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| HER Number | MWB15799 |
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| Record Type | Building |
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| Name | Combat Support Company Building 273, Greenham Common airbase |
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Summary
Grade II listed Cold War building intended to provide protected accommodation for key personnel
Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status
- Listed Building (II) 1419547: Former Combat Support Building (Building 273), Greenham Common
Monument Type(s):
Full Description
The hardened Combat Support Building was built in the late 1980s. The building's purpose was to provide protected accommodation for around 100 personnel, who would be immediately available, even after a conventional, biological or chemical attack, to defend the base against infiltration. It contributes to the early 1980s character of the southwest corner of the airfield, which was redeveloped for cruise missiles.<1> Its colloquial name of 'The Armoury' also reflected the fact that weaponry for the soldiers would also have been stored here.
The former Combat Support building was listed at Grade II in 2014, because of its political, historic and architectural interest as well as its group value with the cruise missile shelters and support buildings of the Scheduled GAMA site and also the listed Control Tower and adjacent Wing Headquarters building <5>. It was also noted that it may be a unique design: no examples of comparable buildings are known from other Cold War airfields <5>.
Sources and further reading
| <01> | Cocroft, W. 2000. Former RAF Greenham Common. [Unpublished document / SWB12876] |
| <02> | RCHME. 1994. Historic Building Report: Greenham Common Airbase, Greenham, Berkshire. NBR No 93234. 2021 WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB12267] |
| <03> | English Heritage. 2001. Cold War Monuments: an assessment by the Monuments Protection Programme. 2016 WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB147883] |
| <04> | CgMs. 2006. Historic Buildings Record in respect of Former RAF/USAF Greenham Common Base, New Greenham Park, Near Newbury, Berkshire. CgMs Ref IF/JL 4020. 2018 WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB14710] |
| <05> | Historic England (previously English Heritage). 2011-present. The National Heritage List for England (NHLE). 01/08/2012. 1419547. [Website / SWB12648]
http://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/ (Accessed 06/02/2019) |
Related Monuments
| MWB6570 | Greenham Common Airbase (RAF Greenham Common) (Monument) |
Associated Excavations and Fieldwork
| EWB1121 | Cold War Monuments: an assessment by the Monuments Protection Programme |
| EWB884 | Historic Buildings Record in respect of Former RAF/USAF Greenham Common Base, New Greenham Park (Ref: IF/JL 4020) |
| EWB858 | Historic Building Report: Greenham Common Airbase, Greenham, Berkshire (Ref: NBR No 93234) |
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