# Ongar Radio Station (Incorporates North Weald Redoubt)



## spitfire (Jan 20, 2006)

*Ongar Radio Station (Incorporates North Weald Redo*

A gem of a place high on a hill about 300ft above sea level. 

Originally built by Marconi/Cable & Wireless in the 1920’s and used to send messages worldwide and then transferred to British Telecom in the late 1940's. 

If you include the fields where the radio masts were then this site is massive!. There were many buildings across a wide area, most of been knocked down or destroyed by fire. The site incorporates the below surface level North Weald Redoubt built in about 1880. This is a big ammo store rage facility that was built along with 3 others to guard London from overseas attack. This site's crowning glory is the two intact and rare Allen Williams turrets at each end of the site that would have been manned by soldiers during the war. The home guard were stationed here during the war to guard against sabotage and to assist in filling in bomb craters as the Luftwaffe used to try to knock out the transmitters. RAF North Weald is nearby and the control tower is viewable from the hill. Planes had to avoid hitting the masts as well!. 

The place went trough a series of changes of antenna type and redevelopments throughout the 1950's/60's and 1970's. Eventually it was shutdown in the mid 1990's. Around 1997 there was big fire there (Arson and vandals) and C block was raised to the ground. Parts of some of the other blocks are still around including building E which is now used for comms to a Mobile Phone mast and is owned and run by Orange Telecom and leased by O2, Vodaphone and others.

The biggest attraction now is the antenna points and the redoubt which considering it’s over 100 years old is quite good nick. Inside is loads of old dumped BT cabling and associated gubins.


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