Remains of a Direction Finding (D/F) tower, Ventnor Y-station

The remains of a D/F (Direction Finding) tower, Ventnor Y-station, c1942, comprising a protective brick wall, a concrete floor pad within it (the foundations for the wooden tower, now demolished), and concrete pads for the tower supports (also now gone).

MATERIALS: red brick for the protective wall; the floor pad and tower foundations are of concrete as are the external tower support pads.

PLAN: an octagonal structure.

DESCRIPTION: the D/F tower’s octagonal red brick wall is in English bond capped with a soldier course with iron fixings. Set into the hill slope on Rew Down above Ventnor Bay, the wall is therefore of varying height but rises to a maximum of approximately 2m 25cm and is 36cm wide. The overall enclosure is circa 5m 40 in width. Seven sides contain loop holes for small arms, those on the upslope (north) side being higher up the wall. The eighth side, to the south-east, provides access to the interior. Here is a concrete floor pad with a gutter running around the internal face of the brick wall. In the centre of the pad is a recessed octagonal concrete platform, approximately 3m 90cm in diameter, with dwarf walls 15cm wide and some surviving iron fixings. This would have formed the foundation for the wooden tower (demolished). A cable-trench (63cm wide) runs through its centre on a west-east axis.

Evenly distributed around the outside of the brick enclosure are seven concrete pads with one or two rectangular slots cut into them; these were the bases for wooden struts to support the tower.