World War II Structures

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Tall two–stage wall (A) aligned W-E, one fielded from the sea, parallel with the coast between Slatemill Road and Nicholson’s Road. To its west is a single storey shelter (B).

(A) Red brick in construction, first stage is 200mm thick and second stage is 100mm thick. At either end it is terminated in plain end buttresses and is supported on its landward side by four three stage buttresses, the lowest stage of each being embanked in earth. Its seaward side is abutted to left and right by a tall brick wall, each of which is supported by a two stage buttress. Each abutting wall becomes ruinous to its seaward end.

(B) Single storey / single bay structure, rectangular in plan. Flat concrete roof has been replaced with a mono-pitched corrugated metal one on a raised concrete block wall-head. Brick walls (200mm thick), with a single door on NE wall. All other walls blank.

Historical information

The Air Ministry map of Greencastle shows this site as an ‘M.G & Cannon Range’ located near the bomb stores on the Greencastle Aerodrome. For safety reasons ranges and bomb stores were located as far away from the other structures as possible. It is believed that planes were positioned opposite the seaward side of this wall and it was used for gunners practice.

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. However it remained in Air Ministry ownership until the early 1960s, when the land was sold back to locals.

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

Secondary Sources:
1. G.B. Innes, ‘British Airfield Buildings of the Second World War’ (Leicester 1995), p..5.
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 structure 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.