Originally there was a WWI airfield in the vicinity, and a new base was built in WW2. Numerous units were based here and this base saw plenty of action in the Battle of Britain.
It became an army base in the 1960s, then returned to RAF use in 2004, and hosted the No.1 Air Control Centre (1ACC) - the RAF's only deployable ground-based early warning and air control system. In March 2013 it was announced that it would close.
The facility can be divided into two areas, firstly the barrack area, which features dormitories, the 'Phoenix Club' and other miscellaneous buildings. Some of the buildings have been seriously damaged, including what looks like missile damage and feel unsafe to interfere with too much. Then there is what I'll call the 'military operations' area, with aircraft hangars, a radar room, control rooms, rooms with signs warning of dangerous substances, an armory, and various more.
Here are some photos:
View of the control building, radar dome and hangars
Inside a hangar
Empty corridor adjacent to a hangar
A view towards the tower
Boiler room
Another view of the (control/watch?) tower
View from the tower
Some kind of pump / engine room
Part-destroyed buildings
Upstairs at the Phoenix Club
Wrecked corridor
Large wall picture: "No.1 Air Control Centre"
Finally, here's a YouTube timelapse video.
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