The Listening Post
THE LISTENING POST, BEACH ROAD, PO20 0TA
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1271803
- Date first listed:
- 12-Mar-1999
- List Entry Name:
- The Listening Post
- Statutory Address:
- THE LISTENING POST, BEACH ROAD, PO20 0TA
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Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2007-05-01
- Reference:
- IOE01/16398/32
- Rights:
- © Mr David Easton. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1271803
- Date first listed:
- 12-Mar-1999
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 26-May-1999
- List Entry Name:
- The Listening Post
- Statutory Address 1:
- THE LISTENING POST, BEACH ROAD, PO20 0TA
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.
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.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- THE LISTENING POST, BEACH ROAD, PO20 0TA
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- West Sussex
- District:
- Chichester (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Selsey
- National Grid Reference:
- SZ8636893496
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 15/08/2012
SZ 5289 SE
23/10031
SELSEY
BEACH ROAD
(North side)
The Listening Post
(Formerly listed as No 2, The Listening Post, East Beach Road)
II
Sound mirror, now incorporated within house. 1916, converted into house by late 1930s. Sound mirror built of reinforced concrete, the shuttered lifts to the exterior clearly visible. House has slate-clad stud walls and corrugated asbestos roof, with 2-window front and window inserted into left-side wall; extensions to rear and right.
INTERIOR: curved profile to mirror wall.
HISTORY: This house incorporates a complete example of a sound mirror, built in 1916 (recorded as under construction in March of that year) and one of a series of listening posts built for the Admiralty along the south-east and north-east coasts. The attacks by the German Fleet on east coast ports in December 1914 had alerted the Admiralty to the need to provide early warning of future raids, soon underlined by the threat posed by Zeppellins to British ports and urban areas. The sound signal was reflected by the dish, via a duty observer armed with a stethoscope, to a microphone which enabled the course of the intruder to be plotted. These signal stations thus formed a precursor to the development of radar from 1936. Due to the obsolescence of the technology from the late 1930s, and later coastal clearance work and urbanisation, very few examples (such as Fulwell in Sunderland and the Hythe/Dungeness group in Kent) have survived. It also bears a very direct relationship, through its form and design, to its intended use and thus its technological and historical context. Source: (Chichester Observer, March 1916).
Listing NGR: SZ8636893496
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 473129
- 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.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 16-Jun-2026 at 21:08:49.
Download a full scale map (PDF)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.