Wiltshire and Swindon Historic Environment Record

Details for record number SU15SE528

Type

Monument

Title / Name

RAF Relief Landing Ground, Upavon Airfield

Summary

A military airfield that represents a key site in the history of military aviation. The airfield was the home of the Central Flying School of the Royal Flying Corps.

Monument Types and Dates

AIRFIELD, Early 20th Century to C21 (1901 to 2050)

Other Details

Source Detail: Priddle, R., 2003

Title: Wings Over Wiltshire: An Aeronautical History of Wiltshire

Summary: Publication Source ID: SWI22354

Description: Ron Priddle's work on Wiltshire Airfields offers a detailed phase by phase account of the development of Upavon, supported by numerous photographs. The initial phase was a temporary camp comprising wooden huts, aircraft hangars and a military hospital, later rebuilt. The source lists the Commandants of the Central Flying School and explores the airfields role in both World Wars. Post-War the airfield developed a transport role. The Royal Air Force station closed in 1993 and the airfield transferred to the army as Upavon Camp, Trenchard Lines. The reinforced grass airfield continues to be maintained and is used by transport aircraft and helicopters. It is situated at SU 157 548

Source Detail: English Heritage, 2000

Title: Thematic Listing Programme: Survey of Military Aviation Sites and Structures

Summary: Desktop assessment Updated May 2003 Source ID: SWI24317

Additional Information: English Heritage

Description: A military airfield that represents a key site in the history of military aviation. It was established as long ago as 1912 and it was used both World Wars. The initial temporary structures were replaced by permanent ones, including barracks in 1913-1914. A number of these permanent buildings are extant. The airfield was the home of the Central Flying School of the Royal Flying Corps. It retained this function through World War One and much of the interwar period with the exception of 1924-1935 when it was a Fleet Air Arm shore station. A further programme of rebuilding was underway by 1935. In the Post-War period, the Berlin airlift was planned from Upavon.

Source Detail: Willis, S. + Holliss, B., 1987

Title: Military Airfields in the British Isles 1939-1945

Summary: No summary information. Source ID: SWI26227

Description: By 1944 the World War Two airfield included lengths of Sommerfeld Track landing areas to supplement the grass flying field, and also Type C, A, L and Blister aircraft hangars. The Willis and Holliss gazetteer gives the NGR of the airfield as 152 542.

Source Detail: Berryman, D., 2002

Title: Wiltshire Airfields in the Second World War

Summary: No summary information. Source ID: SWI26229

Additional Information: Countryside Books

Description: David Berryman provides a succinct account of the World War Two phase of use in his 2002 book on Wiltshire airfields of that conflict.

Source Detail: Delve, K., 2006

Title: The Military Airfields of Britain. South Western England: Channel islands, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire

Summary: No summary information. Source ID: SWI26250

Description: The site of a First World War and Second World War landing ground. It was initially used from late 1917 until the end of the First World War. A new site just to the west was founded in the 1920s and Army Cooperation squadrons used the base during the late 1920s and 1930s. The airfield was reactivated in June 1940 and was the base for 225 Squadron until it moved away in July 1941. A detailed description including photographs and site map can be found in this source.

Source Detail: Ashworth, C., 1990

Title: Action stations, 5 : military airfields of the south-west

Summary: No summary information. Source ID: SWI26251

Description: An alternative source can be found in Chris Ashworth's Action Stations volume on south-west England. Ashworth claims that Upavon is the oldest active airfield in the country.

Source Detail: Historic England, 2015

Title: Case Name: Upavon Camp, Wiltshire

Summary: Advice Report Source ID: SWI27334

Description: Historic England is undertaking the re-assessment of five military camps on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire due to the imminent relocation of troops from Germany to the area, and the changes to the accommodation buildings that this will necessitate. It falls within the 4E2 Activity Group: Military Heritage (Ministry of Defence disposals) of the National Heritage Protection Plan 2011-15 (and reflects the Historic England Corporate Plan 2015-18 Objectives 2.1 and 2.2). In light of this, we have undertaken a survey of the sites and produced ‘template’ documents to consolidate our knowledge and understanding. These will also help to inform the future management of the buildings and the sites as a whole. The five sites are Tidworth, Larkhill, Bulford, Upavon (Trenchard Lines) and Perham Down. This assessment relates to Upavon (Trenchard Lines) Camp which, along with a number of other buildings (assessed in separate cases), does not merit full assessment and is thereby not included in the consultation process. These are being assessed in parallel and are being submitted to the DCMS for a decision as they are completed in order to give certainty to MoD/ DIO and the local authority. There are a number of listed buildings on the camp and it is not in a conservation area. Upavon was one of the first military airfields to be built in England. Work on its construction began in April 1912 and by June the completed buildings were taken over by the Central Flying School of the newly established Royal Flying Corps. By the end of the First World War the aerodrome comprised around eighty buildings. Some of these are still in use and the best examples are listed, including Officers’ Mess (Building 21) at Grade II*. The immediate post-war period and early 1920s were a period of contraction and uncertainty for the newly formed RAF. Across the country there was little new building and the barrack block, Lord House (not listed), is a rare structure from this period. Probably during the late 1920s and early 1930s many of the First World War buildings were cleared and new permanent buildings erected. Upavon fulfilled a training role intermittently until 1926 when it briefly became a fighter station until 1935 when its training role resumed. This lasted until 1946 when it became home to a number of headquarters, many concerned with air transport. In July 1993 the site was transferred to the army. In the domestic and technical area many buildings survive from its earliest phases, the inter-war, and post-war periods. The site remains in military hands.

Source Detail: Carpenter, E. + Winton, H., 2011

Title: Marden Henge and Environs: Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire

Summary: NMP Project Report Source ID: SWI28245

Additional Information: English Heritage

Description: There were two Relief Landing Grounds for the Central Flying School at Upavon. One of these was at Manningford - Bohune common - and the other at Alton Barnes.

Source Detail: Clarke, R., 2018

Title: Wiltshire's World War I Aircraft Landscape: a focus on the landscape of aircraft training

Summary: Research Source ID: SWI28338

Additional Information: The Wiltshire Archaeological And Natural History Magazine 111 pp.21-38

Description: In 1910 after a crash which led to the fatality of one of the many spectators that often gathered to watch the aircraft, a new station was opened on gallops at Upavon: the Central Flying School. Upavon retains many features from the pre War and WWI periods, including the barrack blocks and mess areas dating from 1912.

Source Detail: English Heritage,

Title: NMR Aerial Photographs (master)

Summary: No summary information. Source ID: SWI9475

Source Detail: English Heritage,

Title: NMR Aerial Photographs (master)

Summary: No summary information. Source ID: SWI9475

Description: Upavon airfield has been mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1945. These show the building complex at the airfield defended by barbed wire and a number of gun emplacements. A further defensive position is to the north-east at SU 1720 5511. Planes can be seen taxiing on the field between this position and the main camp, an area centred on SU 1648 5523. Protection from air attack is in the form of earth-covered shelters and trenches. A line of buildings can be seen to the north, centred on SU 1604 5549 and further buildings and hangers can be seen on the west, south and east sides of the airfield.

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