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Summary

Naval shore establishment used by the Women's Royal Naval Service from 1946 until 1980s when it was demolished and replaced by other housing

Other Statuses and Cross-References

• National Monuments Record No.: SU 66 NE 71
  SU 65732 67917

Monument Type(s):

• MILITARY RESIDENCE? (Cold War to Early 21st century - 1946 AD to 2025 AD)
• NAVAL COLLEGE (Mid 20th century to Late 20th century - Present - 1946 AD to 1981 AD?)

Full Description

HMS Dauntless was a training and drafting centre used by the WRNS (Women's Royal Naval Service) from 1946 until the 1970s or 1980s <1>. It also seems to have been referred to as RAF Clayhill in planning applications of the late 20th century, when it was proposed that it be used for accommodation for American servicemen stationed at RAF Greenham. Other planning applications linked the site to RAF Odiham. The 5th Epoch Ordnance Survey map <2> shows a large central building surrounded by about a dozen similarly shaped blocks; by the 6th Epoch map <3> these are marked as 'Barracks (disused)'. A chapel is also marked (St Margaret of Antioch) as well as a swimming pool and other sports facilities.

British Pathe has a film of the Queen Mother visiting the training facility in 1956 <5>.

The area was eventually developed for housing, probably in the late 1980s, and no original military buildings appear to have been retained; the street names were named after trees such as Rowan Way. However, it appears that the houses may still be used as quarters for RAF Odiham service families.

The site was recorded from aerial photographs of the 1940s <4> during the Silchester Iron Age Environs Project.

An e-mail was received in May 2019 from someone who worked on guard duties at HMS Dauntless in 1983-84 <6>. It was confirmed that the WRNS left in 1981 and HMS Dauntless was re-designated as RAF Clayhill, although occasionally visited by USAF personnel from Greenham Common. The central building was described as containing various offices and a large hall with an equally large kitchen complex. The building was split into three sections named Upper Deck, Lower Deck and Galley. The site also housed a large boiler room, which contained three huge and noisy boilers. One of the barrack blocks to the rear was a hospital or medical block, which contained a dental surgery. Chinook helicopters used a tarmacked landing pad marked with a circle and large letter H. The south of the site had a bungalow surrounded by rose bushes and apple trees, which was occupied by the Commanding Officer.

According to a history of AWE Burghfield <7>, HMS Dauntless was originally built as a hostel, known as Clay Hill or Clayhill Hostel, for 1000 female employees of the Royal Ordnance Factory from Scotland and England. The site was 39 acres and constructed by a joint consortium of Coode, Wilson, Vaughan-Lee and Gwyther chartered civil engineers. It had timber ‘H’-shaped accommodation blocks containing four bedroom wings joined together by a central ablution block with bathrooms, showers and toilets. Many of the accommodation blocks were built at 44 degrees to the main road in case enemy aircraft used the road to navigate to the site.

Around March 1945, the Clayhill Hostel was taken over by the Navy <7>, firstly as the WRNS Depot that July, then as HMS Dauntless in December 1953. No officers were trained there as it was used as a WRNS ratings’ new entry training establishment. It closed in 1981 and the new entry training element moved to HMS Raleigh in Cornwall.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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