Monument record MCC4878 - WWI landing ground at Easthorpe

Summary

Night landing ground in use from 1916 to 1919.

Location

Grid reference Centred TL 8963 2138 (419m by 409m)
Map sheet TL82SE
Civil Parish COPFORD, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Map

Type and Period (1)

Full Description

A Second Class RFC night landing ground allocated to 39 Sqn in 1916 and later to 37 Sqn until it was handed back to farming in December 1919. There were no structures of any kind at the airfield beyond tents and a windsock, although it did have the capacity to display ground signals. <1>.

According to Doyle (<1>), an elderly farm worker reported that fragments of a chalk shape had been brought to the surface by ploughing. This may have been the remains of the ground signal pad. Ploughing ceased in the mid-1960s and although the field is again under the plough there have been no further sightings reported. Remnants of the ground signal pad, if it that is what it is, may still survive. Of the other temporary structures, they would not have left any traces below ground. The area of the airfield is now open again and has been somewhat enlarged by the disappearance of Little Domsey Farmhouse. <2>.

Sources/Archives (2)

  • <1> DESC TEXT: Doyle, Paul A. 1997. Fields of the First.
  • <2> DESC TEXT: Pratt, Nigel. 2001. WWI airfield management recommendations and archaeological potential.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (0)

Record last edited

Nov 3 2015 11:41AM

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