Site Records

[Source: Nick Catford]

Few R7 Mk III bunkers are now accessible and the R7 at Holmpton has been filled in leaving only a soil and rubble mound to indicate its site. The Type 79 plinth and sub-station are clearly visible from a public footpath that passes the site are both still in good condition. The R7 bunker was 50 yards to the north west.

The bunker was approximately fifty feet long by fifteen feet wide. The top of it was flush with the ground. There were six rectangular apertures and one circular aperture in the roof, the largest of these was for the pedestal for the aerial array. The two smallest apertures were for personnel access and each still has a ladder fixed to the wall. The remaining hatches were for the installation and removal of equipment.

The R7 was divided into three major rooms with a closet for a chemical toilet, adjacent to one of the personnel hatches.

The northernmost room (15' 2" X 12' 6") was the DC plant room with a Ward-Leonard generator set standing on a plinth in one corner with the main DC control cabinet against the opposite wall and a three phase switch panel adjacent to the personnel ladder. The middle room (12' 5" X 12' 6") was a rest room with three equipment racks against one wall.

The southernmost room (20' X 12' 6") was the transmitter room with two T3705 transmitters, one against each wall. The antenna array was mounted above the large hatch in the roof in the centre of the room.

Click here for RAF Holmpton GCI technical site

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