Buildings 455 And 456 (Five Aircraft Hangars), Durrington Camp

BUILDINGS 455 AND 456 (FIVE AIRCRAFT HANGARS), DURRINGTON CAMP

Two groups of aircraft hangars at Durrington Camp, built in 1910 for the War Office. The structures consist of five gabled sheds, each comprising five bays with gables facing the road. To the right of the three left-hand hangars is a range of offices sheltered within the sweep of the roof; the two hangars to the left are separated by a gap of approximately 1.5 metres and sit at a lower level.

The buildings are constructed from corrugated iron over a steel frame. The original sheeting survives on all sheds except the front (west) elevation, which has been infilled with blockwork at the front doorways and has a flat-roofed addition with further blockwork infilling the former doors. Steel casement windows remain on the sides and rear elevations.

The interior retains its original steel truss roof with portal framing. Steel grooves set into concrete and stone flag floors mark the position of the former sliding doors at the front. The flight offices preserve original joinery, including matchboarded partitions, lining and doors.

These hangars survive as the earliest known aircraft hangars in Europe, ranking among the most historically significant structures of the pioneering phase of powered flight. They are comparable in importance to the Wright Brothers workshops and the relocated 1910 Boeing workshop at Seattle, which have been granted Landmark status by the United States government.

Larkhill flying field was Britain's first military airfield. The War Office, conscious of interest shown by other nations following the Wright brothers' arrival in Europe in 1908, encouraged experimental flying over its training areas from 1909. Permission was granted to Horatio Barber to erect a shed in April 1909 after he purchased an aeroplane at the Paris Salon de l'Aeronautique. He was followed by Claude Cockburn (who later played a major role in naval flight training at Eastchurch in Kent) with a Farman aircraft, and Captain J D B Fulton with a Bleriot. In June 1910, Sir George White adapted the workshops of his Bristol tramway enterprise at Filton for his British and Colonial Aeroplane Company and built two hangars at Larkhill, supplementing two more sheds already under construction for the War Office. The Bristol Aeroplane Company subsequently opened the first in a series of civilian flying schools at Larkhill, where army officers received their initial flight training at their own expense. By the end of September 1910, the company—which would become one of the world's largest aviation manufacturers—was collaborating with the War Office in army manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain centred on artillery and troop movement observation. A significant innovation during the 1910 Autumn Manoeuvres was the successful transmission of radio messages from an aeroplane to the Bristol hangar. In July 1911, Larkhill served as a control point for the Daily Mail's 'Circuit of Britain' air race. Many prototype aircraft were flown from Larkhill, with flying demonstrations frequently including flights around Stonehenge that attracted considerable public attention. Of 109 pilots who qualified in 1911, 53 had trained at Bristol. Flying schools following the Bristol model were established in Spain, Germany and Italy in 1912.

Until the Central Flying School opened at Upavon on 17 August 1912, the Bristol Flying Schools at Larkhill and Brooklands served as the principal training establishments for the army and navy in addition to training civilian pilots. Following the formation of the Royal Flying Corps in April 1912, the former No 2 Company of the Air Battalion became 3 Squadron of the RFC and test-flew many aircraft types under consideration for RFC use from this location.

During this early period, prior to the completion of barracks at Netheravon airfield in early 1914, enlisted men were billeted at Bulford Camp and officers at the Bustard Inn. The Bristol School at Larkhill closed in June 1914, merging with the company's school at Brooklands in Surrey. Old Sarum became the principal base for annual Army exercises on Salisbury Plain after 1918. The position of the original flying field is marked by a small concrete plinth.