RAF Blakehill Farm


Royal Air Force Blakehill Farm or more simply RAF Blakehill Farm is a former Royal [Air Force station] southwest of Cricklade in Wiltshire, England, operational between 1944 and 1952.

History

The station was originally allocated to the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force but not used. It opened in 1944 and was home for transport aircraft of No. [46 Group RAF|No. 46 Group] RAF Transport Command. In 1948 the airfield was a satellite of RAF South Cerney, and was used by training aircraft until the airfield closed in 1952 and was returned to agricultural use. The site is now a Wiltshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve.

Units and aircraft

The following units were also here at some point:
In 1967, GCHQ set up an "experimental radio station", a secret research facility, on the site. The site was still active in some capacity until the mid-1990s, and traces of the former communications mast bases can still be seen on aerial photographs. The most remarkable object of the facility was a tall wooden lattice tower, which was one of the tallest objects in the United Kingdom built of wood. It is possible that this tower was a relic of the wartime Chain Home network, although its lattice pattern is of another type. The tower was demolished on 26 January 2000.