Monument record MDO45941 - Coastal Defence/Chain Home Low radar station M91, Ballard Down, Studland

The site of a temporary Coastal Defence/Chain Home Low (CD/CHL) radar station at Ballard Down. It was built by the British Army to monitor shipping and aircraft during the Second World War. CD/CHL sites opened from 1941 and comprised either a Nissen hut or brick/concrete operations block with an aerial gantry mounted on the roof and a separate standby set house for the reserve power. It is unclear whether the station was actually fitted with radar or was an undeveloped site. There is no evidence of the station in air photographs from 1961.

RADAR STATION. National Trust Archaeological Site Monitoring Surveillance Report, with 3 photographs and site plan. Recorder- National Trust & H. & D. Goodson. <1>

A temporary Coastal Defence/Chain Home Low station located at Ballard Down (SZ 044 813), called site M91. Coastal Defence/Chain Home Low (CD/CHL) radar stations were operated by the British Army to detect shipping and aircraft. CD/CHL sites opened from 1941 and comprised either a Nissen hut or brick/concrete operations block with an aerial gantry mounted on the roof and a separate standby set house for the reserve power. Staff were billeted where possible, but some stations had a small layout of domestic hutting situated within one mile of the site. <2>

Aerial photography from 1961 shows that the site is used for agricultural use and there is no surviving evidence of the radar station. <3>

<1> Council for British Archaeology, 1995, Defence of Britain Project, 2644 (Digital archive). SWX5.

<2> Dobinson, C S, 1996, Twentieth century fortifications in England, volume 7. Acoustics and Radar: England's early warning systems 1915-45, 169 (Monograph). SDO12579.

<3> Anderton, Michael J, 2000, Twentieth century military recording project: World War Two radar stations, 64 (Unpublished document). SDO18992.

<4> Council for British Archaeology, 2006, Defence of Britain Project Archive DEB01, 2644 (Excavation archive). SDO17227.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1413314 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 21 2023 9:12AM