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Summary

A camp was established at Lee Mill at the end of the Second World War to house returning soldiers and shipbuilders and their families. It could accommodate 125 families and had its own church and shopping centre. The site had served during the war as a national fire service training centre. The camp is visible as a number of structures on aerial photographs taken from 1946 onwards, although has been completely cleared and developed as part of Lee Mill Industrial Estate by 1989.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1413162
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX65NW/251

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• RESETTLEMENT CAMP (World War II - 1939 AD (Between) to 1945 AD (Between))

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV164612.

Des=wasley, g. /devon at war/(1994)181.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV164613.

Des=horner, w. /(08/11/1995)/as above.

Untitled Source (Aerial Photograph). SDV164614.

Aph=raf/cpe/uk/1890/3161/(10/12/1946)/smr 57/16.

Horner, B., Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV1669.

This site is now lee mills industrial estate, having also served as a caravan site. The camp is recorded on a 1946 raf ap. The individual houses and central facility blocks are clearly visible. There is also a sewage works to the s at sx60405557 (horner).

WASLEY, Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV66981.

A camp was established at lee mills at the end of wwii to house returning soldiers and shipbuilders and their families. It could accommodate 125 families and had its own church and shopping centre. The site had served during the war as a national fire service training centre (wasley).

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, Devon County Council RAF/CPE/UK/1890 3160-3161 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Numerous structures, earthworks and vegetation marks are visible.

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/2105, RAF/CPE/UK/2105 RP 3061-3062 28-MAY-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351151.

Numerous structures, earthworks and vegetation marks are visible.

Meridian Airmaps Limited, 1966, MAL/66083, MAL/66083 V 217-218 07-DEC-1966 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363291.

A number of the structures have been demolished.

Ordnance Survey, 1969, OS/69293, OS/69293 V 036-037 28-JUN-1969 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352593.

Most of the remaining structures have been demolished. Vegetation marks of former structures and trackways are visible. Several new structures have also been constructed on the site.

Ordnance Survey, 1989, OS/89037, OS/89037 V 101-102 07-MAR-1989 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352115.

All traces of the former camp have been cleared and the site has been completely developed as part of Lee Mill Industrial Estate.

Ordnance Survey, 2019, MasterMap 2019 (Cartographic). SDV362729.

The sewage works to the south of the camp is extant, although has been modified.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2021, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

Structures of a resettlement camp, constructed at the end of the Second World War, are visible on aerial photographs taken from 1946 onwards. The camp occupies several former agricultural land parcels within an area of circa 27 hectares that is bound to the north by Beech Road and to the south by what is now the A38. The camp comprises numerous pitched-roof huts which are interconnected by a network of trackways visible as vegetation marks and which extend from the two roads to the north and south. Many of the huts are associated with rectilinear areas visible as pale vegetation marks and defined in places by low walls or earth banks (not transcribed) which are interpreted as possible gardens and vegetable plots. The sewage works for the camp is located circa 155m to the south. The camp remains unchanged in 1947, although by 1966 a number of the huts have been demolished. By 1969, almost all of the remaining huts have been demolished, although vegetation marks of these former structures and of the trackways are clearly visible. Several new structures have also been constructed on the site. In 1989, all traces of the former camp have been cleared and the site has been completely developed as part of Lee Mill Industrial Estate. The sewage works to the south of the camp is extant on the 2019 Ordnance Survey MasterMap, with several new structures visible.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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