In 1946, following the end of WWII a review of anti-aircraft batteries code-named called 'Nucleus' was implemented to determine which would be retained and which would be disposed of.
Of the c.1000 H.A.A. batteries in use during WWII, just 210 were to be retained and re-equipped. By 1951 with the threat of nuclear war looming, Nucleus had developed into the IGLOO scheme. A total of 78 new HAA sites were initially proposed with permanently mounted guns at 54 sites.
Despite the claims of the NMR and Surrey HER, all of the remaining features at Worms Heath Battery are post-war, probably constructed in 1951 at the same time as Pendell Anti-Aicraft Operations Room (A.A.O.R.) near Merstham from which it was administered.
Unlike their WWII predecessors at other sites, the four octagonal 3.7" gun emplacements here are open on two sides and have just four ammo lockers each (WWII emplacements had six). Two reinforced rooms adjoin the wall on the outside of each emplacement; a small crew shelter and an engine room with a motor driving a hydraulic pump for training, elevation and the automatic ammunition loading machinery.
The layout is also slightly different to WW2 sites with the four emplacements laid out in a shallow arc. If there was ever a permanent command post and/or magazines, they have now been lost under the N.A.T.S. Tx Station standing to the north. It's possible that these facilities were housed in Nissen huts and so fared less well than other structures on site. The site connected by telephone line to the A.A.O.R. and a GPO termination point is still visible located in a wire-fenced compound to the eastern end of the concrete hardstanding.
For more info on the post war H.A.A. sites see here.
The site was probably abandoned c.1960 (when Pendell also became redundant, later to become the the Met Police's southern war HQ), but for reasons of national security did not appear on any O.S. maps until the mid '60s. There's an earlier [ame="http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=9203"]report[/ame] on here from 2009, since when the battery has been cleaned up but has also lost all of the steel doors to the crew and plant rooms.
EDIT: Full report now online at: http://derelictmisc.org.uk/igloo.html
1. One of the gun emplacements, complete with flat-pack shed.
2. Crew shelter and ammo locker. The bolts visible probably supported shell racking.
3. Holdfast/gun mounting. Note the conduit in the floor which carried a transmission shaft from the engine room.
4. Switch with cable leading through wall to engine room
5. Engine room being used as a wood store
6. Inside another of the engine rooms, engine plinth and fusegear still in good condition. The channel to the left of the plinth is a continuation of the transmission shaft conduit seen in pic 3.
7. Heavy-duty fuse boxes
8. In another engine room the fuse box has been forced open
9. Engine room lighting
10. This pipe surfaced just outside one of the engine rooms. I'm guessing it might have carried a cable of some sort.
11. This locked compound contained what I assume was a GPO telephone termination point used to connect the battery to the A.A.O.R. It might also have had a later use judging by the relatively well-maintained fence.
12. The westernmost emplacement looking towards the N.A.T.S. Site.
A radio station was later built to the north of the battery, identified on signs as 'Warlingham TX Comms Station.' administered by National Air Traffic Services. This is very secure to say the least, with CCTV on every corner of the compound, big siren sounders and an electric fence. Interestingly enough a google search turns up precisely nothing. I presume it's something to do with ATC but if anyone knows what it's for, I'd be interested to hear.
N.A.T.S. Station
Sign on fence
Watching the watcher
Thanks for reading,
A.
Of the c.1000 H.A.A. batteries in use during WWII, just 210 were to be retained and re-equipped. By 1951 with the threat of nuclear war looming, Nucleus had developed into the IGLOO scheme. A total of 78 new HAA sites were initially proposed with permanently mounted guns at 54 sites.
Despite the claims of the NMR and Surrey HER, all of the remaining features at Worms Heath Battery are post-war, probably constructed in 1951 at the same time as Pendell Anti-Aicraft Operations Room (A.A.O.R.) near Merstham from which it was administered.
Unlike their WWII predecessors at other sites, the four octagonal 3.7" gun emplacements here are open on two sides and have just four ammo lockers each (WWII emplacements had six). Two reinforced rooms adjoin the wall on the outside of each emplacement; a small crew shelter and an engine room with a motor driving a hydraulic pump for training, elevation and the automatic ammunition loading machinery.
The layout is also slightly different to WW2 sites with the four emplacements laid out in a shallow arc. If there was ever a permanent command post and/or magazines, they have now been lost under the N.A.T.S. Tx Station standing to the north. It's possible that these facilities were housed in Nissen huts and so fared less well than other structures on site. The site connected by telephone line to the A.A.O.R. and a GPO termination point is still visible located in a wire-fenced compound to the eastern end of the concrete hardstanding.
For more info on the post war H.A.A. sites see here.
The site was probably abandoned c.1960 (when Pendell also became redundant, later to become the the Met Police's southern war HQ), but for reasons of national security did not appear on any O.S. maps until the mid '60s. There's an earlier [ame="http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=9203"]report[/ame] on here from 2009, since when the battery has been cleaned up but has also lost all of the steel doors to the crew and plant rooms.
EDIT: Full report now online at: http://derelictmisc.org.uk/igloo.html
1. One of the gun emplacements, complete with flat-pack shed.
2. Crew shelter and ammo locker. The bolts visible probably supported shell racking.
3. Holdfast/gun mounting. Note the conduit in the floor which carried a transmission shaft from the engine room.
4. Switch with cable leading through wall to engine room
5. Engine room being used as a wood store
6. Inside another of the engine rooms, engine plinth and fusegear still in good condition. The channel to the left of the plinth is a continuation of the transmission shaft conduit seen in pic 3.
7. Heavy-duty fuse boxes
8. In another engine room the fuse box has been forced open
9. Engine room lighting
10. This pipe surfaced just outside one of the engine rooms. I'm guessing it might have carried a cable of some sort.
11. This locked compound contained what I assume was a GPO telephone termination point used to connect the battery to the A.A.O.R. It might also have had a later use judging by the relatively well-maintained fence.
12. The westernmost emplacement looking towards the N.A.T.S. Site.
A radio station was later built to the north of the battery, identified on signs as 'Warlingham TX Comms Station.' administered by National Air Traffic Services. This is very secure to say the least, with CCTV on every corner of the compound, big siren sounders and an electric fence. Interestingly enough a google search turns up precisely nothing. I presume it's something to do with ATC but if anyone knows what it's for, I'd be interested to hear.
N.A.T.S. Station
Sign on fence
Watching the watcher
Thanks for reading,
A.
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