Introduction
I have always seen this small selection of buildings from the main road when visiting Sculthorpe, but stupidly have always disregarded them as empty buildings without taking a look. @Mikeymutt mentioned that he had had a look and discovered that the buildings had some nice pumping equipment inside, so I decided to make a solo visit here back in late summer.
RAF Sculthorpe History
RAF Sculthorpe was constructed as a satellite airfield for the nearby West Raynham base. The other satellite airfield for West Raynham was RAF Great Massingham. The runway was 50% longer than the standard spec coming in at 2700 metres and was primarily built by Bovis Construction.
The site was built between 1942 and 1943 and the first squadrons to arrive at the base were 342. Later on No. 487 & 464 took up residence at the base with the twin-engine Lockheed Ventura aircraft. Later in the same year, 21 Squadron moved in creating the No. 140 Wing. This wing conducted over 100 missions and later moved to RAF Hunsdon. Another notable unit that operated at the base included No. 214 with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress amongst others. The site was also used to store the Airspeed Horsa gliders.
Later, in 1944, the airbase expanded into a heavy bomber base where the runway was lengthened and numerous new buildings were added including a fuel storage area. This expansion was in preparation for the B29 Super Fortresses but this never materialised as the war ended a year later in 1945. Once World War II ended, the base was used by the United States Air Force up until 1952 and was later returned to the UK’s Royal Air Force. This lasted until 1967 when USAF units began using the base again and acted as a standby airfield. USAF continued to use the base until 1992. There were also Cold War operations here around this time.
Much of the base stands derelict today. Quite a few of the buildings have been demolished including the Control Tower. The accommodation blocks and a few other buildings around the area have been empty for years, but the main runway area is still used by the MoD for training purposes and is MoD property. There are also a number of industrial units dotted around the site but quite a few businesses have moved out as the landlord isn’t doing enough to tackle vandalism and anti-social behaviour at the site, and has also failed to pay electricity bills a number of times leaving businesses without power.
Bulk Fuel Installation
Source: Ordnance Survey Maps
The installation was constructed in the 1950s following the Cold War Era expansion of the GPSS and was fed from a fuel depot located at Massingham. The Massingham site used a high-powered Rolls Royce engine alongside powerful pumps to feed fuel from the Thetford Petroleum Storage Depot (PSD) to Massingham. The fuel was then distributed from Massingham to Sculthrope.
The pipeline was extensive, and the Thetford PSD supplied other military sites nearby including RAF Marham, RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall. Below is a 1966 map of the GPSS pipelines across the country.
Source
The site itself consists of two pump houses with associated shelters with tanks beneath them. Various pipelines run throughout the site and a larger building between the pump houses which would have housed more machinery but has since been removed. Outside of the installation is an emergency water supply tank used for firefighting.
The Explore
This was a fairly quick over the fence, take a few pics and then get out kind of job. Judging by the signs I saw, I am fairly sure this part is still MOD-owned and it is quite visible near a couple of roads so didn’t want to spend too long here. Despite that, it was very relaxed and I visited solo. I did forget to capture a couple of bits, Mikey’s report is definitely more complete photos-wise.
Photos
Some externals to start with:
The gates were lovely
Inside the pump houses which are both identical in terms of design and equipment:
There was another, larger building on site but machinery has been taken out:
A few close-up shots within the pump houses to conclude:
Thanks for looking.
I have always seen this small selection of buildings from the main road when visiting Sculthorpe, but stupidly have always disregarded them as empty buildings without taking a look. @Mikeymutt mentioned that he had had a look and discovered that the buildings had some nice pumping equipment inside, so I decided to make a solo visit here back in late summer.
RAF Sculthorpe History
RAF Sculthorpe was constructed as a satellite airfield for the nearby West Raynham base. The other satellite airfield for West Raynham was RAF Great Massingham. The runway was 50% longer than the standard spec coming in at 2700 metres and was primarily built by Bovis Construction.
The site was built between 1942 and 1943 and the first squadrons to arrive at the base were 342. Later on No. 487 & 464 took up residence at the base with the twin-engine Lockheed Ventura aircraft. Later in the same year, 21 Squadron moved in creating the No. 140 Wing. This wing conducted over 100 missions and later moved to RAF Hunsdon. Another notable unit that operated at the base included No. 214 with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress amongst others. The site was also used to store the Airspeed Horsa gliders.
Later, in 1944, the airbase expanded into a heavy bomber base where the runway was lengthened and numerous new buildings were added including a fuel storage area. This expansion was in preparation for the B29 Super Fortresses but this never materialised as the war ended a year later in 1945. Once World War II ended, the base was used by the United States Air Force up until 1952 and was later returned to the UK’s Royal Air Force. This lasted until 1967 when USAF units began using the base again and acted as a standby airfield. USAF continued to use the base until 1992. There were also Cold War operations here around this time.
Much of the base stands derelict today. Quite a few of the buildings have been demolished including the Control Tower. The accommodation blocks and a few other buildings around the area have been empty for years, but the main runway area is still used by the MoD for training purposes and is MoD property. There are also a number of industrial units dotted around the site but quite a few businesses have moved out as the landlord isn’t doing enough to tackle vandalism and anti-social behaviour at the site, and has also failed to pay electricity bills a number of times leaving businesses without power.
Bulk Fuel Installation
Source: Ordnance Survey Maps
The installation was constructed in the 1950s following the Cold War Era expansion of the GPSS and was fed from a fuel depot located at Massingham. The Massingham site used a high-powered Rolls Royce engine alongside powerful pumps to feed fuel from the Thetford Petroleum Storage Depot (PSD) to Massingham. The fuel was then distributed from Massingham to Sculthrope.
The pipeline was extensive, and the Thetford PSD supplied other military sites nearby including RAF Marham, RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall. Below is a 1966 map of the GPSS pipelines across the country.
Source
The site itself consists of two pump houses with associated shelters with tanks beneath them. Various pipelines run throughout the site and a larger building between the pump houses which would have housed more machinery but has since been removed. Outside of the installation is an emergency water supply tank used for firefighting.
The Explore
This was a fairly quick over the fence, take a few pics and then get out kind of job. Judging by the signs I saw, I am fairly sure this part is still MOD-owned and it is quite visible near a couple of roads so didn’t want to spend too long here. Despite that, it was very relaxed and I visited solo. I did forget to capture a couple of bits, Mikey’s report is definitely more complete photos-wise.
Photos
Some externals to start with:
The gates were lovely
Inside the pump houses which are both identical in terms of design and equipment:
There was another, larger building on site but machinery has been taken out:
A few close-up shots within the pump houses to conclude:
Thanks for looking.
I wouldn't imagine this place getting knocked down anytime soon, so could always make a revisit at some point. Nah this one was a solo visit, place it probably not elite enough for Jake 
