Building record 8630/1/3 - WWII dispersed Site 8 (Living Site 4), Silverstone Airfield

A Second World War Royal Air Force camp is visible on historic aerial photographs and was mapped as part of Historic England’s North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project.

{1} Aerial photograph March 1946: RAF AP ref:- 3G/TUD/UK86 6044 26.3.46. (ident by P Markham). DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY: Shows airfield related buildings within and adjacent E part of Hazelborough Wood. Main areas of buildings at SP65654240; SP66104235; SP65804220 and SP 66304255. The plan on p272 of Gibson (1982) indicates these are part of Sites 3, 5, 9 and ?8.

{3-10} A Second World War Royal Air Force accommodation camp is visible on historic aerial photographs and was mapped as part of Historic England’s North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project. Located within The Straights woodland and centred at SP 65812 42233, Site 8 (Living Site 4) was one of 10 satellite RAF camps for military personnel serving at adjacent RAF Silverstone, an operational wartime military airfield. Aerial photographs taken in spring 1942 show the airfield under construction at that time and the camp had yet to be created. By 1943 the airfield was operational. Site 8 was one of four camps located with The Straights woodland that provided accommodation and mess services for Silverstone airfield’s male members of the Royal Air Force and comprised a sentry box that guarded an access road leading to airmens’ barrack buildings, sergeants’ quarters (mess), ablution and latrine blocks and a M&E plinth (a mechanical and electrical junction/transformer box. By 1973, the woodland has been cleared and aerial photographs show that all the buildings have been demolished by that time, though the roadway remains visible. Aerial photographs taken in 2019 suggests that the Site 8 (Living Site 4) camp has remain unchanged since that time and recent remote sensing indicates that many rectangular concrete platforms laid for the camp buildings remain intact within the woodland.

<1> 1946, PHOTOGRAPHS, (unchecked) (Photographs). SNN51680.

<2> Gibson M.L., 1982, Aviation In Northamptonshire: An Illustrated History, p.272 (unchecked) (Book). SNN100276.

<3> RAF, 1945, RAF Silverstone Record Site Plan All Sites 1/2500 scale No. 1757/45, June 1945 (Plan). SNN116527.

<4> Royal Air Force, 1940s, RAF Vertical Aerial Photographs, RAF-HLA-544 RV 6103 20-MAY-1942 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN105266.

<5> Vertical Aerial Photograph, US-7PH-GP-LOC201 PORT 13053 06-MAR-1944 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<6> Vertical Aerial Photograph, RAF-3G-TUD-UK-86 RV 6044 26-MAR-1946 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<7> Vertical Aerial Photograph, RAF-CPE-UK-1994 FS 2035 13-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<8> Vertical Aerial Photograph, OS-73336 V 694 24-JUN-1973 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<9> Vertical Aerial Photograph, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery 14-SEP-2019 SP6542 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<10> Vertical Aerial Photograph, LIDAR SP64SE Environment Agency National LIDAR Programme DTM 1 Metre dated 2019 SP6542 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

Record last edited

Nov 26 2024 12:57PM