RAF Wroughtonis a formerRoyal Air Forceairfield nearWroughton,inWiltshire,England, about 4 miles (6 km) south ofSwindon.Ministry of Defence aviation activity ceased in 1972. The airfield now belongs to theScience Museum Groupand is home to theNational Collections Centre,which houses the group's large-object storage and library.
RAF Wroughton | |||||||||||
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| Wroughton,Wiltshire in England | |||||||||||
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  RAF Wroughton Shown within Wiltshire | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°30′25″N1°48′07″W/ 51.507°N 1.802°W | ||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Navy Royal Air Force | ||||||||||
| Controlled by | Directorate of Naval Recruiting RAF Maintenance Command | ||||||||||
| Open to the public | no | ||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||
| Built | 1 April 1940 | ||||||||||
| In use | 1940-1979 | ||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||
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Early history
editThe airfield opened on 1 April 1940.[1]It was used for the assembly and storage of aircraft during theSecond World War.[2]
The following units were here at some point:[3]
- No. 15 Maintenance Unit RAF
- No. 41 Group Test Pilots Pool
- No. 76 Maintenance Unit RAF
- No. 88 Gliding School RAF
- Maintenance Command Jet Training Flight
Control of RAF Wroughton was handed over to theRoyal Navyand it became the Royal Naval Aircraft Yard Wroughton in 1972.[2]
RAF Princess Alexandra Hospital
editRAF Hospital Wroughton was part of the station and stood near the eastern boundary of the site, about1+1⁄2miles (2.4 km) west ofChiseldon.[4]The RAF General Hospital (as it was known) opened on 14 June 1941 and by the end of March 1944 its bed capacity was 1,000. Wroughton continued as a General Hospital treating military patients, and from 1958 took NHS cases as well to relieve backlogs in the Swindon area.[5]
Following a visit to the hospital byPrincess Alexandraon 4 July 1967, the Queen conferred the prefix "Princess Alexandra's" on the hospital on 4 October 1967. The hospital was the primary destination for returning casualties of theFalklands Warin 1982.[6]When the hostages from Beirut were released in August 1991, Wg CdrGordon Turnbull,a psychiatrist based at Wroughton, with his team, debriefedJohn McCarthy,Terry WaiteandJackie Mannand provided the counselling necessary to ease them back into freedom.[7]
The hospital closed on 31 March 1996 as part of the Conservative Government's defence cuts at the end of the cold war. The hospital was demolished in 2004 and the site, called Alexandra Park, used for housing and a conference centre; a memorial commemorates the former hospital.[8]
Science Museum at Wroughton
editThe large-object storage of theScience Museumhas been at Wroughton since 1979.[9]
Current use
editIn 2016 a 50 MW[10]solar farmwas completed on about 67 hectares of the airfield, with over 150,000solar panels.This was a joint project of Public Power Solutions (a commercial arm of Swindon Borough Council)[11]and theScience Museum Group.[12]
From 2016 to 2019, the television seriesThe Grand Touroperated their test track on the north end of the airfield, with the track encircling part of the Science Museum's storage facilities.[13]
In 2010,Defence Estatesstated that the Ministry of Defence still owned some 4.22 hectares of the site, where two linked hangar-type buildings were used by the Directorate of Naval Recruiting.[14]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Chris Ashworth (1985).Action stations: Military airfields of the Central South and South-East.Volume 9 ofAction Stations.Cambridge: Stephens.p. 307.
- ^ab"Wroughton Airfield".Pastscape.Retrieved14 October2018.
- ^"Wroughton".Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust.Retrieved27 September2021.
- ^"Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain, sheet SU17".National Library of Scotland.1960.Retrieved3 September2017.
- ^"RAF Hospital Wroughton".www.raf.mod.uk.Retrieved21 July2017.
- ^Walker, Caroline (13 February 2009)."Air Vice-Marshal Frederick C. Hurrell".Imperial College London.Retrieved21 July2017.
- ^Stock, Jon (28 September 2002)."A safe haven for the hostage heroes".Telegraph.co.uk.Retrieved21 July2017.
- ^"Memorial planned for former hospital".Swindon Advertiser.3 February 2004.Retrieved21 July2017.
- ^Big Object storage.Science Museum. Accessed March 2015.
- ^Stoker, Liam (6 July 2017)."First community benefit funds from 50 MW Swindon Solar Farm to be paid".Solar Power Portal.Retrieved21 July2017.
- ^"Solutions for the public sector".Swindon Borough Council.Retrieved14 October2018.
- ^(11 December 2013).Wiltshire solar farm at former RAF Wroughton site approved.BBC News. Accessed March 2015.
- ^"Jeremy Clarkson fears BBC could sue over new racing show The Grand Tour if too similar to Top Gear".The Telegraph.Retrieved24 October2016.
- ^"Request for Information: RAF Wroughton".whatdotheyknow.com.Defence Estates Secretariat. 4 January 2010.Retrieved19 November2020.
External links
edit
Media related toRAF Wroughtonat Wikimedia Commons