{{Short description|Royal Air Force base in North Yorkshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}} {{Use British English|date=July 2017}} {{Infobox military installation | name = RRH Staxton Wold | ensign = Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg | ensign_size = 90px | native_name = | partof = | location = | nearest_town = [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|Scarborough]], [[North Yorkshire]] | country = England | image = R.A.F. Staxton Wold - geograph.org.uk - 1330500.jpg | alt = | caption = RAF Staxton Wold | image2 = File:RAF Staxton Wold Badge.jpg | image2_size = 150px | alt2 = | caption2 = {{Language with name/for|la|Vigilamus et Defendimus|We Watch and We Ward|break=yes}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pine|first1=L. G.|title=A dictionary of mottoes|date=1983|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|location=London|isbn=0-7100-9339-X|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmott00tion/page/252 252]|edition=1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmott00tion/page/252}}</ref> | pushpin_map = North Yorkshire | pushpin_label = RRH Staxton Wold | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within North Yorkshire | coordinates = {{coord|54|11|11|N|000|26|04|W|display=inline,title}} | type = [[Radar|Remote Radar Head]] | code = | site_area = {{convert|13|ha|acres}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-estates-development-plan-dedp-2009|title=Defence Estates Development Plan 2009 – Annex A|last=|first=|date=3 July 2009|website=GOV.UK|publisher=Ministry of Defence|page=12|accessdate=30 April 2019}}</ref> | height = {{convert|574|ft}} | ownership = [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] | operator = [[Royal Air Force]] | controlledby = [[No._2_Group_RAF#Air_Command_and_Control_Force|Air Command and Control Force]] | open_to_public = | condition = Operational | site_other_label = Radar type | site_other = Indra Sistemas LTR-25 Deployable Air Defence Radar (DADR) | built = {{Start date|1936}} | builder = | used = 1937 – present<!--{{End date|1946}} --> | materials = | fate = | battles = | events = | current_commander = <!-- current commander --> | past_commanders = <!-- past notable commander(s) --> | garrison = | occupants = Radar Flight (South) | website = }} '''Remote''' '''Radar''' '''Head''' '''Staxton Wold''' or '''RRH Staxton Wold''' is an air defence radar station operated by the [[Royal Air Force]], located near [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|Scarborough]] in [[North Yorkshire]], England.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hidden gems open their doors for you|url=http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/what-s-on/hidden-gems-open-their-doors-for-you-1-3748851|accessdate=28 February 2016|work=Scarborough News|date=7 September 2011}}</ref> As it has been a radar site continuously since 1939, it has a claim to be the oldest working radar station in the world. The base has undergone many upgrades of different radar systems and sits on the top of Staxton Wold at a height of {{convert|180|m|order=flip}} above sea level.
==History== The present-day site of RRH Staxton Wold has had an early warning function since the 3rd century AD, when it was the site of a warning beacon. It was first selected to be used as a radar station in 1937, when it was set up as part of the [[Chain Home]] system, being some {{convert|180|m|order=flip}} above sea level and only {{convert|4|mi}} inland of the [[Yorkshire Coast]].{{sfn|Catford|2006|p=18}}<ref>{{cite map|title = Scarborough, Bridlington & Flamborough Head|map =301 |year =2017 |scale =1:25,000 |series =Explorer |publisher =Ordnance Survey |isbn =978-0-319-24553-8 }}</ref>{{sfn|Thomas|1998|p=8}} Building work did not begin until December 1938 as delays in procuring the site occurred when the landowners resisted selling (this being before the Second World War, so the government found it harder to demand the land by force for the war effort).{{sfn|Dobinson|2010|pp=209–210}}
The site became fully operational in April 1939 and is the only one of the original stations still in use, and may thus claim to be the oldest continuously serving radar station.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Philpott |first1=Colin |title=Secret wartime Britain : hidden places that helped win the Second World War |date=2018 |publisher=Pen & Sword |location=Yorkshire |isbn=978-1526735478 |page=93}}</ref> Just before the outbreak of war (July 1939), the base was equipped with a [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|Bofors]] anti-aircraft gun,{{sfn|Dobinson|2010|p=213}} and by December 1939, it was only one of two operational radar stations in Yorkshire (the other being [[RAF Danby Beacon|Danby Beacon]]).{{sfn|Dobinson|2010|p=252}} For six weeks during late 1939, [[Bernard Lovell|Sir Bernard Lovell]] was posted to Staxton Wold from the University of Manchester whilst assessing radar at the site.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morison<!--NOT A TYPO--> |first1=Ian |title=Sir Bernard Lovell |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |date=September 2013 |volume=157 |issue=3 |page=362 |publisher=American Philosophical Society |location=Philadelphia |oclc=1045045921}}</ref> Operations at the base were wound down in 1945 when the Second World War came to an end, with the site being put under a care and maintenance basis. It was partially reactivated in 1951 for training, and then in 1953 a GEE H radar was installed at the site.{{sfn|Thomas|1998|p=2}}
Maintenance and operating staff were drawn from No. 73 Wing RAF, part of [[No. 60 Group RAF]], with administrative and other human necessities catered for (parented in RAF Terms) by [[RAF Church Fenton]].{{sfn|Catford|2006|p=19}} In the 1990s, the station was maintained and operated by No. 129 Signals Unit, and was part of ''Sector 2'' headquartered by RAF Neatishead, which covered the southern half of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Paul A. |title=Royal Air Force |date=1995 |publisher=Ian Allan |location=Shepperton |isbn=0711023387 |page=92 |edition=2}}</ref> During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, when the station was in use, staff were billeted at [[RAF Leconfield]], Alamein Barracks (the former [[RAF Driffield]]), [[RAF Bempton]], and civilian housing requisitioned in Scarborough.{{sfn|Thomas|1998|pp=6–7}}
In the 1950s, with the threat of aerial bombardment on the station, the RAF installed service fire-fighters at the base, who would tackle fires until North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (NYF&RS) would arrive to assist. In the 1980s, the RAF fire-fighters were asked to attend local incidents in their area until the NYF&RS arrived to take control. However, by the early 21st century, the base was largely automated and the fire-fighters were removed from Staxton Wold.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shannon |first1=Les |title=Conflagrations : Scarborough's firefighting history |date=2003 |publisher=St. John's Pub |location=Scarborough |isbn=0954648307 |page=239}}</ref>
During the late 1950s, all of the original Chain Home buildings were demolished in preparation for the new radar installation (originally labelled as 'Plan Ahead', but which by the early 1960s had developed into the Linesman project).{{sfn|Thomas|1998|p=5}} In April 1980, the station was an attack target in Exercise Elder Forest 80, which involved 1,500 NATO aircraft testing the air defences of the RAF's early warning and radar network.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stanhope |first1=Henry |title=Air forces of eight nations to test RAF |work=[[The Times]] |issue=60601 |date=15 April 1980 |page=4|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> In July 1990 the Type 85 radar was decommissioned after 23 years of use, it was replaced by the Type 93.{{sfn|March|1991|p=83}}
Today it is a Remote Radar Head (RRH) within the United Kingdom Air Surveillance and Control System (UKASACS).<ref>{{cite web|title=RAF Boulmer|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafboulmer/aboutus/asacsfc.cfm|website=UKASACS|publisher=Royal Air Force|accessdate=28 February 2016}}</ref> The radar at Staxton Wold after the Type 93 was decommissioned was a Lockheed Martin [[AN/FPS-117|AN/TPS-77 radar]] which was due to be working by September 2013,<ref>{{cite web|title=Armed Forces |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130422/text/130422w0002.htm |website=Parliament.uk |accessdate=8 July 2016}}</ref> but only became fully operational in early 2015.<ref>{{cite news|title=Winds of change bring threat of blight to coast|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/winds-of-change-bring-threat-of-blight-to-coast-1-7143499|accessdate=8 July 2016|work=Yorkshire Post|date=9 March 2015}}</ref> In September 2017, it was reported that the TPS-77 at Staxton Wold would be transferred to [[RAF Saxa Vord|RRH Saxa Vord]].<ref>{{cite news|title=UK RAF RADAR COVERAGE TO BE ENHANCED|url=http://www.monch.com/mpg/news/36-radar/2110-uk-raf-radar-coverage-to-be-enhanced.html|accessdate=22 September 2017|work=Mönch Verlagsgesellschaft mbH|date=21 September 2017|archive-date=6 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106082534/http://www.monch.com/mpg/news/36-radar/2110-uk-raf-radar-coverage-to-be-enhanced.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> A new radar, the INDRA LTR-25, has now taken the TPS-77's place within a new radome.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/new-long-range-air-defence-radar-delivered-to-uk/|title=New long range air defence radar delivered to the UK|publisher=UK Defence Journal|access-date=29 June 2025}}</ref>
As part of a major upgrade of RRH sites around the U.K. the MOD began a programme titled HYDRA in 2020 to install new state-of-the-art communications buildings, radar towers and bespoke perimeter security.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fcdoservices.gov.uk/upgrading-raf-remote-radar-heads/|title=Upgrading RAF Remote Radar Heads|date=17 June 2021|accessdate=11 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fcdoservices.gov.uk/behind-the-scenes-of-programme-hydra/|title=Behind the scenes of Programme HYDRA|date=23 June 2021|accessdate=11 November 2021}}</ref>
==Notable personnel== *[[Bernard Lovell]] (1939)<ref>{{cite news |title=Sir Bernard Lovell |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/sir-bernard-lovell-967xzcbkbdb |access-date=10 January 2022 |work=[[The Times]] |date=8 August 2012|url-access=subscription}}</ref> *[[Eric Eastwood (engineer)|Eric Eastwood]] (1942)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=F. E. |title=Eric Eastwood |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |date=November 1983 |volume=29 |page=184 |publisher=Royal Society |location=London |issn=0080-4606}}</ref>
==See also== *[[Improved United Kingdom Air Defence Ground Environment]] – UK air defence radar system in the UK between the 1990s and 2000s *[[Linesman/Mediator]] – UK air defence radar system in the UK between the 1960s and 1984 *[[List of Royal Air Force stations]] *[[NATO Integrated Air Defense System]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
===Sources=== *{{cite journal|last=Catford|first=Nick|title=RAF Staxton Wold|date= August 2006|journal=Subterranea|issue=11|publisher=Subterranea Britannica|location=Berkshire, UK|issn=1741-8917}} *{{cite book |last1=Dobinson |first1=Colin |title=Building radar: forging Britain's early-warning chain, 1935–45 |date=2010 |publisher=Methuen |location=London, UK |isbn=978-0-413-77229-9}} *{{cite book |last1=March|first1=Peter R.|title=Royal Air Force Yearbook 1991|year=1991|publisher= Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund|location=[[Fairford]], UK}} *{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Roger M. |title=RAF Staxton Wold: Historic Building Report |journal=Historic England Research Report Series |date=1998 |doi=10.5284/1108956 |publisher=Historic England |issn=0305-5477}}
==External links== {{Commons category|RAF Staxton Wold}} *[https://www.subbrit.org.uk/sites/staxton-wold-rotor-radar-station/ Staxton Wold on SubBrit]
{{Royal Air Force}} {{RAF stations in Yorkshire}} {{Royal Air Force radar stations}}
[[Category:Radar stations]] [[Category:Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire|Staxton Wold]] [[Category:Military installations established in 1937]]