Building 62 (Guardhouse)

Building 62, a guardhouse with cells, a fire-party accommodation, and a fire-tender house, was constructed in 1932, with a west wing and part of the north elevation extended in 1936. Designed by the Air Ministry’s Directorate of Works and Buildings, the building is constructed of stretcher bond brickwork with a slate roof.

The building comprises a complex of small, single-storey linked units. The front guardroom block incorporates an open verandah covered by a flat roof, while the remainder of the structure features hipped roofs. The layout includes a guardroom, orderly room, detention cells, and NCO's rooms at the front, linked to a rear L-shaped unit containing the fire tender garage and fire-party accommodation.

The exterior features windows generally with 12-pane wooden sashes set within brick voussoir heads and concrete sills. The front elevation is characterized by five wide-spaced brick piers with chamfered corners, built on painted brick bases and plinths, topped with square cappings bearing a tripartite wooden fascia. These piers front a concrete terrace which in turn fronts a main wall with two doors (one with an overlight), two 12-pane sashes, a paired 12-pane sash, and a large three-light sash with transom. The short L-plan return to the left has three 12-pane sashes, while the right return has a small, close-grilled window set high. A setback leads to the three-bay fire-tender house, featuring a small door and a pair of large main doors facing east. To the right, set back, is an arched opening to a deep-set door, followed by three 12-pane sashes. Two stacks with brick cappings are present, and the building is finished with a deep soffit incorporating a plain fascia and gutter.

The interior retains original joinery and doors, including those of the cells.

Duxford represents a remarkably well-preserved fighter base, characteristic of the period up to 1945, and possesses significant historical associations with the Battle of Britain and the support provided for the Eighth Air Force. Building 62 stands opposite the Station Offices (Building 61) at the main entrance to the base and presents an unusually complete and little-altered example of a guardhouse from the initial phase of the inter-war expansion of the RAF, beginning in 1923 under Sir Hugh Trenchard, retaining original materials and detailing; the verandah formation echoes a classical peristyle. The pale yellow brick used here is found also in the contemporary Station Offices located directly opposite.