RAF Holmpton
RAF Holmpton
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| near Holmpton, East Riding of Yorkshire. England | |
Aerial View of RAF Holmpton 2013
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 RAF Holmpton
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| Coordinates | 53°41′02″N 0°04′02″W / 53.6839°N 0.0673°WCoordinates: 53°41′02″N 0°04′02″W / 53.6839°N 0.0673°W |
| Type | RAF Command Bunker |
| Height | 100 ft deep excavation |
| Site information | |
| Owner | RL(FRAFS)BLC Limited |
| Controlled by | Not for Profit |
| Open to the public |
2016 - 23 March to 29 August |
| Condition | Fully maintained |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1951 |
| In use | 1953–present |
| Materials | Concrete/steel/tungsten |
RAF Holmpton is a former Cold War era nuclear bunker that was built in the 1950s as an early warning radar station as part of the ROTOR Radar Defence Programme. Located just south of the village of Holmpton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, RAF Holmpton remained a part of the Defence Estate right up to 8 December 2014 when it was sold into private ownership after 62 years of military service.
The site runs to about 36 acres (150,000 m2) and comprises a number of surface structures along with a secure 35,000 square feet (3,300 m2) command bunker which is about 100 feet (30 m) below ground.
The Bunker Design type R3-M2 (R3=Rotor Bunker Design R3 - M2=Including 2 additional mezzanine floors) was first built in 1951-3 and started life as an early warning radar station, part of the ROTOR program. An R3-M2 is a larger version of the standard UK R3 Bunker and RAF Holmpton was the only example of this type of structure in the UK as 1: It combined several Radar functions in the one building and 2: was a prototype for three similar bunkers built in Europe during the Cold War. The Bunker is set in an excavation of about 120-foot (37 m), it is encased in 10-foot (3 m) of solid concrete all round with tungsten rods providing additional stability to the outer shell. The shell is then encased in brickwork and lined with pitch to form a waterproof membrane. Between the top of the bunker and the surface there is a concrete buster slab inserted to provide a deflection of any incoming ordnance.
In the late 1960s it became a Master Comprehensive Radar Station trialling the Ericsson 'Fire Brigade Auto Intercept Radar System' and later going on to house a massive Elliott & Plessey computer system for the 'Linesman Radar Project' All Radar functions at the site eventually closed in 1974 and for the next few years the site was used for training.
In the 1980s the Bunker was converted to form the new Emergency War Headquarters for RAF Support Command However with the ending of the Cold War in 1991 this function ceased and the site returned to training until 1994 when it was given a major refurbishment to become the first experimental (trialling) headquarters for the new UK Air CCIS system Electronic Warfare Advanced Communications System. This function remained at RAF Holmpton until 2002 although the CCIS Operations Room, known as AREA 7 remained intact until the end of July 2012.
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