RAF Portland

RAF Portland
Portland, Dorset in England
The Verne area with the Portland Rotor Radar Station seen in the distance
RAF Portland Shown within Dorset
Coordinates	50°33′32″N 002°25′53″W / 50.55889°N 2.43139°W / 50.55889; -2.43139Coordinates: 50°33′32″N 002°25′53″W / 50.55889°N 2.43139°W / 50.55889; -2.43139
Type	Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force
Site history
Built	1950 (1950)
In use	1951-2001 (2001)
Battles/wars	Cold War

RAF Portland is a former Royal Air Force radar station on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. The station is situated in the Verne area. The station, which sits near the cliff edge overlooking East Weares, is now the site of the community farm and tourist attraction Fancy's Family Farm.^[1] The vast radar installations once on site were set up in the early 1950s as part of Britain's Cold War defences.^[1] At 70 feet below ground level the site's bunker was the deepest Rotor underground facility.

In November 2004, the site became scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 because it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance.^[2]

Design

The site comprises an irregular enclosure surrounded by fencing with an entrance and guardhouse on the west side. The main guardroom is a single storey, stone-built structure which provided access to the underground bunker. The bunker contained the control centre for the Rotor site. The interior of the bunker was divided into a number of working areas. A large reservoir provided the original water supply for the control centre. The site also contained seven radar towers, now dismantled. The operations block was constructed of reinforced concrete - designed to withstand 2,000 lb bombs. The guardhouses were designed to resemble bungalows.^[3]

The bunker still contains much its original air conditioning plant, fans, mains transformer, blast doors, electrical switchgear and rotary converters. There is more equipment than in any other surviving R1 or R2 ROTOR bunker. It is the only rotor bunker to retain its original 'Phase 1' layout with an upper floor gallery overlooking the CFP floor.^[4] There is remaining soot from the fire in the 1960s in places, and the main operations and mapping room is the most damaged with no flooring remains and a lot of water.^[5]

History

The site was originally a Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL) radar station, during the Second World War.^[6] It would be replaced by the Portland Centimetric Early Warning (CEW) Radar Station, which was constructed in 1950-51 by contractor Robert McAlpine. The Portland site was one of eight CEW examples built across the country. The Rotor programme was developed to advance the wartime radar technology in detecting and locating fast-flying jets.^[3] The site has a single storey R1 operation Block accessed from a nonstandard design guardhouse/bungalow built of local Portland stone. The station was equipped with various 'Stage One' radar systems including T14 Mk 9 250 prf 'G' IFF Low Angle, T14 Mk 8 500 prf 'G' IFF High Angle, Video Marker Units etc.^[7]

After the creation of 'Stage Two' Type 80 Mk1 radar systems, many UK stations were refitted however three sites, including Portland were not remodeled. In the early 1950s the three CEW stations thus became the only remaining CEW sites still retaining their original 'Phase 1' console. As of October 2001, Portland's station is the last remaining example of its type. On 17 June 1956 the station was declared 'non-operational'. By September the station had been 'run down' and at CHEL 'readiness' only. Like many other Rotor stations it had a very short operational life. After closure, the site was taken over by the US Air Force who had a microwave relay station built within the fenced enclosure. The underground bunker, though no longer in use by this time, was damaged by fire in 1969. The 1963 film The Damned, filmed in 1961, and starring Oliver Reed and Shirley Anne Field, used the station as the Edgecliff Military Establishment.^[8]

Throughout the 1990s the site has been used by the Ministry of Defence as a dog training centre. In October 2001 the MOD listed the site for sale via auction. The lift and surrounding stairs were stripped, along with the wooden flooring. Most of the work was deemed unnecessary and had cost a total of £30,000.^[9] However, six radar plinths remain intact on the surface together with the emergency exit blockhouse (now sealed), a communications mast and building, gatehouse, kennels, the old USAF compound and a reservoir built in the 1980s to serve the dockyard..^[7][10]

Current use

For some years after the Ministry of Defence left Portland, the site was used as horse stables.^[5] In June 2011, Fancy's Family Farm moved there from the village of Southwell. The former USAF building became the farm's main centre of operations. By March 2012, the entire site was completed and ready to open.^[11]

In recent years the site has been listed on English Heritage's Risk Register, with the condition being described as having "extensive significant problems". The overall condition has been noted as declining.^[12] On 25 May 2013, an event was set up to allow Sub Brit members to enter the underground bunker of the radar station, with all proceeds going to the farm.^[13] The bunker was sealed and alarmed due to copper thefts over previous years. The farm's owners are in process of preserving what is left on the bunker and are working with English Heritage in order to make the site open to the public in the future. However at present there is not enough oxygen in the bunker and therefore remains dangerous to access.^[5]

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations#Chain Home, Chain Home Low, Chain Home Extra Low, ROTOR and tropo-scatter stations

References