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Summary - not yet available

Monument Type(s):

• OBSERVATION POST (Mid 20th century to Late 20th century - 1962 AD to 1968 AD)
• ROYAL OBSERVER CORPS SITE (Mid 20th century to Late 20th century - 1962 AD to 1968 AD)

Full description

1. Windmill extant.
2. Opened in February 1962 and closed in October 1968, this post is located in the garden of ‘The Windmill’ at the junction of Cambridge Road (A10) and Ely Road, between the windmill and the road. A site visit in 2001 reported that some of the above ground features still survived, although covered by ivy. The hatch was open, and internally the post was found to be dry and clean and free from vandalism. Some of the internal artefacts remained, including twin bunks with mattresses, one chair (broken), table, folding shelf (with replacement top), BPI mount, GPO wiring and a fuse box. The adjacent windmill was used as the aircraft post from 1936.
3. This site was recorded by N. Catford for the Defence of Britain project, although a NGR of TL50827499 is given for the site.
The mill was disused when converted into an observation post. Cap removed by or during war. Had 12 sided flat roof. During 1970s-80s was partly converted into house and had machinery added. No obvious wartime remains left
LOCATION: Streatham Windmill, on NW side of Stretham village, now very near bypass
The Royal Observer Corps site was built as part of an extensive network of posts designed to confirm and report hostile aircraft and nuclear attacks on the United Kingdom. The majority of these sites were built between 1956 and 1964, although their construction began after 1925 and continued into the early 1970s. At the time of the Defence of Britain survey (1995-2002) this site was found to have been destroyed

4-5. TL 512 749. A Royal Observer Corps Underground Monitoring Post is situated at the apex of land surrounding Stretham windmill. The post was operational from February 1962 until October 1968. The post is covered by undergrowth but its surface features were visible. It is believed that Stretham mill was used by the Royal Observer Corps from 1936, and throughout the Second World War, as an aircraft spotting post

<1> Osborne, M., 2001, 20th Century Defences in Cambridgeshire (Bibliographic reference). SCB18051.

<2> Subterranea Britannica, Royal Observer Corps - An on-line survey of UK's ROC & UKWMO Monitoring Posts (Index). SCB18491.

<3> Defence of Britain Project, Anti Invasion Database, 1577 (Digital archive). SCB19767.

<4> Cocroft, W., 1997, RCHME: Cold War Project, ROC Post 7/P.1 (Index). SCB60688.

<5> Wood, D., 1992, Attack Warning Red
Microsoft Access
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Attack Warning Red (Bibliographic reference). SCB61905.

Sources and further reading

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