Report - RAF Sculthorpe, Norfolk, September 2016

[HughieD]

The Explore:

It was an up early and short drive to this place. In some ways it reminds me of RAF Nocton in terms of the vastness of the site plus all of the corridors. I was blessed with nice weather so I parked up and looked for a way in. At first it looked pretty well fenced off then I found a big whole in the fence and we were in. The place was incredibly quiet and peaceful to the point of it being unnervingly so but all-in-all a very enjoyable explore.

The History:

RAF Sculthorpe is a MOD military training facility just west of Fakenham in Norfolk. Home to many visiting airmen and support crews of the RAF and United States Air Force (USAF), the MOD retained the airfield in 1997 but sold the entire technical, domestic and administrative site to The Welbeck Estate Group.

Work began on RAF Sculthorpe in the spring of 1942 and was laid out as a standard RAF heavy bomber airfield with concrete runways, dispersals site, mess facilities and accommodation. In May 1943 the first squadrons started to arrive including one from the Free French Air Force and the Royal New Zealand Air Force (SQ no. 487) and Royal Australian Air Force (SQ no. 464). Mosquito’s followed in September 1943. In January 1944 Royal Air Force No. 214 Squadron RAF moved in with Boeing Flying Fortress. n April 1944 its squadrons moved on leaving it empty for redevelopment as a Very Heavy Bomber Base. Work was completed until the spring of 1946. After a quiet period the base sprung back into use in the early 50’s in response to the Soviet cold war threat. NATO decided to expand their tactical nuclear force by introducing the North American B-45 Tornado to the UK, stationing about 100 of these four-engined jet bombers there.

As mentioned above, in the mid 1990s the entire technical and domestic site was sold to The Welbeck Estate Group by Defence Estates, including a large number of single storey "tobacco houses". After refurbishment the housing estate was renamed "Wicken Village" and the houses were sold off. The remaining technical site including barrack blocks, post exchange, church, guardroom, gymnasium and community centres were sold to a single purchaser and there is now a fledgling industrial park.

The airstrip area remains in military hands as an army helicopter training area and is currently being used by the USAF 352nd SOG based at RAF Mildenhall as an area to perform low flying, airdrops, and rescue and recovery mission training.

The first block I came to:

img7260 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Viewed from outside the site:

img7261 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7262 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7263 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And in we go;

img7265 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7266 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The site is a bit samey architecturally but its uniformity and sheer scale make it a worthwhile visit:

img7267 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7277 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Not much left inside:

img7268 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7280 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7286 by HughieDW, on Flickr

But it’s all about the corridors:

img7269 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7271 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Plenty of peeling paint:

img7272 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Block after block:

img7288 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7289 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7303 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7290 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And more corridors:

img7291 by HughieDW, on Flickr

…and smashed up rooms:

img7293 by HughieDW, on Flickr

On too the childcare/nursery block:

img7295 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7294 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And bad graff:

img7296 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And good graff:

img7297 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img7300 by HughieDW, on Flickr