More information : NZ 99140082; NZ 98940074; NZ 99000081. The remains of a World War II radar station at Bent Rigg, located close to the cliff edge with a commanding view of the sea. The site is divided into three areas: one includes the remains of the technical and support buildings; the second contains the footings for the domestic and administrative buildings and the third includes the site of of the latrines.
Bent Rigg was a Type 'M' radar station, established in 1941 as part of the national coastal defence Chain Home Low system, designed to detect surface shipping. It was later converted to more powerful equipment as part of the Chain Home Extra Low system.
The radar equipment was housed in a reinforced concrete structure known as the Transmitter and Receiving block (TX/RX). South west of this block are 2 smaller buildings. The southern structure is a concrete building which housed the electric generator. The northern structure is brick built with a cement render and was the fuel store. South east of the TX/RX building is a Nissen hut containing a number of original fittings.
North east of the TX/RX building is a small concrete platform which represents the footings of a structure of unknown function. Adjacent to the railway track lie the foundations of 5 buildings. These are interpreted as barracks built to house the station crew. North of this group are the footings for a further 5 buildings, which may have included a mess hut, the station commander's accommodation, offices and stores. The latrine blocks lay 40 metres north of the administrative buildings and survive as the footings of 2 small structures. Scheduled. (1)
A Coastal Defence/Chain Home Low station located at Ravenscar (NZ 991 008), called site M47. Coastal Defence/Chain Home Low (CD/CHL) radar stations were operated by the British Army to detect shipping and aircraft. CD/CHL sites opened from 1941 and comprised a brick or concrete operations block with an aerial gantry mounted on the roof and a separate standby set house for the reserve power. Staff were billeted where possible, but some stations had a small layout of domestic hutting situated within one mile of the site. From 1942 CD/CHL sites were combined with the Royal Air Force's Chain Home Low (CHL) sites to form one system of low-cover radar under the control of the RAF. Selected stations were upgraded with centimetric radars to become the K-series of Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL) stations. This improvement in radar technology meant that fewer stations were needed to give the same coverage and as a result many CHL and CD/CHL stations were closed. Ravenscar was upgraded to CHEL station K47. (2)
Aerial photography from 1973 shows an operations block and two other buildings, plus a small ancillary structure at NZ 991 008 and a small building at the cliff edge at NZ 992 009. Remains of building bases survive at NZ 991 007 and a storage tank/building at NZ 990 008. Partial remains of three buildings and one concrete plinth survive at NZ 9894 0074. (3)
WW2 Bent Rigg CHL/CHEL Radar Station (NA2151), including a TX/RX Block, Nissen and Gantry Block (59107), Stand-By Set House and accommodation blocks (59110). Located close to the cliff edge with a commanding view of the sea. The site is divided into three areas: one includes the technical and support buildings; the second contains the footings for the domestic and administrative buildings and the third includes the site of the latrines. Bent Rigg was a Type 'M' radar station, established in 1941 as part of the national coastal defence Chain Home Low system, designed to detect surface shipping. It was later converted to more powerful equipment as part of the Chain Home Extra Low system. The radar equipment was housed in a reinforced concrete structure known as the Transmitter and Receiving block (TX/RX). SW of this block are 2 smaller buildings. The S structure is a concrete building which housed the electric generator. The N structure is brick built with a cement render and was the fuel store. SE of the TX/RX building is a Nissen hut containing a number of original fittings. NE of the TX/RX building is a small concrete platform which represents the footings of a structure of unknown function. Adjacent to the railway track lie the foundations of 5 buildings. These are interpreted as barracks built to house the station crew. N of this group are the footings for a further 5 buildings, which may have included a mess hut, the station commander's accommodation, offices and stores. The latrine blocks lay 40m N of the administrative buildings and survive as the footings of 2 small structures. Scheduled. (4)
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