The Wireless Station

The purpose of this listing is to record the presence of the decaying building that is known as, "The Wireless Station." It is located just off the A420 main Oxford/Swindon road, close to the village of Little Coxwell and opposite Chowle Farm. Please see photo number 1. We are indebted to Alec Chambers of Shrivenham, a Veteran Airman, who gave us valuable information towards this listing. Also to Edward Leigh-Pemberton of Berners-Allsopp Estate for allowing us access to the building to record it.

This building was purpose built in 1940, and the radio equipment that was installed within it came from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. The purpose of the radio equipment was to allow aircraft to land at Watchfield Airfield, exactly two miles distant, when the visibility was bad to zero. 

RAF Watchfield was very much a Training Airfield where many aspects of flying were taught to Pilots and Crew. One such skill was the "Beam Approach Landing," that involved the Pilot picking up a radio transmission on his headphones and staying exactly on the beam in order to land when he could see nothing out of his window. It was very advanced technology for the time and the Instructors at Watchfield were the best within the RAF.

For more information, please go to this listing and read Fred Guilmant's Book - http://www.shrivenhamheritagesociety.co.uk/listing.asp?listID=591

Whereas the building that housed the equipment that enabled this technology was just a basic military designed premises, it's historical importance is large. And whilst it's unlikely that it will be prevented from decaying further - we hope this listing will serve as an historical record for future generations.

Please see also Listing numbers: N81, N594, N802.