RAF Church Fenton, Yorkshire.

RAF Church Fenton is south of York and east of Selby. From Tadcaster take the A162 south and turn left at Saxton. Drive over the railway and through the village and the aerodrome will be on your left.

A very nice photo with thanks to Chris Wilson & John Kenning. Also AIX.

History: RAF Church Fenton opened in 1937 as a brand new RAF fighter station with 'Standard Function', airman's quarters, Sergeants and Officers mess's, a large main store, workshops, hangars, fuel for about a weeks use, parachute store, etc. All in nice red hand made brick and designed to a Georgian theme. 2 - 'C' type hangars and the space for a third. 1 - T2 hangar was built in the 1950's. 1 - Bellman hangar wartime (now removed). Several fighter pens. 10 - Extra Over Blister hangars wartime (now removed). 1 x Watch Office Fort Type 1959/34 Pre-war (demolished). 1 x Watch Office for Night Fighter Stations 12096/41 & CFN 45/4. Removed are the Operations block. Officers mess, Armoury, Main workshop, Gymnasium, 25yd range, Dome trainer and many more ancillary buildings..

Standby set house in Permanent Brick [PB] 974/35. The first building I found is this pre war stand-by-set-house, if the mains electricity is cut for any reason, the stand-by-set engine/engines cut in and send power to certain buildings in order of importance. Note blast walls around the building.

Standby set house [PB] 974/35. The exhaust running up the side of the house and the wooden doors are is for the water tank to cool the engine/s.

Main Gate. History: part of the RAF's pre war expansion scheme, Church Fenton was opened in 1937 with other 'Standard Function' stations curving south with Waddington, Marham, Feltwell, Stradishall, Cranfield and Harwell. Church Fenton had a grass airfield with two hangars of 'C' type and a watch office (Fort Type), a third 'C' hangar was due to be built but a T2 was used in its place (post war). The aerodrome was laid out as a fighter station. No.72 Sqn was the first to arrive with their latest fighters Gloster Gladiators onto a rather muddy and unfinished condition.

Main Gate 2010 with the Guard room and Station HQ. The Station head quarters [PB] 3051/34 . On the right is the Guard house and fire party [PB] 3136/34. History : the aerodrome was built as a fighter station to cover the Yorkshire industrial region but was not quite finished when the first squadron arrived. By 1940 it became the home to No71 (Eagle) Sqn, an all American RAF Squadron.

Guard house and fire party [PB] 3136/34. RAF Church Fenton closed in 2013 and a businessman is to launch commercial flying from a the former RAF base in North Yorkshire after buying it from the Ministry of Defence.

Central heating station [PB] 383/35.

Left Airmen's barrack block for 92 [PB] 9965/38 H block type. Right Airmen's barrack block for 64 'B' design [PB] 2267/34 'half' H design. Two different types of barrack block, one is an H block and the other is 'half' H design. They may have a reinforced concrete roof and an air-raid shelter underneath the building.

Airmen’s barrack block [PB] 2267/34. They may have a reinforced concrete roof and an air-raid shelter underneath the building and a 'half' H design.

The degradation that is happening.

Central heating station [PB] 383/35. The expansion period of the RAF there were many new building designs and layouts most designed in the Georgian style and Art Deco. One thing camps needed was water and lots of it and so a large water towers were built, the other new advance for the period was central heating. These plants produced hot water and distributed it around the permanent camp.

Guard house and fire party [PB] 3136/34. The viewed from behind.

Station sick quarters and ambulance garage [PB] 1363,2752/34. The stations medical and dental building.

Five bay petrol tanker garage 2773/34, 1225/39. Built as a two bay garage but later extended to five bay after 1939.

Aircraft shed 'C' type shed with its large windows allowing in lots of light. Offices all the way along the side, this is the rear side of the hangar and the offices are low level and I believe they were for engineering and the other side is for squadron and flight offices.

Trees. The RAF in the expansion period used a nursery to supply trees to plant around their aerodromes. These trees are now coming into their own.

Aircraft servicing platform.

A two bay protected petrol tanker garage 2773/37. They have their original roller shutter doors and it was built in 1939.

Inside the aircraft shed 'C' type shed No.3. Now private aircraft, where biplanes to supersonic jet fighters have lived.

Aircraft shed 'C' type shed No.1.

Flight line

Control tower 12096/41, CFN 45/4. Built in 1948 and the Visual control room added in 1985. This tower was built here when the runways were extended out beyond the views of the old watch office.

Control tower 12096/41, CFN 45/4. Nice crop of birds.

Control tower 12096/41, CFN 45/4. Inside with all the RAF equipment now removed.

Control tower 12096/41, CFN 45/4. Inside with all the RAF equipment now removed.

Control tower 12096/41, CFN 45/4. The main road traffic light controls when aircraft were landing or taking off over the road.

Control tower 12096/41, CFN 45/4. Concord taking off, I do hope somebody has turned the traffic lights to RED.

Bulk fuel store. The oval roadway is the pre war bulk fuel store, there would be two usually, one either side of the hangar line. As Church Fenton was a fighter station, there was only one with enough fuel for a about a weeks fighting and then they would need re supply. Behind is another bulk fuel which was added due to the need for more fuel to keep jets flying to NATO standard.

Flying away. Thank you John for letting me use the internal photos of CF.

Main Site. History: As a pre war expansion scheme airfields the hangars were placed in a semi circle, the camp was behind and the married quarters behind again. There was no attempt to disperse the buildings against bombing until the war started. Then several 'E' type fighter pens were constructed around the perimeter track to protect the fighter planes.

Hangars. Two types of hangars remain, 2 x 'C' type brick sheds (hipped) 8bay bay, about 200ft x 150ft x 35ft. 1 x T2 transportable iron frame with corrugated iron cladding 23bay 135ft x 239ft x 25ft. There was also a Bellman 14bay 175ft x 87ft x 25ft, Bellman's were usually used on fighter/training airfields as they were too low to take bombers.

Waste Water Settling Pans? I have found these structures on many RAF airfields.

Bottom end of the airfield perimeter track. View towards the runways end. History: Squadrons came and went as they did in wartime with many nationalities passed through. Then Church Fenton was turned into 4 OTU (Operational Training Unit) changing to 54 OTU as a night fighter training unit with Blenheim's and Defiance.

M&E Plinth & a Pillbox the last of 11. A later type M&E plinth probably using power from the electricity pole to transform power to run the landing lights.

How it may have looked in WW2. History: 54 OTU left for Charter Hall in 1942 and two night fighter squadrons moved in. Several more squadrons again came and went and then the war ended and it was decided to retain the aerodrome for future use and two concrete and tarmac runways where laid. 

'C' Shed 1. 'C' sheds were constructed in 1937. Pre war hangars were named as sheds in RAF parlance.

T2 Hangar. T2 a standard hangar for WW2 and could hold any type of RAF aircraft of the period and was much cheaper to build. There was another T2 behind the N3 'C' Shed but that was removed by the end of the war and this one was built in the 1950's. Behind the hangar is a the camps water supply tower, now count the bricks in it.

'C' Shed 3. This is the second 'C' hangar.

Watch Office for Night Fighter Stations. A WW2 type control tower two story and now upgraded with a new type VCR placed on the top.

Watch Office for Night Fighter Stations. A better view of the VCR.

Fighter Pen. One of what may have been 12 'E' pens six for a 12 plane fighter squadron making this possibly a two squadron airfield. I have found 7 so far.

A second 'E' Pen and Windsock.

NS Runway 16/34. History: with the coming of hard runways it was one of the first airfields to have a squadron of Jets with 263Sqn and Meteors.

The aerodrome. History: for the next 30years it reverted to training and now is the home one of the University training squadrons and a relief landing ground for Tucano's of 1FTS (Flying Training School). 2013 and its all in the balance, closure is on the list and the loss of a lovely 1930's relic. It has now been sold to a private owner.  

Nissen Hut. On the south side of the airfield now in a garden.

RAF Dishforth's Officers mess was very like the one here. Officers' Mess and single officers sleeping quarters design B [PB] 2948/36 36 to 45 officers others were housed in extra 'B', 'Y' and 'X' hutting. X & Y hutting was 18ft x 70ft.

 

The Gloster Meteor NF14 WS739 taken in 1975. I'm told it was painted in these colours after it had been welded due to a lightning strike blowing out rivets etc.(Chaz Gizby). Details of Spitfire 5B. This aircraft symbolizes the day fighter role of this station from 1937 to 1941 which includes the period of the Battle of Britain. It was built at Castle Bromwich in April/May 1942, flew with No.315 Sqn and No.317 (Polish) Squadrons, and No.58 Operational Training Unit, and in May 1963 it was allocated to Church Fenton. It is finished in the wartime markings of No.609 (West Riding) Sqn. R aux AF, which had a long association with the Station.