Building No 36 (Nettleton Block)

Building No 36 (Nettleton Block)

Nettleton Block is one of five airmen's barrack blocks built in 1914 at Upavon Camp's Trenchard Lines on the north side of the camp. It was designed by the War Office's Directorate of Fortifications and Works (Drawing No 8/14) and is constructed from painted concrete block with asbestos-cement diagonal slating to the roof.

The building is a long, narrow gabled range of single depth. It has an off-centre entrance and a short rear service wing. The entrance is formed by a pair of part-glazed panel doors set on two concrete steps. Flanking the entrance lobby and hall are NCO's rooms, with a corridor leading through to a rear ablutions block. The main body of the building contains open dormitory spaces on either side, though these have since been subdivided.

The exterior features wooden sash windows, mostly with eight panes, set to deep weathered concrete sills. The long front elevation is essentially unbroken, with a window to the left of the entrance and two windows to the right, each positioned three bays in from the outer ends as paired units. The gable ends are plain. The rear elevation is fenestrated similarly to the front with paired lights, though it has been slightly modified. The short service wing has a door on its east side and two plain gable placements. Two large square plain casements now replace original sashes on the left side of the wing.

The interior is of severe simplicity. Original panelled doors have been replaced by flush ones. Canted tie-rods to the composite roof structure remain visible in part, set below canted fibre-board ceilings.

Nettleton Block is the best-retained externally of the five original barrack units in a close group on the eastern side of the site near the Officer's Mess. It represents an important survival from the earliest layout at Upavon and is characteristic of the basic accommodation provided for other ranks, in contrast with the smaller units built for officers. The detailing is of the simplest kind, yet executed with care, including deep weathered and stooled sills designed traditionally to prevent staining on walls below windows.

Upavon was established as the Central Flying School of the Royal Flying Corps in June 1912, one month after the RFC's formation. It was selected as the result of the Committee for Imperial Defence's decision to unify the army and naval arms of British military aviation. The temporary buildings of 1912 were replaced from 1913 onwards as student numbers and accommodation demands grew. The site offered an ideal hill-top position close to the army training areas on Salisbury Plain, and like the nearby sites of Larkhill and Netheravon, proved highly suitable for military flying. The first pilot's certificate from the school went to Captain (Brevet Major) Hugh Trenchard, who later became Assistant Commander at Upavon in January 1918 and went on to serve as the RAF's first Chief of Air Staff.

Upavon remained the Central Flying School until 1924, when the location at the centre of the Wessex group led to its replacement by Wittering in Lincolnshire. The school functioned briefly as a Fleet Air Arm shore base from 1935, before becoming a Flying Training School from 1942 to 1945 and a transport base from 1946. The 38 Group based here was responsible for organising the Berlin Airlift.

The buildings at Upavon reflect its complex history. The domestic camp on the north side of the A343 represents the most significant part of the site. Construction in permanent fabric did not commence until two years after the camp's opening, as the direction of its future development as the Central Flying School had not been fully determined at the outset. All the buildings from 1914 were designed by the War Office's Directorate of Fortifications and Works, the most notable being the Officers' Mess (Building 21), the airmen's barracks and officers' quarters planned after those at Netheravon, and Buildings 68, 70 and 110.