NHER 7697 (Monument record) - RAF Coltishall

Began as World War Two airfield; extended twice since, still in use.
E. Rose (NAU) 18 January 1978.

World War Two anti aircraft artillery.
See file.
D. Gurney (NLA), 28 January 1997.

2001.
Cold War MPP assessment identifies this as a site of national importance, and it is to be listed or scheduled.
Blast walls are well preserved examples of early 1950s defensive features, associated with Meteor and Vampire jets.
See file for details and report on CD ROM.
D. Gurney (NLA), 27 December 2001.

See newspaper cuttings in file.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 9 August 2005.

During World War Two RAF Coltishall was used as a fighter base, and famous pilots such as Douglas Bader and John Cunningham were based there. After the war the base was used by the Polish air force. The RAF have continuously used the base since the war, with early jet fighters such as Meteors and Vampires, and personnel from the base have been involved in almost every major conflict.
S. Spooner (NLA) 6 September 2005.

It has now been decided by English Heritage that listing and scheduling are not to take place; there is said to be no point in preserving the blast walls in isolation. Instead a detailed record is being made of the memories of staff and local inhabitants.
The perimeter of the base includes Cold War pillboxes.
E. Rose (NLA), 29 November 2005.

Closed in 2006.
P. Aldridge (NLA), 3 May 2007.

March-November 2006. Photographic Survey.
Photographic characterisation undertaken by English Heritage.
This photographic survey of RAF Coltishall was created during its last month as an operational station and during the subsequent drawdown until closure in November 2006. Other elements of this historic characterisation of the airfield, included air photography, a characterisation map and work by three audio-visual artists Angus Boulton, Gair Dunlop and Louise K Wilson. This report presents a collection of English Heritage ground photography and a selection of low-level oblique air photography.
See (S1) for further details.

March 2008. Site scheduled.
See scheduling description.
S. Howard (NLA), 18 March 2010.

May 2008.
Plans are in place to build a new prison on the site of the airfield.
See (S3) for further details.
H. Hamilton (NLA), 27 May 2008.

North Norfolk District Council are to place a TPO on all trees on the RAF housing estate within the site on the basis that this is a 'more or less unique and intact landscape which might be categorised as being specific to the RAF and in particular the development of RAF stations since the late 1930s and based on the then current sub-urban landscape aesthetic of the 'Garden Town' ' (S4)
E. Rose (NLA), 2007

May 2008. Desk Based Assessment.
The site lies within a dispersed group of cropmark ring-ditches, the majority of which are likely to have been the remains of prehistoric barrow mounds. These features have been identified on all sides of the site and therefore there is a chance that one or more may have lain within the bounds of the development area. Struck flints and stone implements have been recovered from a number of sites in the area, which suggests at least low level activity across the area.
The proximity of the site to the Fen causeway suggests some form of Roman activity. Assessing the likelihood that archaeological remains survive is difficult considering that little evidence has been recovered from the immediate vicinity of the site. It seems likely that the site's 20th century development will have had serious impact on any archaeological remains present.
See report (S5) for further information.
H. White (NLA) 4 December 2008.

May 2008. Photographic survey.
See report (S6) for details.
H. White (NLA), 2 July 2009.

August 2008.
Ministry of Justice proposals to develop a prison on the site approved.
See (S3) and (S7) for further details.
H. White (NLA) 15 December 2008.

January 2010.
Plans to create a specialist decommissioning and storage unit for civil aircraft.
See (S8) for details.
H. White, (NLA), 26 March 2010.

Details of the Scheduled area from English Heritage are awaited.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 16 August 2010.

January 2013. The site, excluding the prison (HMP Bure) is purchased by Norfolk County Council.
D. Gurney (HES), 21 August 2013.

In 1941, from August to October, American volunteer pilots, Eagle Squadron 133, were based here.
For a Danish pilot, see (S9).
D. Gurney (HES), 21 August 2013.

January and March 2015. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with installation of solar array. The excavation of two cable trenches was monitored, one in the vicinity of the Sports Ground (NHER 59044; Trench 1) and one that crossed open ground between two revetment cabins (NHERs 59127 and 59143; Trench 2). Neither trench exposed archaeologically significant features or deposit. The only finds recovered were bullet casings dating to the Cold War era.
See report (S10) for further details.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.298).
P. Watkins (HES), 30 January 2018. Amended 19 May 2019.