Monument record 9842 - Rugby Radio Station

Rugby Radio Station was commissioned on the 1st January 1926 with the opening of the GBR Long Wave service. During WWII, the VLF transmitter was the main transmitter for the Royal Navy. The transmitters were also used by the RAF in the later years of the war to carry out 'Operation Corona'. The supply of overseas telephone circuits was resumed after the war. In the 1960s circuits were set up for the NASA Mercury and Gemini space programmes and for mid-Atlantic communications between Concorde and British Airways controllers. A short wave circuit was also set up for the MoD for communications during the 1992 Falklands War. The last radio transmission was made on 4th July 2007.

{1} History of the radio station.

{3} Station straddles the A5 being part in Northants and part in Warwicks. One of a series of C&E reports concerns the recent (June 2004) demolition of eight 820ft radio masts at the site. Masts first erected in 1926 when station set up by Govt to maintain contact overseas. First ever transatlantic telephone service run from Rugby in 1927. Station said to have been used as central point of contact for shipping and submarines “particularly in the Cold War.” Transmitters used by the armed forces during WW2. During the 1980s the emphasis of the station turned to shipping communications but with the increasing use of satellite services, this maritime use ended in May 2000. BT announced in 1999 that the land was to be developed. Four of the masts are to remain for the time being.

{7} After WWI the general Post office constructed a Wireless Telegraphy Station on the site. This went on to play a part in WWII and as it was designated a vulnerable site a series of light anti-aircraft Bofors guns were installed to protect it from enemy action.

{8} Rugby Radio Station currently occupies the majority of the proposed application site. The principal buildings and structures include ‘C’ Station (built in 1926) and ‘A’ Station (built in 1930) together with contemporary ancillary buildings and structures including a copper earthing mat which connected ‘C’ Station to its contemporary aerial system. ‘C’ Station is a Grade II Listed Building and ‘A’ Station and all other related buildings and structures within the site are to be considered as curtilage listed. Further details of the radio station are given throughout the report.

{9} A level I building recording survey recorded the forty-three masts which were still standing within the area of the former radio station to the east of Watling Street. Three major types of mast were identified. The tallest masts (c50m) which were secured by three sets of four or five cables, were the most common variety (Type I), with nineteen masts. Type II masts (c25m), which had three sets of three cables, with seventeen being recorded. The least frequent (seven in total) were the Type II masts, which were shortest (c20m) and were secured by three sets of two cables. A relatively wide variety of timber pylons was observed across the site.

<1> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 1996-2013, Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group Newsletter, Issue 107 p.1-3 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN55360.

<2> 2002, Subterranea Britannica Web Site, (checked) (Website). SNN101437.

<3> 2004, The Chronicle and Echo, (unchecked) (Newspaper cuttings). SNN107311.

<4> Freeman, S., 2004, Chronicle Memories: Sadness As Radio Masts Fall To Earth, (checked) (Newspaper cuttings). SNN107485.

<5> Skaife, L., 2004, Landmark Radio Masts Blown Up After 80 Years, (checked) (Newspaper cuttings). SNN107632.

<6> 2004, Farewell to Landmark Radio Masts, (checked) (Newspaper cuttings). SNN107635.

<7> Williams S., 2010, Night Owl Truck Stop, Watling Street, Rugby: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment, p.6 (checked) (Report). SNN109621.

<8> Dicks S.; Morse D.; Chadwick P., 2011, Heritage Assessment: Rugby Sustainable Urban Extension, p.6 (checked) (Report). SNN109401.

<9> Coyne, J, 2014, DIRFT III, Northamptonshire: Building Recording Survey (Level I) (Report). SNN112441.

<10> Cotswold Archaeology, 2022, Images from a Building Recording Survey of the Rugby Radio Station Masts at DIRFT III, Northamptonshire July 2014, https://doi.org/10.5284/1100080 (Digital archive). SNN114264.

Record last edited

Jul 26 2023 8:37AM