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| HER Number | MWB17910 |
|---|
| Record Type | Monument |
|---|
| Name | Membury Airfield Hospital |
|---|
Summary
Site of Second World War building used as a hospital
Monument Type(s):
Full Description
Building recording was carried out in 2008 at the former hospital at Membury Airfield, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands prior to demolition of the existing structures and construction of a new agricultural building.
The hospital complex was constructed in 1942 and comprised a small group of single-storey buildings referred to on the wartime plan as 'sick quarters with dental surgery' <2>. From the 1950s the buildings were used for agricultural purposes, and as workshops for light industry. Few of the original internal fixtures and fittings survived.
Apart from two later extensions to the north-west corner of the main hospital block all the buildings appear to be contemporary and are of similar construction following Air Ministry guidelines. Walls were of a single brick thickness, the roof constructed from corrugated asbestos panels and the floors concrete. The windows were of a simple steel frame construction.
The building survey elucidated a disparity between the wartime plan and the modern Ordnance Survey map, the latter showing the main hospital building connected to building B. The survey concluded that they were two separate buildings as shown on the wartime plan <3>.
Sources and further reading
| <01> | Brooks, R J. 2000. Thames Valley Airfields in the Second World War - Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Middlesex. p112-122. [Monograph / SWB12930] |
| <02> | Air Ministry. 1944. Membury Airfield - Record Site Plan, Site No 1. Paper. 1inch to 400ft (approx). Site No 12 Sick Quarters. [Map / SWB12931] |
| <03> | Thames Valley Archaeological Services. 2008. Membury Airfield Hospital, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands, West Berkshire - Building Recording. Report 08/57. 2016 On Contractor's website. [Unpublished document / SWB147519] |
| <04> | Air Ministry. 1944. Membury - Record Site Plan, Dispersed Sites. Digital. 1inch to 400ft (approx). Site No 12 Sick Quarters. [Map / SWB148903] |
Related Monuments
| MWB15827 | Membury Airfield (World War II), Lambourn (Monument) |
| MWB17591 | Membury Airfield Dispersed Sites (World War II), Lambourn (Monument) |
Associated Excavations and Fieldwork
| EWB1030 | Membury Airfield Hospital, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands, West Berkshire - Archaeological Watching Brief (Ref: Site Code MHL08/57) |
| EWB1031 | Membury Airfield Hospital, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands, West Berkshire - Building Recording (Ref: Site Code MHL08/57) |
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