WW II Structures

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two WW2 structures in field on southern side of the Kitty's Road and Greencastle Road junction.

A) Single storey six bay (structural) building aligned NW-SE and built on a concrete plinth.

Much damaged pitched corrugated asbestos cement roof. Semi-circular ridge with circular asbestos cement panels to either end (that to north gone). Moulded asbestos cement barge boards and no rainwater goods. Temporary brick walls (100mm thick) are red brick, cement rendered with buttresses at intervals, forming the bays.

Each gable has three bays and no openings.

SW elevation has a window (pair of four paned steel casements without cill ) to centre of each bay, partially infilled That to fifth bay however is set to left and only a single casement wide. All are now partially blocked up and all glass is gone.

NE elevation is as follows: L-R. First bay, paired four paned casement window partially infilled. Second bay, single casement infilled window and wide door openings. Third bay, paired casement window infilled. Fourth bay, sheeted door (rotten and off hinges) and single casement window infilled. Fifth bay, two single casement windows as before. Sixth bay, paired casement window partially infilled.

B) Single storey, two bay garage to SW of Building A.

Roof and walls are as previous structure. NW gable has a large vehicle doorway filling width of elevation. SE has a paired casement window (each two paned) with no cill. Side walls are blank, with a single buttress.

The garage is linked to the road by a concrete driveway and a similar path links it with the main building.

Historical information

Although the use of these buildings is unknown, their construction materials and detailing are identical to other airfield buildings which were hastily erected on temporary airfields built during WW2. However, the 1946 Air Ministry map of the Greencastle Aerodrome does not show this group.

There were over 600 airfields in Britain at the end of WW2, and 29 in Northern Ireland. Construction work began at Greencastle in spring 1942, the main contractor being Carmichael of Edinburgh. Kilkeel RAF Station (as it was known) was commissioned on 30th July 1942, and handed over to the United States Army Airforce (USAAF) on 3rd August 1943, becoming Station 237, one of 12 such American airfields in N. Ireland. Its principal building groups were of utility construction, and dispersed around the local area to avoid concentrated enemy bombing; its radar station being furthest away, located at Maghereagh to NE of Kilkeel. The station was a satellite to Langford Lodge (near Antrim), preparing aircraft for operational bases in East Anglia. Its second important role was as a training school for aircrews arriving from America; this Combat Crew Replacement Centre (CCRC) was instigated on 20th December 1943, and was disbanded in autumn 1944. The base was handed back to the RAF on 31st May 1945, and decommissioned soon afterwards. The sites remained in Air Ministry ownership until the early 1960s when they were sold back to locals.

Primary Sources:
1. Air Ministry Map: ‘Greencastle Record Site Plan; Dispersed Sites’(1946).

Secondary sources:
1. G.B. Innes, ‘British Airfield Buildings of the Second World War’ (Leicester 1995) .
2. B. Lowery (ed), ‘20th Century Defences in Britain, an introductory guide’ (British Council for Archaeology 1996).
3. L. Murphy, ‘Action Station: The story of Greencastle Aerodrome’ in 12 Miles of Mourne vol. 3 (Kilkeel 1989), pp..33-50.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Austerity architecture of the second world war attempted to simplify construction down to the minimal amount of materials and marry it with the maximum utility. This building is not an architectural masterpiece. Its interest lies in the historical reasons for its construction (WW2), its short practical lifespan, and its austere ‘temporary’ construction. Building A is of particular interest as it retains its original office plan with some interesting details.