Building 54 (Watch Office With Tower)
BUILDING 54 (WATCH OFFICE WITH 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:
- 1392052
- Date first listed:
- 01-Dec-2005
- List Entry Name:
- Building 54 (Watch Office With Tower)
- Statutory Address:
- BUILDING 54 (WATCH OFFICE WITH TOWER)
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1392052
- Date first listed:
- 01-Dec-2005
- List Entry Name:
- Building 54 (Watch Office With Tower)
- Statutory Address 1:
- BUILDING 54 (WATCH OFFICE WITH 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:
- BUILDING 54 (WATCH OFFICE WITH TOWER)
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- North Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Catterick
- National Grid Reference:
- SE 24552 97168
Details
CATTERICK
1871/0/10002 MARNE BARRACKS (FORMER RAF CATTERICK) 01-DEC-05 Building 54 ( Watch Office with Tower)
GV II Airfield watch tower and office. 1935, to 1934 type design. By the Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings, to drawing number 1959/34. Brickwork facing to reinforced concrete frame and flat roofs with asphalt finish.
PLAN: A square structure to flat roof with smaller central tower, also square rising two further storeys. The ground floor has the main watch office and rest room, with latrines, from which a tight spiral stair rises to the observation room in the tower; both levels with flat roof decks, the lower with raised brick parapet, and the upper with parapet and safety railing.
EXTERIOR: Steel casements. Glazed (later C20 replacement glazing here) across full width of lower floor, returned one light at ends, and smaller lights to other fronts, and door with overlight to rear (N) and W sides. The upper level glazed all round. Small plinth, continuous frieze bands with projecting toe at roof levels.
INTERIOR: Iron stairs to top floor. Original doors and joinery.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Building 53, to rear (N), is a single storey structure, similar in style with flat roof, frieze band, steel casements to side walls and half-glazed double doors to W end.
HISTORY: This airfield observation tower (called a watch office, and better known as a control tower) comprises a well-preserved example of the new generation of towers that appeared in 1934, and that related to profound changes in the management and design of military airfields; a total of 41 were built, and after 1936 most were reinforced concrete. The grouping with the earlier watch office, which represents a distinct earlier phase in the development of military airfields, is unique for any British airfield. The development of radio communication, and the increasing need to organise the flying field into different zones for take-off, landing and taxiing, brought with it an acceptance that movement on the airfield needed to be controlled from a single centre: control towers thus evolved from the simple duty pilot's watch office to the tower design of 1934 and integration of traffic control and weather monitoring in the Art Deco horizontality of the Watch Office with Meteorological Section of 1939.
For further notes on Catterick, see description for Building 31 (Officers' Mess and Quarters)
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 500308
- 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 11-Jul-2026 at 07:40:34.
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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.