County Police Communication Tower
COUNTY POLICE COMMUNICATION TOWER
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1350340
- Date first listed:
- 26-Mar-2003
- List Entry Name:
- County Police Communication Tower
- Statutory Address:
- COUNTY POLICE COMMUNICATION TOWER
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1350340
- Date first listed:
- 26-Mar-2003
- List Entry Name:
- County Police Communication Tower
- Statutory Address 1:
- COUNTY POLICE COMMUNICATION TOWER
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:
- COUNTY POLICE COMMUNICATION TOWER
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- County Durham (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- City of Durham
- National Grid Reference:
- NZ 26902 43959
Details
NZ24SE
1914/4/10017
AYKLEY HEADS
County Police Communication Tower
26-MAR-03
II
Radio mast for the Durham County Police. 1965-68 to the designs of Ove Arup and Partners. Reinforced concrete, 49.4m tall, plus top aerial spigot mounting, comprising a mast on three legs. It was decided from the start that the structure should be precast in five elements comprising mast unit, three leg units and a key unit connection. In this way the need for full height scaffolding and formwork was avoided. After precasting, the leg and key units were erected to form a tripod on an in situ foundation. Subsequently the mast unit was lifted into position by two giant cranes. There was thus no need to support the structure against the wind during its construction. It was more desirable to have the mast superimposed on a tripod as opposed to a pure shaft, as this avoided high bending moments at ground level. This not only aids the radio operation but gave a more elegant form to the structure.
This one-off elegant design in reinforced concrete was a response to the sensitive site overlooking Durham Cathedral. Concrete enabled a slender mast to be built within the required wind tolerances, to avoid bending which would distort the narrow radio frequencies. The tripod base enabled the mast to be made still more slender while meeting this very precise brief.
Concrete Society Awards 1969, special mention
Source
Building, 27 September 1968, p.114
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 490150
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Building in 27 September, (1968), 114
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 13-Jun-2026 at 21:54:06.
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.