RAF Sculthorpe is a military training facility for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence, situated about 3 mi (4.8 km) west of Fakenham in Norfolk, England. The airfield has been home to many visiting airmen and support crews of the RAF and United States Air Force. Whilst retaining the airfield in 1997 the Ministry of Defence sold the entire technical, domestic and administrative site including the married quarter site previously occupied by the USAF to The Welbeck Estate Group.
The airfield became inactive at the end of the Cold War. During the mid 1990s the entire technical and domestic site was sold to The Welbeck Estate Group by Defence Estates. The domestic married quarter site comprised a sizeable number of single storey 'tobacco houses' The housing estate was renamed 'Wicken Village' and following refurbishment the houses were sold. The remaining technical site including single personnel barrack blocks, PX, church, guardroom, gymnasium, community centres and extensive storage and industrial units were sold to a single purchaser and there is now a fledgling industrial park. The Welbeck Estate Group went on to acquire the nearby technical and married quarter estate at RAF West Raynham which formed just part of 36 ex military estate acquired from Defence Estates.
The airstrip area remains in military hands, officially as an army helicopter training area, and there are exercises about twice a year. Demolition work on the hangars began in March 2009.
The airfield is used most nights by the 352nd Special Operations Group, from RAF Mildenhall. They are there with MC-130P and MC-130J Hercules aircraft, along with CV-22 Osprey Tilt Rotors. They practice dropping of paratroops and packages amongst other special tasks.
The only buildings that remain are: The Control Tower, The Fire Station buildings (Next to the Control Tower) & a small half moon concrete shelter (Now used by a herdsman for machinery & equipment storage - There are up to 2000 cows on the grass areas)
