RAF Stenigot
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RAF Stenigot was opened in 1940 as an east coast Chain Home radar station. Stenigot provided long range early warning for raids from Luftflotte V and the northern elements of Luftflotte II along the approaches to Sheffield and Nottingham and the central midlands.
RAF Stenigot was also provided with a buried reserve which consists of duplicate transmitter and receiver blocks at a dispersed location. The stand-by set house, which at Stenigot has now been demolished, was of similar construction.
After the war, the station remained operational as part of the 'Defended Area', a line of Chain Home stations running down the east coast.
Stenigot was retained as a CH station during the early stages (Phase 1 & 2) of the ROTOR 1 programme which evolved in 1950 to re-establish an effective air defence radar network.
In 1959, Stenigot was selected as part of NATO's Ace High communications programme developed in the mid 1950's. Ace High was a tropospheric scatter / microwave link system providing an exclusive communications network comprising 49 tropospheric scatter links and 40 line-of-sight microwave links.
Ace High extended from Norway, through central Europe to Turkey and included 570 voice, 260 telegraph and 60 data circuits at 84 sites.
Following the full implementation of ROTOR Stenigot was taken off line and placed in care and maintenance.
With the development of new microwave communications technology in the 1980's, tropospheric scatter systems became redundant and the Ace High network was abandoned in the early 1990's and the stations closed.
The equipment and buildings were removed from RAF Stenigot in 1996 although the four 60 feet diameter parabolic dishes can still be seen lying on the ground close to the old Chain Home receiver block.
All the other buildings connected with Ace High, including the police house have been demolished with only the concrete bases remaining to indicate their former positions.
The original radar mast has been retained by the Ministry Of Defence, standing in a fenced off compound, and is used for training purposes by the Aerial Erector School at RAF Digby.
A very interesting site with an even more interesting history, the parabolic dishes are superb and a good hour was spent inspecting these steel beasts, the place is definatley worth a visit if not for the dishes but for the history alone.
