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| HER Number | MWB22432 |
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| Record Type | Landscape |
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| Name | Site of baseball diamond, off Bury's Bank Road, Greenham Common |
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Summary
Former location of a baseball field most likely created within RAF Greenham Common when the airbase was controlled by the USAAF during the Cold War
Monument Type(s):
Full Description
The outline of a baseball field (also called a diamond) is clearly visible in the north-westernmost part of former RAF Greenham Common in aerial photographs taken on 20/10/2018 <1>, and slightly less clearly on aerial photographs taken in 2010 <2> and 1999 <3>. Its location is just south of the junction of Bury's Bank Road and New Road, and would have fallen inside the fence of the airbase which was used by the United States Army Air Force from 1951 until 1991.
Though baseball fields are also referred to as baseball diamonds, the overall shape is that of a quarter of a circle. Within this quadrant is a square that includes all the bases and is where most of the action in the game takes place. The GIS point for this monument marks First Base.
There is another baseball diamond about 300m to the northeast within the John W Mello playing field. Their chronological relationship is uncertain, but it seems likely that the Bury's Bank Road one was constructed first as, unlike the John W Mello site, it lacks any extant physical structures such as bleachers and a scoreboard, and is not depicted on the Fifth Edition OS map of 1970 <4>.
Sources and further reading
| <01> | 2018. West Berkshire Council Aerial Survey 2018 (digital aerial photographs). Aerial Photo. Digital. [Photograph / SWB149532] |
| <02> | 2010. West Berkshire Council Aerial Survey 2010 (digital aerial photographs). Aerial Photo. Digital. [Photograph / SWB148137] |
| <03> | UK Perspectives. 12/09/1999. Berkshire Aerial Survey 1999 (digital aerial photographs). Aerial Photo. Digital. 1:7000. [Photograph / SWB148906] |
| <04> | Ordnance Survey. 1962-1981. Ordnance Survey Epoch 5, 1:2500. 1:2500. Not marked. [Map / SWB14665] |
Related Monuments
| MWB6570 | Greenham Common Airbase (RAF Greenham Common) (Monument) |
| MWB22433 | John W Mello Playing Field, Greenham Common (Landscape) |
Associated Excavations and Fieldwork
None recordedIf you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.
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