Monument record MDO44832 - Second World War Radar Beacon, Tarrant Launceston

A rectangular walled structure and two additional circular structures are visible to the east of Tarrant Launceston on 1945 aerial photographs. The features are recorded under NRHE Hob UID 1489455 as a probable Second World War Radar Beacon, probably one of a series of Standard Beam Approach (SBA) aerial plinths associated with RAF Tarrant Rushton. They were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

A probable Second World War radar beacon is visible as a structure on aerial photographs taken in 1945 and 1953 but has since been destroyed. The site comprises a walled rectangular area which is centred at ST 9442 0980 plus a conical mound or circular structure situated circa 4m to its south-west. The wall surrounds an area that measures 12.5m long by 9.5m wide and is orientated north / south. The conical mound or structure measures 11m in diameter.

The site is probably one of a series of Standard Beam Approach (SBA) aerial plinths associated with RAF Tarrant Rushton located circa 3.5km to the south (see ST 90 NW 128 / UID: 1430476). The beacon is located 165m to the north of a Second World War searchlight battery (see ST 90 NW 154 / UID: 1479230) and a contemporary weapons pit (ST 90 NW 187 / UID: 1489456) . All of these structures were removed on aerial photographs taken in 1982 when the field is used for agriculture. The site may have superseded, or been superseded by, the HF/DF site recorded as ST 90 NW 142 (UID: 1478933).<1-3>

A rectangular walled structure and two additional circular structures are visible to the east of Tarrant Launceston on 1945 aerial photographs <1>. The features comprise a 14.8m by 11.2m walled rectangular structure, with a 8.8m in diameter circular mound to the southwest and a 3.9m circular feature to the north. They are recorded under NRHE Hob UID 1489455 as a probable Second World War Radar Beacon, probably one of a series of Standard Beam Approach (SBA) aerial plinths associated with RAF Tarrant Rushton. The features are no longer visible on APGB imagery. They were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

Historic England, Historic England Archive, MD002384 (Index). SDO14738.

EH: Tarrant Launceston 15 and environs aerial photograph survey and analysis. Material still held by aerial survey. The area comprises 10.5km² and is bounded by ST 930 080 (SW corner) and ST 965 110 (NE corner).

<1> Royal Air Force, 03-MAR-1945, RAF/106G/LA/194 V 93 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18878.

<2> Royal Air Force, 14-AUG-1953, RAF/58/1212 F22 0096-0097 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19180.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 13-SEP-1982, OS/82203 149-150 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19181.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1489455 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 9 2023 7:18PM