Archaeology Notes

Event ID 770359

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/770359

NH87NW 21.01 84794 76158

Fearn Airfield control tower is situated in a cultivated field within the perimeter track on the NE segment of the airfield. The four storey tower has been deliberately damaged internally, with holes punched in partition walls to discourage its use as living space. The top storey is inaccessible due to the removal of the ladder or stairs. Little survives internally apart from some benches and the remains of the room partitions. The stumps of the balcony rail are still in place and on the roof, the remains of a wind sock is still in situ, though whether this is an original is not known.

Immediately to the rear are the remains of a nissen hut and small generator house along with the foundations of one or two other brick built buildings, one of which may be the ablutions block.

The tower is a four storey naval type, others being known to survive in Shropshire and Hampshire. The construction of the tower must have occurred sometime in 1942 when control of the airfield was transferred from the RAF to the Royal Navy.

The majority of this type of control tower were built by the Royal Marine Engineers to standard designs and the construction of the walls was in a mixture of solid brick, and reinforced concrete, with air watch office being built of reinforced concrete or wood (Francis 1996)

Visited by RCAHMS (DE, PM) January and May 1997.