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Hertfordshire HER
.
| HHER Number: | 6997 |
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| Type of record: | Building |
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| Name: | AIRCRAFT DISPERSAL PEN, ALLEN'S GREEN AIRFIELD N |
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Summary - not yet available
Images
 No image caption available © Hertfordshire County Council |  No image caption available © Hertfordshire County Council |
 No image caption available © Hertfordshire County Council |  No image caption available © Hertfordshire County Council |
 No image caption available © Hertfordshire County Council | |
Monument Types
- AIR RAID SHELTER (Twentieth Century - 1901 AD to 2000 AD)
- BLAST PEN (Twentieth Century - 1901 AD to 2000 AD)
- DISPERSAL (Twentieth Century - 1901 AD to 2000 AD)
Protected Status
- SHINE: WW2 Air Defences,medieval moat & ph earthworks in and surrounding Mathams Wood
- Area of Archaeological Significance
- Scheduled Ancient Monument 32451
- Scheduled Ancient Monument 32451-08: RAF SAWBRIDGEWORTH WORLD WAR II AIRFIELD DEFENCES
Full description
An aircraft dispersal pen was a banked earth enclosure constructed in a crescented 'E' shape. It protected two aircraft and contained an air raid shelter built into the bank within the central arm of the 'E'.
Much of the structure has been cleared, the central arm has gone with the retaining walls lying as rubble. The southern arm has been shortened and the northern arm has been cut through to provide a vehicle trackway. The air raid shelter survives and like the one in [6999] is constructed with 'Stanton' parabolic shelter panels <6> bolted together. It has three entrances, one from each pen however the third (emergency) one has collapsed <3>. Access to the interior only is now only via brick-lined entrances on the N side <1>. The structure was linked with the airfield perimeter track by two roads or taxiways <2>. These do not survive. Built on the NE edge of Mathams Wood, it is now covered by trees and scrub <1>, its location helping to camouflage the aircraft shelter from aerial observation and possible air attack <4>. Three others survive at the airfield [6998, 6999] out of a total of thirteen <5>. Only 40-50 aircraft dispersal pens survive in Britain and these are the first to be recorded in Hertfordshire or Essex <3>.
<1> Stewart Bryant (HCC), Information, Site visit with KAT, March 1996 (Verbal communication). SHT5002.
<2> OS 1:2500 & 1:10000 maps (Cartographic material). SHT7911.
<3> Nash, F & Tyler, S Hertfordshire County Council, Allen's Green (RAF Sawbridgeworth) SMR Updates November 2001 (Bibliographic reference). SHT7275.
<4> Scheduled Monument description, 18.3.04 (Scheduling record). SHT9990.
<5> EH schedule proposal folder, Plans of airfield etc & RAF photos etc (Bibliographic reference). SHT3140.
<6> Stanton Ironworks Co Ltd, c.1940, Stanton tubular reinforced concrete air-raid shelters (Bibliographic reference). SHT4985.
Sources and further reading
| <1> | Verbal communication: Stewart Bryant (HCC). Information. Site visit with KAT, March 1996. |
| <2> | Cartographic material: OS 1:2500 & 1:10000 maps. |
| <3> | Bibliographic reference: Nash, F & Tyler, S Hertfordshire County Council, Allen's Green (RAF Sawbridgeworth) SMR Updates November 2001. |
| <4> | Scheduling record: Scheduled Monument description. 18.3.04. |
| <5> | Bibliographic reference: EH schedule proposal folder. Plans of airfield etc & RAF photos etc. |
| <6> | Bibliographic reference: Stanton Ironworks Co Ltd. c.1940. Stanton tubular reinforced concrete air-raid shelters. |
Related records
| 10133 | Part of: ALLEN'S GREEN (SAWBRIDGEWORTH) AERODROME, HIGH WYCH (Monument) |
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