Drawn back to the open space of Stoney Cross, after Mondays walk, I found it desolate on this grey winters day. I sought to investigate further some of the remains of the World War Two airfield, if any survive. One of the biggest airfields in the forest, it is now reduced to a shadow of its former glory; build in 1942 and mothballed to care and maintenance in 1946, it saw use both as an RAF base and USAF base, with fighters, bombers and transport aircraft all frequently stationed on this open heath. After years of neglect the runways were broken up for building aggregates in three phases, 1966, 199o and 2000; until recent years the majority of the, taxi ways, access roads and dispersal areas remained, unfortunately due to short-sightedness most of these have now been removed , with only fragments lingering. The final wartime structure to be removed was the water tower in 2004. All the World War Two airfields in the forest have now been destroyed, as an Archaeologist, I morn, what I see as, the wanton neglect and destruction of our finite Archaeological, historical and cultural record. Looking carefully you can still see the imprint of these disappeared features, the concrete removed, the void remaining creates a contoured plan of the airfield, like looking at a sonar image. A road runs across Stoney Cross plain following the edge of the main runway (25/07, 2000 x 50 yards), utilising it as a foundation; alongside this road you will still see the runway light mountings, set about 10m apart in new money; crossing the road and the void of the remaining 45 yards of runway, you can see the correspondingly light mounts, access trunking and other contemporary features. The lights, glass smashed or taken, inners long ago removed, now all that endures are the metal mounts set into their concrete bases; many of these have plants growing from them. Concrete and brick scatters among the brambles and gorse surrounding the dispersal areas are all that remain of ancillary buildings and shelters, probably 'Stanton shelters', commonly found associated with other forest airfields. Off the second runway (33/15, 1520 x 50 yards), part of the old dispersal bay network is now used by the forestry commission as a touring park, here the concrete track ways and pans, the securing rings, other features endure. There is much more to investigate, the area of Stoney Cross is immense.
Thursday 31 December 2009
Stoney Cross
Drawn back to the open space of Stoney Cross, after Mondays walk, I found it desolate on this grey winters day. I sought to investigate further some of the remains of the World War Two airfield, if any survive. One of the biggest airfields in the forest, it is now reduced to a shadow of its former glory; build in 1942 and mothballed to care and maintenance in 1946, it saw use both as an RAF base and USAF base, with fighters, bombers and transport aircraft all frequently stationed on this open heath. After years of neglect the runways were broken up for building aggregates in three phases, 1966, 199o and 2000; until recent years the majority of the, taxi ways, access roads and dispersal areas remained, unfortunately due to short-sightedness most of these have now been removed , with only fragments lingering. The final wartime structure to be removed was the water tower in 2004. All the World War Two airfields in the forest have now been destroyed, as an Archaeologist, I morn, what I see as, the wanton neglect and destruction of our finite Archaeological, historical and cultural record. Looking carefully you can still see the imprint of these disappeared features, the concrete removed, the void remaining creates a contoured plan of the airfield, like looking at a sonar image. A road runs across Stoney Cross plain following the edge of the main runway (25/07, 2000 x 50 yards), utilising it as a foundation; alongside this road you will still see the runway light mountings, set about 10m apart in new money; crossing the road and the void of the remaining 45 yards of runway, you can see the correspondingly light mounts, access trunking and other contemporary features. The lights, glass smashed or taken, inners long ago removed, now all that endures are the metal mounts set into their concrete bases; many of these have plants growing from them. Concrete and brick scatters among the brambles and gorse surrounding the dispersal areas are all that remain of ancillary buildings and shelters, probably 'Stanton shelters', commonly found associated with other forest airfields. Off the second runway (33/15, 1520 x 50 yards), part of the old dispersal bay network is now used by the forestry commission as a touring park, here the concrete track ways and pans, the securing rings, other features endure. There is much more to investigate, the area of Stoney Cross is immense.
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