Introduction
One of a few military sites me and @Wastelandr visited on a 3-day trip to the Lincolnshire area recently. The entire weekend was extremely wet and windy due to Storm Darragh. The Art-Deco design of this control tower appealed to us after seeing a recent post on FB. It’s pretty trashed now but still worth a look in my opinion as it is a nice design. Putting in NP to respect previous reports.
History
RAF Lindholme is a former Royal Air Force station located in South Yorkshire. It opened in June 1940 as RAF Hatfield Woodhouse and was primarily used by Bomber Command during World War II. Post-war, the station transitioned into a radar station and then later In the 1960s and 70s, Lindholme briefly served as a gliding centre.
By 1985, the site was converted into a prison and many of the original buildings were converted into prison accommodation, offices and workshops. The Officers’ Mess building was originally used as a Category D prison wing and was later converted into an Immigration Removal Centre. Presently, the prison serves as a Category C site for male prisoners only.
The Explore
Given that the site is on an active prison, me and Wastelandr were slightly nervous initially. We parked up on the prison site, no messing about, and walked quickly towards the control tower. There were warnings for CCTV on the route we took but didn’t see any cameras. We did see a prison guard nearby circling the high-security fence of the main prison site, we were out in the open at this point but don’t think we were spotted. We then gained access to the control tower site and threw ourselves in a small opening. We spent a good half an hour grabbing photos, but did see a grey van drive past the small road opposite a number of times but luckily managed to avoid it.
Photos
Starting with a few externals
Nice peeling paint in many of the rooms, but I particularly liked the decay in the main staircase area on the ground floor
This appears to be some sort of canteen area
This room on the ground floor was filled with crap, in fact much of the grounds surrounding the tower is used as a sort of dumping ground presumably by the prison, there was old furniture, wood and even a couple of stripped pool tables.
This alarm system looked like it could be easily fired up, luckily it’s been disconnected for years
Moving on upstairs to a large room which let tons of light in thanks to the lovely big windows
We went to the top of the staircase to grab a quick couple of shots at the top but didn’t want to get seen. Sadly this is all stripped out but you do get a good view
A small room with a lovely old brown sofa, I would assume this was the break room judging by the furniture setup. I would imagine the shelving in front of the sofa would’ve had a TV, kettle etc.
An old toilet (or part of it) with nice round windows
A look at one of the original Type C hangars. These larger hangars were introduced in 1934 at the beginning of the expansion era following the need of larger structures to house bigger aircraft.
Thanks for looking.
One of a few military sites me and @Wastelandr visited on a 3-day trip to the Lincolnshire area recently. The entire weekend was extremely wet and windy due to Storm Darragh. The Art-Deco design of this control tower appealed to us after seeing a recent post on FB. It’s pretty trashed now but still worth a look in my opinion as it is a nice design. Putting in NP to respect previous reports.
History
RAF Lindholme is a former Royal Air Force station located in South Yorkshire. It opened in June 1940 as RAF Hatfield Woodhouse and was primarily used by Bomber Command during World War II. Post-war, the station transitioned into a radar station and then later In the 1960s and 70s, Lindholme briefly served as a gliding centre.
By 1985, the site was converted into a prison and many of the original buildings were converted into prison accommodation, offices and workshops. The Officers’ Mess building was originally used as a Category D prison wing and was later converted into an Immigration Removal Centre. Presently, the prison serves as a Category C site for male prisoners only.
The Explore
Given that the site is on an active prison, me and Wastelandr were slightly nervous initially. We parked up on the prison site, no messing about, and walked quickly towards the control tower. There were warnings for CCTV on the route we took but didn’t see any cameras. We did see a prison guard nearby circling the high-security fence of the main prison site, we were out in the open at this point but don’t think we were spotted. We then gained access to the control tower site and threw ourselves in a small opening. We spent a good half an hour grabbing photos, but did see a grey van drive past the small road opposite a number of times but luckily managed to avoid it.
Photos
Starting with a few externals
Nice peeling paint in many of the rooms, but I particularly liked the decay in the main staircase area on the ground floor
This appears to be some sort of canteen area
This room on the ground floor was filled with crap, in fact much of the grounds surrounding the tower is used as a sort of dumping ground presumably by the prison, there was old furniture, wood and even a couple of stripped pool tables.
This alarm system looked like it could be easily fired up, luckily it’s been disconnected for years
Moving on upstairs to a large room which let tons of light in thanks to the lovely big windows
We went to the top of the staircase to grab a quick couple of shots at the top but didn’t want to get seen. Sadly this is all stripped out but you do get a good view
A small room with a lovely old brown sofa, I would assume this was the break room judging by the furniture setup. I would imagine the shelving in front of the sofa would’ve had a TV, kettle etc.
An old toilet (or part of it) with nice round windows
A look at one of the original Type C hangars. These larger hangars were introduced in 1934 at the beginning of the expansion era following the need of larger structures to house bigger aircraft.
Thanks for looking.
