RAF Durrington was the site of the first GCI (Ground Controlled Interception) radar station in World War II. The initial deployment was a mobile design, with trailers housing aerials (one each for transmit and receive), generators and other communications equipment.
Later in the war a fixed installation was built in the form of an operations block, known as AMES (Air Ministry Experimentasl Staion) type 7 (nicknamed the Happidrome). This was built on the grounds of the then Manor House Country Club. Post-war, the site was released by the War Office and part of it became a local school.
In the 1960s, rumours started about the site having a significant underground element which functioned as a headquarters. Sub Brit member Bob Jenner investigated these claims in 2007 and his findings are published in Subterranea issue 14. This found no evidence whatsoever for anything subterranean and although an important WWII site, it existed purely above the surface.