12. RAF West Raynham
RAF West Raynham
Built between 1938 and 1939, RAF West Raynham was an expansion scheme airfield. The grass landing area was aligned roughly north-east to south-west. The main camp, with housing and headquarters, was located immediately west of the landing area. To the south-east were bomb stores.
From outside the perimeter things looked bleak:
Later, during the Second World War, the station was provided with a "Control Tower for Very Heavy Bomber Stations", one of only four such towers to be built.
Ever feel like turning your Brilliancy up a bit?
Between May and November 1943, the grass landing area was replaced with two concrete runways, one 1,800 m long and the other 1,300 m
At the same time, the existing housing on the site was expanded to provide accommodation for 2,456 men and 658 women. In December 1943 the station was taken over by 100 Group who brought 141 and 239 squadrons to RAF West Raynham. They were equipped with de Havilland Mosquito; fighter planes which would provide support to bomber runs in enemy air space.
They were based at West Raynham until the end of the wars; their duties involved flying Secret patrols and "Ranger sorties" (seek and destroy enemy fighters in the air and on the ground). During the war, squadrons stationed at RAF West Raynham lost 56 Blenheim, 29 Mosquitos, and a Bristol Beaufighter.
In the mid- to late-1950s RAF West Raynham was Central Fighter Establishment of the Royal Air Force. It still had at least two operational Meteor jet fighters, a squadron of twin tail-boomed Venoms, and Vampire trainer jets. The very 'latest' arrival in 1957 was a flight of Gloster Javelins, which also appeared at the Farnborough Airshow the same year.
In 1968 a Hawker Hunter from RAF West Raynham was used by Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock, a flight commander in No. 1 Squadron RAF, to unofficially mark the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force…
Pollock decided on his own initiative to mark the occasion of the RAF anniversary with an unauthorized display.
He flew a Hawker Hunter (XF442) single-seater jet fighter over London at low level and finally under the top span of Tower Bridge. Knowing that he was likely to be stripped of his flying status as a result of this display, he proceeded to "beat up" several airfields in inverted flight at an altitude of about 200 feet en route to his base at RAF West Raynham.
Though empty, the MoD had kept possession of RAF West Raynham as a strategic reserve. However, in 2004 it was decided that the base would play no future role in the defence of the country.
Prominent Norfolk MP Mr Lamb campaigned for the houses to be turned over for civilian use. It was announced in October 2004 that 170 homes at RAF West Raynham would be sold. In December 2005 it was announced that the whole site would be sold at auction.
It was purchased by a developer in 2006 who resold it in October 2007, as they had been unable to install the necessary infrastructure.
Tamarix Investments bought RAF West Raynham in October 2007; they planned to build new homes on the site and a hotel, as well as renovate the standing houses. The plans included turning the place into an eco-village using a biomass generator to supply power. The 170 houses at RAF West Raynham will be repaired and 40 more homes added to the site.
We had been following the handing over of the site for some time and had decided that as it was no longer under MoD ownership, now would be the time to strike. Security on the site was hot, very hot. We had approached from a wooded area which strayed into the perimeter. It seemed like every time we even set as much as a foot out of the trees, a white van, complete with barking dogs, would scream past. This went on for what seemed like hours until we thought “F**k it, we’ve come all this way, let’s just do it!”
And we did.
We managed just over two hours on the site, and we had entered the rapier missile training facility: a.k.a. “The Dome”. It was about 100ft in diameter and pure white. It would have acted like a 360 degree projector screen. So if the gunner was in the centre, and there was an aircraft approaching over his left shoulder, it would actually be projected over his left shoulder.
The echo in there was intense. Even the slight click of a camera shutter would echo, and echo, only subsiding after a good fifteen seconds. Speech was barely decipherable. I began to quack. I’d heard that a duck’s quack doesn’t echo and decided to test the theory. I can report that either the theory isn’t true, or that my impression of a duck is rubbish.
Unfortunately the dome had been rigged with CCTV cameras. After a few minutes the security guards had got tired of my duck impressions and decided to come and apprehend us.
We were split up, and taken separately to the security HQ. Despite all being separated, we all had the sense to palm blank memory cards into our cameras. After seeing on the CCTV that we had not damaged anything, we proved our memory cards had been cleared and we were on our way.
On 9–15 January 2010, RAF West Raynham will feature on the LivingTV series Most Haunted Live in a series called "The Silent Town".
Built between 1938 and 1939, RAF West Raynham was an expansion scheme airfield. The grass landing area was aligned roughly north-east to south-west. The main camp, with housing and headquarters, was located immediately west of the landing area. To the south-east were bomb stores.
From outside the perimeter things looked bleak:
Later, during the Second World War, the station was provided with a "Control Tower for Very Heavy Bomber Stations", one of only four such towers to be built.
Ever feel like turning your Brilliancy up a bit?
Between May and November 1943, the grass landing area was replaced with two concrete runways, one 1,800 m long and the other 1,300 m
At the same time, the existing housing on the site was expanded to provide accommodation for 2,456 men and 658 women. In December 1943 the station was taken over by 100 Group who brought 141 and 239 squadrons to RAF West Raynham. They were equipped with de Havilland Mosquito; fighter planes which would provide support to bomber runs in enemy air space.
They were based at West Raynham until the end of the wars; their duties involved flying Secret patrols and "Ranger sorties" (seek and destroy enemy fighters in the air and on the ground). During the war, squadrons stationed at RAF West Raynham lost 56 Blenheim, 29 Mosquitos, and a Bristol Beaufighter.
In the mid- to late-1950s RAF West Raynham was Central Fighter Establishment of the Royal Air Force. It still had at least two operational Meteor jet fighters, a squadron of twin tail-boomed Venoms, and Vampire trainer jets. The very 'latest' arrival in 1957 was a flight of Gloster Javelins, which also appeared at the Farnborough Airshow the same year.
In 1968 a Hawker Hunter from RAF West Raynham was used by Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock, a flight commander in No. 1 Squadron RAF, to unofficially mark the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force…
Pollock decided on his own initiative to mark the occasion of the RAF anniversary with an unauthorized display.
He flew a Hawker Hunter (XF442) single-seater jet fighter over London at low level and finally under the top span of Tower Bridge. Knowing that he was likely to be stripped of his flying status as a result of this display, he proceeded to "beat up" several airfields in inverted flight at an altitude of about 200 feet en route to his base at RAF West Raynham.
Though empty, the MoD had kept possession of RAF West Raynham as a strategic reserve. However, in 2004 it was decided that the base would play no future role in the defence of the country.
Prominent Norfolk MP Mr Lamb campaigned for the houses to be turned over for civilian use. It was announced in October 2004 that 170 homes at RAF West Raynham would be sold. In December 2005 it was announced that the whole site would be sold at auction.
It was purchased by a developer in 2006 who resold it in October 2007, as they had been unable to install the necessary infrastructure.
Tamarix Investments bought RAF West Raynham in October 2007; they planned to build new homes on the site and a hotel, as well as renovate the standing houses. The plans included turning the place into an eco-village using a biomass generator to supply power. The 170 houses at RAF West Raynham will be repaired and 40 more homes added to the site.
We had been following the handing over of the site for some time and had decided that as it was no longer under MoD ownership, now would be the time to strike. Security on the site was hot, very hot. We had approached from a wooded area which strayed into the perimeter. It seemed like every time we even set as much as a foot out of the trees, a white van, complete with barking dogs, would scream past. This went on for what seemed like hours until we thought “F**k it, we’ve come all this way, let’s just do it!”
And we did.
We managed just over two hours on the site, and we had entered the rapier missile training facility: a.k.a. “The Dome”. It was about 100ft in diameter and pure white. It would have acted like a 360 degree projector screen. So if the gunner was in the centre, and there was an aircraft approaching over his left shoulder, it would actually be projected over his left shoulder.
The echo in there was intense. Even the slight click of a camera shutter would echo, and echo, only subsiding after a good fifteen seconds. Speech was barely decipherable. I began to quack. I’d heard that a duck’s quack doesn’t echo and decided to test the theory. I can report that either the theory isn’t true, or that my impression of a duck is rubbish.
Unfortunately the dome had been rigged with CCTV cameras. After a few minutes the security guards had got tired of my duck impressions and decided to come and apprehend us.
We were split up, and taken separately to the security HQ. Despite all being separated, we all had the sense to palm blank memory cards into our cameras. After seeing on the CCTV that we had not damaged anything, we proved our memory cards had been cleared and we were on our way.
On 9–15 January 2010, RAF West Raynham will feature on the LivingTV series Most Haunted Live in a series called "The Silent Town".
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