Watch Office (Building 72) at former RAF West Raynham, Raynham, Norfolk

Summary

Former watch office, built in 1937-1938 to the Air Ministry's Works Department drawing number 207/36, remodelled in 1943 when the observation tower was replaced with a new control room, to drawing number 4698/43.

Description

MATERIALS: the 1937-1938 range is constructed from monolithic concrete, internally lined with pioneer blocks, while the 1943 addition is of cement-rendered brick with a concrete slab roof

PLAN: the former watch office stands at the centre of a crescent of four hangars aligned on a concave axis with the airfield to the south-east. It is square-on-plan, aligned north-west to south-east.

EXTERIOR: all the windows are steel casements with horizontal glazing bars forming multi panes.

The ground floor, which faces south-east across the site of the former runway, is of four bays, with each bay having a two-light casement. Below the windows is a continuous sill band surmounted by terracotta tiles and above is a projecting band which continues around the remainder of the building. The watch room windows wrap round to the return elevations where there are single casements (the glazing bars to the left-hand return window now missing). The left-hand return also has a half-glazed wooden door with a three-light fanlight beneath a shallow concrete hood and a further single casement at the left-hand end. The wall between the watch office window and the doorway bears the scars of the now removed staircase which originally gave access to the control room on the roof. The right-hand return has two single casement with horizontal glazing bars, concrete sills and a continuous concrete lintel. The centre of the rear elevation has an identical door to that on the left-hand return giving access to the former airmen’s toilets. Flanking it on each side are single casements.

The control room on the roof occupies the rear part of the building, with the front section used as an observation gallery enclosed by the original steel balustrade. Its south-eastern elevation has, from left to right, a plain wooden door, a six-light casement window and a two-light casement. The returns both have four-light casements and at the rear there are two two-light casements. To the left-hand side of the doorway there is a steel cat ladder with a safety cage rising to the flat roof which is enclosed by steel railings.

INTERIOR: the watch room at the front of the building is subdivided by a partition wall with a small hatch which is operated by a sliding wooden door from the east side room. Above the hatch in this room is a wooden shelf. Most ground-floor rooms retain plain door surrounds, but the doors themselves are now missing, while the Duty Officer's rest room at the rear retains plain skirting boards along with horizontal security bars to the windows. The first-floor control room retains original braced and ledged doors.

History

Construction of RAF West Raynham commenced in 1936, as part of the RAF expansion scheme, and officially opened in April 1939. As built, the site conformed to the typical layout of the 'Expansion Period' aerodrome, consisting of a roughly rectangular grass surfaced landing ground with runways in triangular plan, with the technical site, hangars and accommodation blocks grouped close together at the north-west corner; bomb stores were located to the south-east.

Towards the end of the Second World War, the base was identified as the location for the Central Fighter Establishment . For flying control, the construction of a new Very Heavy Bomber (VHB) control tower was specified. Other work included a cannon test butt, additional officers’ single quarters, technical buildings and supporting infrastructure.

Post-war, RAF West Raynham became the RAF's premier fighter development station. The main roles of the Central Fighter Establishment included the development of fighter tactics and aircrew training. The station maintained both an operational and training role until its closure. From the mid-1960s it also accommodated Bloodhound Mk II surface to air guided missiles, located within its own compound on the East side of the airfield. In 1983, it became the main centre for training operators of Rapier, a short-range air defence missile system, and home to units responsible for this system.

The station closed in 1994, although the Ministry of Defence did not dispose of it until 2006. Most of the Bloodhound Missile site has been cleared. The VHB Control Tower was listed at Grade II in 2012 and later converted to a dwelling. Part of the site was converted to a business park and a solar farm has been laid out across most of the flying field.

In the second half of the 1930s, increasing attention was being given to the dispersal and shelter of aircraft from attack, ensuring serviceable landing and take-off areas, and the control of movement: the result was the development of the control tower and the planning from 1938 of the first airfields with runways and perimeter tracks. The control tower, which first appeared as a recognisable design in 1934, became the most distinctive and instantly recognisable building associated with military airfields, particularly in the Second World War when they served as foci for base personnel as they awaited the return of aircraft from operations.

The former watch office at West Raynham was built in 1937-1938 by the Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings (drawing number 207/36). Its design resembled a child's toy fort, consisting of a large, almost square-shaped, ground floor with a smaller square-shaped (in plan-form) central observation tower covering an additional one-and-a-half storeys. Its ground floor comprised an entrance lobby, officers' toilets and a door giving access to a spiral staircase connecting the ground floor with the first and second floors of the observation tower. The front part of the ground floor housed the watch office for the Duty Pilot, while the Duty Pilot's rest room was located at the rear on the left-hand side. The spiral staircase gave access to the first floor (a half-storey) of the observation tower which was only used for storage given its 6 ft ceiling height. At this level a door gave access to the roof of the main building. Further up the staircase was the observation room, which had windows on all four sides, but only allowed a good view immediately in front of the tower, its rear and side views often being obscured by hangars and other buildings. A cat-ladder connected the observation room with the roof of the tower.

With the development of military air traffic control and the construction of hard surface runways with electric lighting installed, it became apparent at most 'Expansion Period' stations that there were problems with the existing building, with it being either in the wrong position, or too small to be fitted out with lighting control panel and other equipment. Consequently, two options were available at these stations, either build a new structure to the latest type design in a position where the ends of runways could easily be seen, or to modify the existing building to create a new and larger control room. Where the latter was chosen, as at West Raynham, the tower was completely removed and a new brick control room built above the ground floor watch office to drawing number 4698/43. The control room took up the rear two-thirds of the available floor area with the front section becoming a viewing gallery using the existing parapet wall and steel railings. Access was from the spiral staircase which had been removed and repositioned against a side-wall outside the building. The ground floor subsequently functioned as a rest room, a lobby, cupboard (occupying the spaced vacated by the spiral stair case) and two sets of toilets. The main room at the front was retained as a watch office.

Reasons for Listing

The former watch office at RAF West Raynham, built in 1937/8 to the Air Ministry's Works Department drawing number 207/36, remodelled in 1943 when the observation tower was replaced with a new control room to drawing number 4698/43, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* although built to a standard design, its distinctive form and moderne design influences illustrates the RAFs attempts to introduce a homogenous architectural quality for expansion period airfield buildings.

Historic interest:

* it is a well-preserved example of its type, encapsulating the aims of the RAF’s expansion period in the lead up to the Second World War;
* as a significant element at RAF West Raynham, one of the best-preserved of the bomber bases constructed during the expansion programme, retaining the layout and fabric relating to both 1930s military aviation and the development of Britain's strategic bomber force;
* it exemplifies two distinct phases in the context of British air policy and the development of airfields; the 1936 phase represents the expansion of military airfields, and the 1943 phase which illustrates the development of radio communication and an acceptance that movement on the airfield needed to be controlled from a single centre.

Group value:

* for its contribution to the overall significance of RAF West Raynham as one of the best-preserved RAF expansion scheme bomber bases, retaining the layout and fabric relating to both 1930s military aviation and the development of Britain's strategic bomber force;
* for its strong functional and historic relationship with the surviving airfield buildings generally, particularly the adjacent C-type hangars and the Very Heavy Bomber control tower to the east, all Grade II-listed.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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