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Summary

Military airfield 1941-1945, then in civilian use until 1950 when the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment took over the site

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

• Registered Park or Garden (II) 1000530: Aldermaston Court

Other Statuses and Cross-References

• National Monuments Record No.: SU 56 SE 32
  SU 588 630
• Pastscape Mon No or Hob UID: 1383220
  

Monument Type(s):

• MILITARY AIRFIELD (Second World War to Mid 20th century - 1941 AD to 1946 AD)
• RUNWAY (Second World War to Mid 20th century - 1941 AD to 1949 AD)
• AIRFIELD (Second World War to Mid 20th century - 1945 AD to 1949 AD)

Full Description

Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War Aldermaston Manor was auctioned off into separate lots <14>. It was at this point in the Manor’s history that many of the estate holdings were sold to independent freeholders and the estate broken up. The Second World War precipitated a major period of change in the site’s history when it was requisitioned for use as an airbase with a number of buildings constructed to the south of Aldermaston Manor.

Originally land that was part of the Aldermaston Court estate, Aldermaston Airfield was constructed from late 1941 to mid 1942 <1> with three runways <2><3>. Up until 1945 it was in military use, then in civil use up to 1949 <1>. It became the site of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment from April 1950 <5><6><9>.

The site was allocated to the USAAF immediately on opening in 1942 and was used by 315th Troop Carrier Group [TCG]. The RAF took up temporary residence briefly in 1943, after which it was once again handed over to the USAAF. In the middle of 1943-1945 Vickers began using the site for the assembly and testing of Spitfires, whilst still in use by various TCG's. On D-Day the 434th TCG transported the 81st Airborned Anti-Aircraft Battalion to the Omaha Beach area, for which it received a Distinguised Unit Citation, and later, the 82nd Airborne Division to Nijmegen during operation Market Garden. The base was handed back to the RAF in 1945. Between 1946-1948 it was used as a training facility for Dakotas, Yorks, Vikings and Oxfords by BEA and BOAC.

The layout of the airfield is shown in an aerial photograph of 1943; the three runways formed a triangle, and the layout of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment continued this alignment by reusing the runways as main roads.

The extent of the airfield was mapped and recorded during the Silchester Iron Age Environs project <18>. Ancillary sites associated with it, including a possible accommodation site (Hampshire AHBR 58572) and sewage works (Hampshire AHBR 58573) were previously been recorded during the Aggregate Landscape of Hampshire NMP project of 2008 <18><20><21>.

The southernmost strip of the former airfield was on land once included within the county of Berkshire, but this transferred over to Hampshire in the later 20th century after it had been developed for housing (Plantation Road, Furze Road, Almswood Road and those leading off). The county boundary then shifted to follow the east-west line of the A340 Aldermaston Road. Several photographs of the airfield and its related infrastructure, some of which was in Hampshire, are included in a publication by the Tadley and District History Society <28>.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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