1. The History
Located on the south-east side of the A46 (the Fosse Way) between Newark-on-Trent and Lincoln and close by to the village of Witham St Hughes, RAF Swinderby was a former Royal Air Force station airfield. It opened for service in 1940 and represented one of the last bases completed under the RAF's expansion plans rolled out in the 1930s.
Under the command of No. 1 Group RAF, it played host to several bomber squadrons, initially including two Polish Bomber Squadrons (No. 300 and No. 301) and their Fairey Battles then Vickers Wellington. In July 1941, the Handley Page Hampdens of No 455 Squadron and No 50 Squadron arrived and were resident until early 1942. Up until then grass runways were used, but the base then closed for a while so concrete runways could be constructed. Reopening in the spring of 1942, the base concentrated its efforts on training on a mixture of Lancasters and Avro Manchesters, then latterly Short Stirlings.
After the conclusion of the second world war, the airfield's training legacy continued. In the 1950s and early 1960s, when it was home of No. 8 Flying Training School RAF, and their converted de Havilland Vampires. Then in 1964, RAF base it changed its role to recruit training.
RAF Swinderby finally closed on 17th December 1993, with the Joint Elementary Flying Training Squadron having previously moved to RAF Topcliffe in North Yorkshire. Two years later, in 1995, the base was sold to Cemex for commercial mining how also rented past of the site to the International Antiques & Collectors Fairs, who staged the Swinderby Antiques Fair five times a year.
In 2013, most of the bases’ buildings on the technical site were demolished, leaving the concrete runways and taxiways, two hangars and the air traffic control tower. The control tower was demolished the following year in 2014. The domestic site was developed as the new village of Witham St Hughs, leaving just the former Officer's Married Quarters and Airmen's Married Quarters extant.
2. The Explore
With most of the base demolished over 10 years ago, including the iconic control tower, this place was pretty much off my radar. For a great archive report of what was here to see before it all got demo’ed back in 2009, see @Oxygen Thief and their excellent report HERE
However, when searching Google Maps, I came across an ensemble of buildings in woodland that were clearly abandoned, just to the north of the village of Witham St Hugh. As I was in the area one day, I parked up and walked over to the site to have a look. Initially, the buildings I came across were the remnants of a long abandoned and relatively uninteresting old farm. But sat just to the north and even more overgrown were a series of military buildings. I’ve searched high and wide but can’t find any info or maps with them marked, but can conclude that they must have been a satellite site for RAF Swinderby. After further searching, I found several other RAF buildings and a couple of very tidy Stanton shelters (made by the Nottingham company of the same name), confirming my suspicions that this was part of the former World War II RAF base. In the end, it turned out to be a lot more interesting and substantive than I'd initially expected and worthy of a report.
3. The Pictures
A few pictures of the farm to start with.
A bit of old farming hardware left behind here:
So on to the interesting bit. This complex of buildings looks like staff accommodation with its numerous corridors and small rooms:
Very photogenic:
With nature taking it back:
The wall and window have collapsed here:
You can very clearly still see the interior décor colour:
It really is a bit of maze here:
Located on the south-east side of the A46 (the Fosse Way) between Newark-on-Trent and Lincoln and close by to the village of Witham St Hughes, RAF Swinderby was a former Royal Air Force station airfield. It opened for service in 1940 and represented one of the last bases completed under the RAF's expansion plans rolled out in the 1930s.
Under the command of No. 1 Group RAF, it played host to several bomber squadrons, initially including two Polish Bomber Squadrons (No. 300 and No. 301) and their Fairey Battles then Vickers Wellington. In July 1941, the Handley Page Hampdens of No 455 Squadron and No 50 Squadron arrived and were resident until early 1942. Up until then grass runways were used, but the base then closed for a while so concrete runways could be constructed. Reopening in the spring of 1942, the base concentrated its efforts on training on a mixture of Lancasters and Avro Manchesters, then latterly Short Stirlings.
After the conclusion of the second world war, the airfield's training legacy continued. In the 1950s and early 1960s, when it was home of No. 8 Flying Training School RAF, and their converted de Havilland Vampires. Then in 1964, RAF base it changed its role to recruit training.
RAF Swinderby finally closed on 17th December 1993, with the Joint Elementary Flying Training Squadron having previously moved to RAF Topcliffe in North Yorkshire. Two years later, in 1995, the base was sold to Cemex for commercial mining how also rented past of the site to the International Antiques & Collectors Fairs, who staged the Swinderby Antiques Fair five times a year.
In 2013, most of the bases’ buildings on the technical site were demolished, leaving the concrete runways and taxiways, two hangars and the air traffic control tower. The control tower was demolished the following year in 2014. The domestic site was developed as the new village of Witham St Hughs, leaving just the former Officer's Married Quarters and Airmen's Married Quarters extant.
2. The Explore
With most of the base demolished over 10 years ago, including the iconic control tower, this place was pretty much off my radar. For a great archive report of what was here to see before it all got demo’ed back in 2009, see @Oxygen Thief and their excellent report HERE
However, when searching Google Maps, I came across an ensemble of buildings in woodland that were clearly abandoned, just to the north of the village of Witham St Hugh. As I was in the area one day, I parked up and walked over to the site to have a look. Initially, the buildings I came across were the remnants of a long abandoned and relatively uninteresting old farm. But sat just to the north and even more overgrown were a series of military buildings. I’ve searched high and wide but can’t find any info or maps with them marked, but can conclude that they must have been a satellite site for RAF Swinderby. After further searching, I found several other RAF buildings and a couple of very tidy Stanton shelters (made by the Nottingham company of the same name), confirming my suspicions that this was part of the former World War II RAF base. In the end, it turned out to be a lot more interesting and substantive than I'd initially expected and worthy of a report.
3. The Pictures
A few pictures of the farm to start with.
A bit of old farming hardware left behind here:
So on to the interesting bit. This complex of buildings looks like staff accommodation with its numerous corridors and small rooms:
Very photogenic:
With nature taking it back:
The wall and window have collapsed here:
You can very clearly still see the interior décor colour:
It really is a bit of maze here:
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