations block with associated guardroom and staircase annex, above ground features including mounded earth covering, emergency exits and air intake vents. Early 1950s.

EXTERIOR:Constructed by the cut and cover method, cast as a monolithic concrete structure reinforced with steel rods, the roof cast using pressed-steel formwork troughs with earth mounded on top; brick guardroom with pantile roof. Two storey central operations block, rectangular in plan, with plant annex, air outlets and access and emergency exit tunnels.

INTERIOR: The operations block is entered via a staircase in the rear annexe of the adjacent bungalow guardroom. The staircase goes down to a dog-legged access tunnel, designed to lessen the impact of a blast wave on the massive inner blast door. Running the length of the operations block is a corridor which ultimately leads to the emergency exits which surfaces at the west end of the mound. The operations rooms are located in the wider half of the operations block and the rest rooms, lavatories and duty offices in the narrower part. The operations rooms were some of the earliest in the country to be built to house electronic data handling equipment. Special features of the design which reflect this include false floors set on steel frames supported by brick carrier walls, below which cabling and ducting is run. The removable floor panels gave flexibility to alter the internal layout as new equipment was introduced. The tremendous heat generated by the processing equipment, which relied on glass valves, is indicated by the space in the building devoted to the air conditioning and cooling plant, linked to forced air ducts below the floor and under the ceiling; the ducts were originally attached to the equipment racks and consoles by flexible metal hoses.

The bungalow guardroom which gives access to the underground operations block through its rear annex has been extended in recent years with the addition of a north wing. However, the original part which housed the guardroom, armoury, store, rest room and lavatories, with a veranda on the east side, survives and was designed to blend into the local vernacular style. It comprises a one and a half storey rectangular brick building capped with a flat, concrete slab roof under a pitched pantile roof. This originally housed water tanks but has been converted to office space with the insertion of dormer windows. The fenestration on the south elevation has also been altered.

In 1966, there was a devastating fire in the operations block which claimed the lives of three firemen. It was rebuilt in the 1980s under the Improved United Kingdom Air Defence Ground Environment (UKADAGE) as one of four Control and Reporting Centres. A new plant room was built for a standby generator and air outlets and vents were buried in large holes next to the existing bunker. The original entrance through the guardroom was retained. A large suite of decontamination rooms was added, reflecting concerns about biological and chemical agents as well as nuclear weapons. The interior of the original 1950s structure was essentially retained, but entirely re-equipped, the most noticeable change in the operations room being the replacement of the manually updated tote boards with personal electronic displays. This computer equipment was removed following the decommissioning of the R3 in 2004, though the air conditioning plant remains in use.

HISTORY: RAF Neatishead opened in June 1941 as a Ground Control Intercept (GCI) Station and its development was typical of many stations of this type. GCI stations were developed from late 1940 to assist in the tracking and interception of hostile aircraft after they crossed the coast, particularly at night. The original Chain Home radar system was strung out along the coast and the tracks of enemy aircraft were lost as they headed inland. GCI stations were designed to counter this problem by tracking hostile aircraft as they passed inland and directing the local fighter squadrons to attack the intruders.

Typical of a first phase GCI radar station, RAF Neatishead comprised mobile caravans and wooden guard house all surrounded by a perimeter fence; accommodation huts were added later. The second phase of building activity began in January 1942, when a timber operations hut (which survives in modified form, in use until recently as a dental and medical centre), a timber 'goalpost' gantry (to support a Type-8 radar) and other ancillary structures were built. This phase is known as an 'Intermediate GCI Station'. This was quickly followed by construction work for the last wartime phase, the Fixed or 'Final' GCI Station. It was one of 21 Final GCI Stations, and one of only 12 to be fully equipped with searchlight and fighter control. The main feature of this phase was the double storey, protected operations room or 'Happidrome' (so named after a contemporary BBC comedy radio programme featuring a farcical music hall), which was completed on 15 July 1942. This building survives in modified form as the R30, to be recommended for listing. The station became operational in its final wartime form in January 1943.

Neatishead was retained after the end of the war and as a result of the Cherry Report (an examination of Britain's post-war air defence requirements), it was recommended that the Sector Operations Centres should be combined with a number of GCI stations. Alterations to accommodate this, including the extension of the wartime Happidrome, began at Neatishead in December 1948 and were completed by October 1950.

In the early 1950s, as part of the Rotor scheme to refurbish Britain's radar defences, the R3 double level underground operations block, was built, accessed by staircase in a rear annexe of a guardroom disguised as a 'bungalow'. On the surface, new protected radar plinths were constructed (the three examples at Neatishead are to be recommended for scheduling) and some distance away from the site, a standby generator building, designed to resemble a church, was built (to be recommended for listing). By the late 1950s, as a result of a change in defence policy following the detonation of the Soviet H-bomb in 1953, the emphasis was moved towards implementing the so called 'tripwire response': air defences were scaled down to protect the nuclear deterrent bases and to give early warning of aggression by the Warsaw Pact in order that nuclear armed aircraft and missiles could immediately be launched, after which there would be little need for air defence. In 1961, a new scheme known as 'Linesman' was approved to reconfigure Britain's radar defences to respond to the new strategic demands and new technology. Neatishead was just one of four stations where major rebuilding working took place as part of this scheme. Structures built in the early 1960s include the Type-84 and R17 modulator building (to be recommended for scheduling), the Type-85 radar and R12 bunker, which housed its processing equipment (to be recommended for listing), High Speed Aerials, HF 200 height finders (footings of these may survive as buried features) and a new generator building. A major set back occurred in 1966 when the R3 operations block was gutted by fire, with some loss of life. The radars, however, continued in use sending their data to remote sites. Neatishead regained its operational role again in 1972 when the Standby Early Warning and Control (SLEWC) centre was established in the wartime Happidrome, or R30, as it became known following refurbishment.

But by the time the Linesman system was fully operational in the 1970s, NATO policy had moved to one of 'flexible response', whereby the reaction to any Soviet aggression would not immediately be met with massive nuclear retaliation, but might begin with a conventional phase to allow time for negotiation. The system designed to replace Linesman was known as Improved United Kingdom Ground Defence Environment (IUKADGE). In place of fixed radar new mobile systems were developed which used sophisticated electronics to counter jamming in place of the massive power input required by the earlier system. These were supplemented by the use of inputs from air and seaborne radars. Operations centres were provided with refurbished hardened bunkers, as exemplified by the R3 bunker at Neatishead. This system finally became fully operational in 1992.

SOURCES:
Cocroft W D, 2001, Cold War Monuments: an assessment by the Monuments Protection Programme, English Heritage

Cocroft, W D & Thomas, R J C, Cold War. Building for Nuclear Confrontation 1946-1989, English Heritage

Bullers, R F, 1991, 'We Guard the Skies', Royal Air Force Neatishead A History, Tri Service Magazines

Summary of importance:
RAF Neatishead is unique in being able to represent the changes to Britain's air defence policy throughout the Cold War until the present day. Many of the buildings on site are of special interest. The R3 operations block is one of a group of contemporary structures which remain in place at RAF Neatishead and in its vicinity, providing a visual impression of the site and the location of its principal components during the Rotor period. Additions and alterations to the original structure, which remained in use until recently, and its association with later structures adds significance, reflecting changes in air defence policy and developments in radar and computer technology. It forms a key component of a site identified by in depth research as the exemplar for illustrating, through its fabric, the evolution of radar technology over the last 60 years.

Reasons for Listing

The R3 operations block meets the criteria for listing as one of a group of contemporary structures which remain in place at RAF Neatishead and in its vicinity, providing a visual impression of the site and the location of its principal components during the Rotor period. Additions and alterations to the original structure, which remained in use until recently, and its association with later structures adds significance, reflecting changes in air defence policy and developments in radar and computer technology. It forms a key component of a site identified by in depth research as the exemplar for illustrating, through its fabric, the evolution of radar technology over the last 60 years.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672584

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.

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