Two decoy targets at Northam Radar Station

Summary

The earthwork remains of two Second World War decoy targets at Northam radar station.

Reasons for Designation

The two decoy targets at Northam radar station, which operated from 1941 to 1944, are scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Survival: : despite the removal of their temporary structures, these are good, legible examples which survive as earthworks;
* Potential: they are of particular interest to the study of bombing decoy design, being one of a very small number to survive in any form in the country;
* Group value: for their strong visual and spatial relationship with the Grade II listed radar station.

History

The introduction of aircraft as an offensive weapon provided the rationale for strategic air defence systems adopted by Britain from the early 1920s. These systems initially involved early warning, based on the visual spotting and tracking of aircraft, but developed through acoustic detection devices to radar. Following experimental work at Orfordness and Bawdsey Research Station in Suffolk (which became the prototype site for the Chain Home Defence System and where different components are listed Grade II and II*), the Air Ministry completed the first group of radar stations in the summer of 1938 in the South-East as an early warning of air attack on the country. In recognition of the importance of radar stations in providing long-range early warning, the network was expanded along the east and south coasts and, the outbreak of the Second World War, to other parts of the country including the South-West. Only aircraft at fairly high altitudes could be tracked by this method, however, and low-flying aircraft or surface shipping could not be detected. To overcome this, a second chain, more or less alternating with the first and integrated into the same reporting system, was created and known as the ‘Chain Home, Low’ (CHL). Information gathered at the sites would be passed to Fighter Group HQ at RAF Bentley Priory where enemy aircraft locations were plotted and a response was co-ordinated. Radar was adapted during the Blitz of 1940-1 to incorporate a system of Ground Controlled Interception by which night fighters were controlled directly by each station rather than via a central operations room. A further addition in 1941 was Coast Defence/Chain Home Low, a low-cover coastal radar designed to detect surface shipping. Many stations were converted in 1942 to new and more powerful equipment, known as Chain Home Extra Low. Finally, in 1943, Fighter Direction radar was developed to aid Fighter Command in their offensive sweeps over occupied Europe. Many radar stations were reused during the Cold War period for Rotor, a Cold War re-engineering of wartime radar equipment and later replacement with new designs.

The chain home radar station at Northam came into operation by early 1941 and was one of twelve permanent stations established in Devon during the Second World War. As with other West Coast stations, it differed in layout from the southern and eastern sites, and consisted of a group of dispersed buildings in order to avoid all the operational buildings being hit should an air attack occur. A group of four brick-built structures in the central part of the site possibly relate to an Advance or an Intermediate Chain Home and were erected while Northam’s permanent radar station was under construction. An Air Ministry drawing of 1941 showing proposals for the underground cabling at Northam provides details of the layout of the radar station which comprised two transmitter and two receiver blocks, with duplicate equipment in each, and several ancillary buildings including a standby (generator) set house (at NGR SS4534530192, demolished early C21) and a substation. The transmitter aerials were mounted on two pairs of 325' guyed steel masts (Air Ministry Experimental Station, AMES type 1) located to the north of the station buildings, and the receiver aerials were mounted on two 240' timber towers located close to the receiver blocks. A domestic complex including dining rooms and barracks which was constructed to the south-west of the technical site was demolished in the late C20.

To counter the threat of aerial bombardment, many potential targets, both military and civilian sites, were shadowed by decoys - dummy structures, lighting displays and fires - designed to draw enemy bombs from the intended points of attack. There are two decoy targets associated with radar station which are sited on Northam Burrows and were probably constructed at the same time as the station complex. They are visible on aerial photographs from 1946 and took the form of a building or temporary structure (dismantled after the war) standing within a small enclosure and approached by tracks.

By May 1944 as the German bomber threat receded, and because of the high cost and manpower required to keep the Chain Home network operating, the stations underwent a rapid contraction. From a peak of 194 stations in 1944, by 1947 only 36 remained, with only 29 of those manned at full readiness. Northam was placed on care and maintenance in 1944 but never resumed service. Its transmitter masts and receiver towers were dismantled shortly after the war.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
The monument includes two Second World War decoy targets situated in the southern part of Northam Burrows. They are associated with Northam radar station (Grade II) which is located on gently-sloping land, including coastal grassland, to the north of the town centre.

DESCRIPTION
Each decoy originally contained a temporary structure, as depicted on aerial photographs from 1946, though these were dismantled after the war. They survive as rectangular earthwork enclosures which are defined by low banks up to 0.5m high. There are breaks in the banks on two sides of each enclosure. The larger of the two decoys measures approximately 12.5m north-east to south-west by 10m north-west by south-east; the one to the south-west is slightly smaller in size.

Sources

Books and journals
Passmore, M, Passmore, A, Royal Air Force Air-Defence Radar Stations in Devon: the Second World War and Beyond, (2008)

Websites
Northam Burrows Country Park, Torridge District Council, accessed 27 January 2015 from http://www.torridge.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=461#cn2511
The GEC Journal of Research, vol. 3, No.2 1985, B T Neale, pp73-83, accessed 18 March 2015 from http://michael.katzmann.name/GEC.JoR.V3N2.1985.pdf
Devon & Dartmoor HER MDV77317 A possible Second World War decoy building at Northam Burrows, accessed 27 January 2015 from http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MDV77317&resourceID=104

Other
North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty NMP Project: A National Mapping Project, S Knight and C Hegarty, April 2013
Northam Burrows, Northam, Devon. Higher Level Stewardship Scheme Archaeological Survey, A Passmore, March 2014
RAF/106G/UK/1420 3232-3233 15-APR-1946. English Heritage RAF Photography

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