Transmitter Block at TM 3412 3828, Bawdsey Manor

TRANSMITTER BLOCK AT TM 3412 3828, BAWDSEY MANOR

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1245307
Date first listed:
09-Jul-1997
List Entry Name:
Transmitter Block at TM 3412 3828, Bawdsey Manor
Statutory Address:
TRANSMITTER BLOCK AT TM 3412 3828, BAWDSEY MANOR

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Date:
2006-06-07
Reference:
IOE01/14978/09
Rights:
© Mr Hubert Smith. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1245307
Date first listed:
09-Jul-1997
List Entry Name:
Transmitter Block at TM 3412 3828, Bawdsey Manor
Statutory Address 1:
TRANSMITTER BLOCK AT TM 3412 3828, BAWDSEY MANOR

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:
TRANSMITTER BLOCK AT TM 3412 3828, BAWDSEY MANOR

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:
Suffolk
District:
East Suffolk (District Authority)
Parish:
Bawdsey
National Grid Reference:
TM3411838282

Details

TM 33NW
09-JUL-1997

BAWDSEY
Transmitter Block at TM 3412 3828, Bawdsey Manor

GV
II*

Transmitter block. 1937. Brick construction with flat reinforced concrete roof enclosed by wall containing flint shingle to disperse blast. Rectangular plan building, with southern entrance to east transmitting room divided by central filtration room and WC from substation and workshop to west. Iron grilles to vents and lit by timber windows to side walls. Surrounded by concrete blast walls banked with earth (which has partly been removed). INTERIOR: has retained plain doors and architraves, glazed wall tiles, filtration plant and original switchgear, by Ferguson Pailey Ltd of Manchester, which controlled the conversion of power to the transmitting beam.

HISTORICAL NOTE: Bawdsey Manor was chosen as the site of the experimental station where radar's application to air defence was first developed, by Robert Watson-Watt and his team of scientists. When it was handed over to the RAF in May 1937 it was the first radar station in the world, and the prototypes established here formed the model for the "Chain Home" system of radar defence which underpinned victory in the crucial Battle of Britain in summer 1940. The development of radar here had an enormous impact on the outcome of this vital stage of the war, and upon post-war developments in electronics and defence systems. The transmitter block survives as one of the most important buildings anywhere which relate to the scientific-technical revolution of the C20.

Listing NGR: TM3411838282

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:
468760
Legacy System:
LBS

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Ordnance survey map of Transmitter Block at TM 3412 3828, Bawdsey Manor

Map

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© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. Use of this mapping is subject to Terms and Conditions.

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

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