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The West Berkshire Historic Environment Record (HER) is the primary index of the physical remains of past human activity in the unitary authority of West Berkshire Council. Limited elements of the West Berkshire HER are available online via the Heritage Gateway, therefore it is not suitable for use in desk-based studies associated with development, planning and land-use changes, and does not meet the requirements of paragraph 194 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2021: 56). Please read the important guidance on the use of the West Berkshire HER data. For these purposes and all other commercial enquiries, please contact the Archaeology team and complete our online HER enquiry form.



HER Number MWB16200
Record Type Monument
Name Greenham Common peace camp - Green Gate

Grid Reference SU 488 643
Map Sheet SU46SE
Parish Greenham, West Berkshire
Map:Show location on Streetmap

Summary

One of several peace camps created during opposition to Cruise missiles at the airbase in the 1980s

Monument Type(s):

  • PEACE CAMP (Late 20th century - Present - 1983 AD to 1991 AD?)

Full Description

Green Gate was the nearest to the silos (shelters where the Cruise missiles were stored), and was the only entirely exclusive women-only camp at all times <1>.

The grid reference is given as SU 490646 in Schofield and Anderton's article <3> although this does not appear accurate.

The number and naming of the peace camps is unlikely to be definitive as many of them were short-lived and changing; some sources indicate that there were 7 camps, named for the colours of the rainbow (Green, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Indigo, Violet and Red) but other names given have been Turquoise, Emerald and Jade. The camps were also sometimes associated with different groups and ways of life (eg artists, vegans). A grid reference for the location of the camps is included in other information collated in 2002 <8>; in this source Green Gate was at SU 488643.

Green Gate and Jade Gate were visited in 2003 by the Common Ground Research Group <4> and Green Gate was reported to have been largely intact <12>.

Sources and further reading

<01>Nelson, J. 1982-3. The Women's Library: Greenham Common Collection. [Unpublished document / SWB14643]
<02>Blackwood, C. 1984. On the Perimeter. [Monograph / SWB146804]
<03>2000. World Archaeology: Queer Archaeologies Vol 32, Issue 2. Vol 32, Issue 2. 10.1080/00438240050131216. p236-251 The queer archaeology of Green Gate... by John Schofield & Mike Anderton. [Article in serial / SWB146803]
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00438240050131216 (Accessed 10/09/2014)
<04>University of Southampton. 2003. Common Ground: Rediscovering Greenham's Cold War Landscape. http://www.soton.ac.uk/~kmp401/index.htm. Accessed 28/09/2007. [Website / SWB14644]
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/the_greenham_project.page (Accessed 02/04/2012)
<05>Marshall, Y M. 2005. Archaeologies of Resistance. [Unpublished document / SWB147198]
<06>Beck, C, Drollinger, H & Schofield, J. 2006?. Alternative archaeologies of the Cold War: the preliminary results of fieldwork at the Greenham and Nevada peace camps. [Article in monograph / SWB146805]
<07>Kidron, B. 2007?. Welcome to Greenham website. http://www.yourgreenham.co.uk/. 29/11/2011. pdf online. [Website / SWB147199]
http://www.yourgreenham.co.uk/ (Accessed 29/11/2011)
<08>Hawkings, D J. 2002. Information about Greenham Common peace camps. [Unpublished document / SWB147884]
<09>The International Faith, Spirituality and Social Change Conference Series. Nov 2007. Journal for Faith, Spirituality and Social Change 1.1 - Inter-faith, Politics and Sexuality. Vol 1, Issue 1. p50-67 Spirituality and social change at Greenham Common peace camp by Christina Welch. [Article in serial / SWB148180]
http://www.academia.edu/260042/Spirituality_and_Social_Change_at_Greenham_Common_Peace_Camp (Accessed 01/09/2016)
<10>English Heritage. 2001. Cold War Monuments: an assessment by the Monuments Protection Programme. 2016 WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB147883]
<11>Harrison, R and Schofield, J. 2010. After Modernity - Archaeological Approaches to the Contemporary Past. p192. [Monograph / SWB149308]
<12>Council for British Archaeology. Jan/Feb 2009. British Archaeology 104. 104. online. [Article in serial / SWB147736]
https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/82231/page/44 (Accessed on 27/07/2022)

Related Monuments

MWB16204Greenham Common peace camp - Blue Gate (Monument)
MWB21764Greenham Common peace camp - Emerald Gate (Monument)
MWB16205Greenham Common peace camp - Indigo Gate (Monument)
MWB16202Greenham Common peace camp - Orange Gate (Monument)
MWB16207Greenham Common peace camp - Red Gate (Monument)
MWB16201Greenham Common peace camp - Turquoise Gate (Monument)
MWB16206Greenham Common peace camp - Violet Gate (Monument)
MWB16203Greenham Common peace camp - Yellow Gate and Peace Garden (Monument)

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

EWB1121Cold War Monuments: an assessment by the Monuments Protection Programme
EWB2001Common Ground: Researching the Material Culture and Meaning of Greenham Common Women's Peace Camps