Main Gates, Piers And Railings

The main gates, piers, and railings at Hullavington Barracks were constructed between 1935 and 1936, designed by A Bulloch, an architectural adviser to the Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings. The structure features bath stone piers that stand approximately 3 meters high and are spaced 5 meters apart. Each pier has a plain plinth and a deep moulded cornice leading to a concave pyramidal cap topped with a spherical lantern. There are two wide gates, with a small pedestrian gate located just beyond each pier, followed by straight runs of railings arranged in seven bays. These railings step down to a plain square pier with a flat cap. The railings and gates are designed with plain square uprights that have spear-head tops, along with top and bottom rails and a low mid-rail.

Historically, this ensemble is significant in the classical tradition and forms part of the original design concept for the base. The gates are aligned with the principal axis of the station layout, with the guardroom to the left and the station headquarters directly ahead. Hullavington opened on June 6th, 1937, as a Flying Training Station and is notable for its architectural quality, representative of the air bases developed during the post-1934 expansion of the RAF. Its location in the west of England, alongside other training and maintenance bases, led to its selection in 1938 as one of a series of Aircraft Storage Units for storing vital reserves intended for the operational front line. For more details about the site, refer to Buildings 59, 60, and 61, which include The Officers' Mess.