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Summary

Royal Air Force Sharpitor was a Gee master Transmitting Station established in 1942. Part of the Gee system that allowed Royal Air Force (RAF) bomber crews to navigate at night by fixing their position on route to a target. steel transmitting aerial was erected and a new transmitter block was constructed. Steel transmitting aerial was erected and a new transmitter block was constructed in the 1950s but the site was closed down in 1970. Little remains to be seen except parch marks indicating the sites of buildings and remains of bricks, concrete blocks and a General Post Office (GPO) marker stone.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020238: Prehistoric coaxial field system and cairns, an historic enclosure and part of RAF Sharpitor, situated on and around Peek Hill
• SHINE: Earthwork and structural remains of a Bronze Age enclosure and reaves, as well as a medieval farm site and Second World War transmitting station west of Leather Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE379
• National Monuments Record: SX57SE200
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1394214
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1454628
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57SE/459
• Old SAM Ref: 24090

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• RADIO STATION (World War II to Late 20th Century - 1939 AD to 1971 AD (Between))
• TRANSMITTER SITE (World War II to Late 20th Century - 1939 AD to 1969 AD (Between))
• MILITARY SIGNALLING SITE (World War II to Late 20th Century - 1942 AD to 1970 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.

Site is clearly visible on the aerial photograph.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 156880, 18/3/2000 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

RAF Sharpitor, radio navigation master station in the South Western Gee chain.
No evaluation of the World War II radio navigation Gee chain is currently available and therefore it is not known whether this feature is of national importance. The operational element of this gee chain master station is included because they are known to be extremely rare and this one lies within a prehistoric field system of national importance.
There are a large number of concrete bases and earthworks associated with this radio station.

Wilkinson, B., 1996, RAF Sharpitor, 6-8 (Article in Serial). SDV224139.

Fletcher, M. J., 2007-2008, Walkhampton Premier Archaeological Landscape; Field Investigation Project (Report - Survey). SDV359195.

(01/05/2007) The site of a transmitting station known as Royal Air Force Sharpitor established early in World War 2 is located just off the summit area of Peek Hill. It served as the master transmitting station for the South Western Gee chain and formed a link in the national Gee chain - a radio navigational system that enabled aircraft navigators to fix their position accurately throughout most of Europe. This 'Technical site', when constructed in about 1942, had a 210ft high wooden transmitting tower and seven Nissen huts including the transmitter block and the emergency generator building which were each surrounded by a blast wall. In the mid-1950s the station was upgraded with the addition of a 240ft high steel transmitting tower and a new flat-roofed transmitter block. This block was situated to the north-east of the original transmitter block which along with most of the Nissen huts including the generator building as well as the timber tower were demolished. At its peak the station had 35 service personnel including 12 technicians who worked a shift system. The national Gee chain was shut down on 26th March 1970 and by 1972 the steel tower mast had been brought down, the station demolished and the site cleared. The outline of many of the early buildings are traceable as slight brick and concrete foundations up to 0.1m high however little survives of the 1950s buildings and steel tower base. The site is now the property of South West Water. A plan in the Dartmoor Magazine (1996) illustrates the proposed layout of the 1950s buildings adjacent to the existing 1940s buildings; the text describes the function of each building. The site was surveyed and recorded at 1:2500 scale in 2007. The nearby 'Domestic site' (SX 57 SE 230) was used to house the RAF personnel until it was demolished in 1949.

Passmore, M., 2016, Royal Air Force Sharpitor. A Gee Master Transmitting Station South Western Gee Chain. Peek Hill, Dartmoor, 2-6 (Report - Assessment). SDV359575.

Royal Air Force Sharpitor was a Gee master Transmitting Station established in 1942. Part of the Gee system that allowed Royal Air Force (RAF) bomber crews to navigate at night by fixing their position on route to a target. The aircraft received signals from ground stations in different locations (master and slave stations) which was then plotted on to a chart and a fix computed. Sharpitor was worked with slave stations at RAF Worth Matravers (Dorset), RAF Sennen (Cornwall) and RAF Folly (Wales). RAF Trerew in Cornwall acted as a monitor.
The technical site was located just below the summit of Peek Hill and the domestic site was on the lower slopes of the hill adjacent to the public highway. Structures seen at the station included a timber transmitting tower and a number of Nissen huts which served as the guard-room, transmitter block, stand-by set (emergency generator), cookhouse, canteen and accommodation. The later was moved to RAF Harrowbeer in 1949.
35 RAF personnel are said to have been at the site, 12 of whom were technicians. They were later mostly replaced by civilian employees.
In the 1950s a steel transmitting aerial was erected and a new transmitter block was constructed. The site continued in use until 1970, after the Gee system was wound down in the late 1960s. The site mast was proposed for use for police communications but this never took place and it was removed in 1971 and a proposal for a young offenders centre was refused.
There is also a ROC underground monitoring post (SX55657003) which is thought to have been established in either 1957 or 1963. It was disbanded in 1991 and the bunker was later sealed.
Little can now be seen of the site, except parch marks indicating the sites of buildings and remains of bricks, concrete blocks and a General Post Office (GPO) marker stone.

Passmore, A. + Passmore, J. + Passmore, M., 2019, RAF Sharpitor, Dartmoor (Leaflet). SDV363124.

Introduction to the Gee master station provided.

Historic England, 2021-2022, NRHE to HER website, Accessed 07/09/2021 (Website). SDV364039.

[NRHE: 1394214]
Summary description ?
The remains of part of RAF Sharpitor, immediately north of Peek Hill. The remains include a number of concrete platforms together with associated earthworks and spreads of brick and mortar. RAF Sharpitor was a radio navigation master station, active from World War II until the 1960s, and forming part of a chain of transmitters which allowed the accurate navigation of aircraft. A tall timber tower supported the transmitting aerials, surrounded by a group of service buildings. In 1956, an underground civil defence bunker was constructed for the Royal Observer Corps. This appears on the surface as a flat-topped oval mound. These sites are now recorded individually under SX 57 SE 236 and SX 56 NE 379 and 380.
Full description(s) ?
SX 557700; SX 55506992. Remains of part of RAF Sharpitor, immediately north of Peek Hill. The remains include a number of concrete platforms together with associated earthworks and spreads of brick and mortar. RAF Sharpitor was a radio navigation master station, active from World War II until the 1960s, and forming part of a chain of transmitters which allowed the accurate navigation of aircraft. A tall timber tower supported the transmitting aerials, surrounded by a group of service buildings. In 1956, an underground civil defence bunker was constructed for the Royal Observer Corps. This appears on the surface as a flat-topped oval mound. (Schedule Monument notification, 11/02/2002).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8351 - Walkhampton Premier Archaeological Landscape; Field Investigation Project

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