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Bawdsey Manor

UK Woodbridge, Suffolk, England

51.989444, 1.399444 · 30 feet

1936-

Location Tracking

PGL Bawdsey Manor Adventure Centre, Ferry Road, Bawdsey, East Suffolk, Suffolk, England, IP12 3BH, United Kingdom

Nearby Locations

Km
Port of Felixstowe GBFXT 7.5 241°
Port of Felixstowe 8.0 233°
Harwich Quay 9.2 239°
RNTE Shotley 9.5 248°
Harwich International Port QQH 10.8 245°
RAF Woodbridge EGVG 11.2 002°
The isolated Bawdsey estate (built between 1886 and 1895) was sold to the War Department in 1936 and was used as the base for early RDF (later to be known as RADAR) research, development and trials as a means of locating the position of aircraft, to defend the United Kingdom. The RAF air defence Chain Home station is preserved c 0.5nm to the NE of the original Manor building, which was the scientific HQ.

Following the Bruneval Raid by British Commandos on a German radar station on the French coast in Feb 1942, it was realised that the experimental station at Bawdsey and its scientists and engineers would also be vulnerable to a hostile raid, so the research elements were quickly moved much further inland to Malvern, near the Welsh border.

A very fine museum of radar development operates from here, and together with the air defence aspects of radar on display at Neatishead in north Norfolk, provide a comprehensive history of radar in the UK.

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