Coast Defence Chain Home Low Radar Station, Craster

Coast Defence Chain Home Low Radar Station, Craster

A Second World War Coast Defence Chain Home Low Radar Station dating to 1941, constructed in shuttered reinforced concrete. The station is situated on top of a whinstone escarpment that slopes gently down to the sea, positioned approximately 150 metres from the shore at its highest point.

The complex comprises two buildings. The transmitter and receiver block is a rectangular structure oriented roughly east-west, standing about 3 metres high and positioned on the highest point of the escarpment. This elevation allowed the former aerial array an unobstructed sweep of the coastline. The second building, set about 25 metres to the south, is an irregular T-shaped stand-by generator house, also standing approximately 3 metres high.

Transmitter and Receiver Block

The south side of the building contains four window openings, with one opening each in the east and west sides, and two in the north side. These window openings are of standard size and have lost their original blast shutters, though shutter brackets remain on the inside. Doorways are positioned in the west and north sides. The east end features a pair of concrete piers flanking the north and south walls. The metal frames of the former double blast door remain in place, as does a single door to the west entrance and another to the north entrance. Small, regularly-spaced rectangular ventilation openings are present on all walls except the north. A pair of bolts in the east wall are interpreted as fixings for ladder access to the roof. The flat roof slightly extends beyond the external walls with fragments of bituminous waterproof membrane remaining. Four rectangular metal plates with fixing bolts on the roof top formed the footings for the timber and steel gantry that formerly supported the aerial array. A small square brick chimney, concrete rendered, encloses a ceramic pipe that housed the turning mechanism for transmitting power to the roof mechanism below.

The interior comprises three compartments: two small end rooms flanking a larger central plotting room. The west room housed the telephones whilst the east room housed the Chain Home Low transmitter. The end rooms connect to the plotting room via doorways that retain the runners of sliding doors. The original interior paintwork survives, with brown on the lower walls and cream on the upper walls and ceiling; the ceiling layer sits over cork chippings installed for noise reduction and insulation. Although fixtures and fittings have been removed, the positions of various equipment pieces remain legible through vertical cable housing within the walls, cable ducting within the concrete floor, and witness marks in the interior paintwork. A concrete step up to the east window of the east room indicates this room also functioned as an observation post. In the south-west corner, cables and wooden battens mark the point where power entered the building. Post-war graffiti is present, including a fishing smack rendered in 1940s or 1950s style.

Stand-by Generator House

The stand-by generator house is an irregular T-shaped building standing about 3 metres high with a roof that slightly extends beyond the external walls. It has a concrete plinth and is windowless, but contains vents in the generator room walls—four to each long wall and two to the south wall. Two entrances of different sizes in the north wall allowed for machinery movement and the provision of light. A rectangular brick and concrete sump is attached to the west wall and functioned as a wastewater drain from the water-cooled generator.

The interior comprises two compartments: a south generator room and a north annexe or fuel store. The generator room retains an in-situ concrete generator bed, set slightly off-centre, with original fixing bolts and a water sump. A sawn-off metal exhaust pipe is embedded in the south wall. The entrance between the generator room and annexe retains much of the original wooden door frame.