Introduction
I’ve been here a couple of times now with @JakeV50 but wanted to return because, like some other places, I have never covered the site with the camera, and wanted to get better shots and coverage of the base. This recent visit was with @JakeV50 and @Wastelandr.
Quick Facts & Stats
Information & History
Royal Air Force Coltishall is a former RAF base which opened in June 1940. Originally, the base was known as Scottow Aerodrome and was designed to be a bomber station. The name was later altered to RAF Coltishall. It was commonplace to name RAF bases after the nearest railway station but the nearest station to RAF Coltishall was Buxton. It is thought there would’ve been too much confusion with the Derbyshire town of the same name. The base was originally planned to be constructed in Lawford, Essex, but due to additional electric cabling costs Coltishall was chosen instead.
Originally, six hangars were to be built but only four were completed, with the fifth being destroyed during construction. Part of the land was designated for three grass runways. Later, the main runway was rebuilt with asphalt and had a length of 7500 ft.
A proposed ariel layout of RAF Coltishall from 1938, including the six originally planned hangars:
Source: heritage.norfolk.gov.uk
The first aircraft movement at the base was the Bristol Blenheim IV L783. Several famous pilots were based at Coltishall including Douglas Badar and John Cunningham. Badar was the leader of the No. 242 Squadron which was based at Coltishall from June 1940. The 242 was made up primarily of Canadian pilots and flew in many roles during World War 1 and 2, in addition to the Cold War. Later in August 1940, an enemy bomber attacked Hangar No. 3 killing three local men. A few satellite airfields to Coltishall were opened during World War II. These included one at Matlaske and Ludham, in addition to two decoy sites which were located at Beeston St Lawrence and Suffield.
Once World War II ended, the site was briefly handed over to the Free Polish Air Force up until 1947. The Cold War was also an important time for RAF Coltishall where it was used as a V-bomber dispersal airfield. V bombers would fly to and from the base with the delivery of British nuclear deterrent. Various Squadrons were based here over the Cold War period, and the last were the Jaguar squadrons. The Jaguars moved into Coltishall in 1975 with Squadron 6, followed by 54 and 226 OCU. There were several others after this. After the Cold War, the Jaguars were then deployed to Turkey and Italy. Similar missions continued into the early 2000s until 2006. In 2005, the base employed approximately 1600 service personnel, with 1400 of those being dependents and the remaining 200 civilians.
When the base finally closed in November 2006, the gates were opened to the public for a final tour and a flypast by four RAF Jaguars. RAF Coltishall was then handed to the Defence Estates which handled the disposal of the site. Norfolk County Council purchased the site for £4m. The base almost closed much earlier than this in 1992 due to defence budget cuts but it was saved.
Today, the site is primarily used as a business park where many of the original RAF buildings have been repurposed as industrial units. There is also a prison on site. Some areas of the site remain disused and this report covers some of those buildings.
The Explore
The first time I came here it felt a bit nerve-wracking as there is usually quite a lot of action going on here with there being lots of industrial units and an active prison on site. You quickly realise it is a lot more chilled out than you first anticipate. Access comes and goes for a lot of the buildings on site and we were fairly lucky this time round. We started off with the Seagents Mess, moving onto the Swimming Pool and then the Jet Tester whilst looking at a few other bits and pieces in between. There are plenty of other buildings on site to see, and some of these have been covered previously by others. We spent about 45 minutes in the anteroom in the Seargents mess as it started chucking it down with rain so we just sat there and had a chat for a bit, when the rain stopped we got some external shots and then headed to the pool. Our feet were soaked after walking through the grass. We got some quick snaps in the pool and then headed towards the runway to take a look at the outdoor Jet Tester. There were some cameras there and looks like it is in use now so we didn’t spend too long there. I also found a lovely old boiler house on site but unfortunately, it is well sealed, I did have a peep in through the door though and it looks great.
Anyway, enough waffle about the explore and moaning about soggy feet, let's start with some shots of the Seargents Mess:
Below was the anteroom close to the main entrance as seen above. Many old RAF buildings like this had a room of this type and were typically situated close to the dining hall. It features a nice fireplace and fancy ceiling lights. It would have been used as both a waiting area and function hall with tables, chairs and a TV set in its later years.
A bit of decay creeping in:
Moving on to the main dining hall. It is a little blue for my liking but you can’t please everyone:
The main corridors are vast in this building and are looking pretty worse for wear now:
The kitchen area is vast and pretty stripped, but still worthy of a few shots:
More nice decay:
The main bar area is looking quite grubby now:
Near the main entrance, there is a small set of stairs which lead to an underground section with original paintings on the wall of points of interest around the world. A small door in there then leads to an escape hatch:
A room with a couple of small safes:
The building also housed accommodation for the service men and women, as you would imagine much of these rooms are very samey:
Some of the rooms played it fairly safe in terms of colour, and most of them varied, my favourite was the purple room:
There are several communal toilets and showers:
An extension of the Sergeants Mess was later built in 1979 comprising of more accommodation, unfortunately this wasn’t accessible this time, I did manage to dig out a few old phone shots of the interior from 2022 though, I would imagine it hasn’t changed much:
Original stickers which were nice to see, no goon stickers in sight!
A simple passageway linking the original mess to the extension, constructed primarily of brick with a corrugated roof:
The extension from the outside:
CONTINUED...
I’ve been here a couple of times now with @JakeV50 but wanted to return because, like some other places, I have never covered the site with the camera, and wanted to get better shots and coverage of the base. This recent visit was with @JakeV50 and @Wastelandr.
Quick Facts & Stats
- Operated between 1940 & 2006
- No. Resident Aircraft throughout its life: 20
- No. Station Commanders throughout its life: 39
- No. Squadrons throughout its life: 79
- The base had 1600 service personnel in 2005
Information & History
Royal Air Force Coltishall is a former RAF base which opened in June 1940. Originally, the base was known as Scottow Aerodrome and was designed to be a bomber station. The name was later altered to RAF Coltishall. It was commonplace to name RAF bases after the nearest railway station but the nearest station to RAF Coltishall was Buxton. It is thought there would’ve been too much confusion with the Derbyshire town of the same name. The base was originally planned to be constructed in Lawford, Essex, but due to additional electric cabling costs Coltishall was chosen instead.
Originally, six hangars were to be built but only four were completed, with the fifth being destroyed during construction. Part of the land was designated for three grass runways. Later, the main runway was rebuilt with asphalt and had a length of 7500 ft.
A proposed ariel layout of RAF Coltishall from 1938, including the six originally planned hangars:
Source: heritage.norfolk.gov.uk
The first aircraft movement at the base was the Bristol Blenheim IV L783. Several famous pilots were based at Coltishall including Douglas Badar and John Cunningham. Badar was the leader of the No. 242 Squadron which was based at Coltishall from June 1940. The 242 was made up primarily of Canadian pilots and flew in many roles during World War 1 and 2, in addition to the Cold War. Later in August 1940, an enemy bomber attacked Hangar No. 3 killing three local men. A few satellite airfields to Coltishall were opened during World War II. These included one at Matlaske and Ludham, in addition to two decoy sites which were located at Beeston St Lawrence and Suffield.
Once World War II ended, the site was briefly handed over to the Free Polish Air Force up until 1947. The Cold War was also an important time for RAF Coltishall where it was used as a V-bomber dispersal airfield. V bombers would fly to and from the base with the delivery of British nuclear deterrent. Various Squadrons were based here over the Cold War period, and the last were the Jaguar squadrons. The Jaguars moved into Coltishall in 1975 with Squadron 6, followed by 54 and 226 OCU. There were several others after this. After the Cold War, the Jaguars were then deployed to Turkey and Italy. Similar missions continued into the early 2000s until 2006. In 2005, the base employed approximately 1600 service personnel, with 1400 of those being dependents and the remaining 200 civilians.
When the base finally closed in November 2006, the gates were opened to the public for a final tour and a flypast by four RAF Jaguars. RAF Coltishall was then handed to the Defence Estates which handled the disposal of the site. Norfolk County Council purchased the site for £4m. The base almost closed much earlier than this in 1992 due to defence budget cuts but it was saved.
Today, the site is primarily used as a business park where many of the original RAF buildings have been repurposed as industrial units. There is also a prison on site. Some areas of the site remain disused and this report covers some of those buildings.
The Explore
The first time I came here it felt a bit nerve-wracking as there is usually quite a lot of action going on here with there being lots of industrial units and an active prison on site. You quickly realise it is a lot more chilled out than you first anticipate. Access comes and goes for a lot of the buildings on site and we were fairly lucky this time round. We started off with the Seagents Mess, moving onto the Swimming Pool and then the Jet Tester whilst looking at a few other bits and pieces in between. There are plenty of other buildings on site to see, and some of these have been covered previously by others. We spent about 45 minutes in the anteroom in the Seargents mess as it started chucking it down with rain so we just sat there and had a chat for a bit, when the rain stopped we got some external shots and then headed to the pool. Our feet were soaked after walking through the grass. We got some quick snaps in the pool and then headed towards the runway to take a look at the outdoor Jet Tester. There were some cameras there and looks like it is in use now so we didn’t spend too long there. I also found a lovely old boiler house on site but unfortunately, it is well sealed, I did have a peep in through the door though and it looks great.
Anyway, enough waffle about the explore and moaning about soggy feet, let's start with some shots of the Seargents Mess:
Below was the anteroom close to the main entrance as seen above. Many old RAF buildings like this had a room of this type and were typically situated close to the dining hall. It features a nice fireplace and fancy ceiling lights. It would have been used as both a waiting area and function hall with tables, chairs and a TV set in its later years.
A bit of decay creeping in:
Moving on to the main dining hall. It is a little blue for my liking but you can’t please everyone:
The main corridors are vast in this building and are looking pretty worse for wear now:
The kitchen area is vast and pretty stripped, but still worthy of a few shots:
More nice decay:
The main bar area is looking quite grubby now:
Near the main entrance, there is a small set of stairs which lead to an underground section with original paintings on the wall of points of interest around the world. A small door in there then leads to an escape hatch:
A room with a couple of small safes:
The building also housed accommodation for the service men and women, as you would imagine much of these rooms are very samey:
Some of the rooms played it fairly safe in terms of colour, and most of them varied, my favourite was the purple room:
There are several communal toilets and showers:
An extension of the Sergeants Mess was later built in 1979 comprising of more accommodation, unfortunately this wasn’t accessible this time, I did manage to dig out a few old phone shots of the interior from 2022 though, I would imagine it hasn’t changed much:
Original stickers which were nice to see, no goon stickers in sight!
A simple passageway linking the original mess to the extension, constructed primarily of brick with a corrugated roof:
The extension from the outside:
CONTINUED...
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