World War II structures, To rear of 102 Greencastle Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4JP

World War II bombing teacher blocks, constructed 1942, forming part of the instructional site of Greencastle Aerodrome (also known as Kilkeel RAF Station), situated to the rear and south-west of 102 Greencastle Road. The site is the most intact surviving example of all the Greencastle Aerodrome building groups. The two Air Ministry Laboratory (AML) bombing teacher blocks are of particular significance as they are believed to be the only surviving examples of their type in Northern Ireland.

These structures embody the austerity architecture of the Second World War, in which construction was reduced to the minimum amount of materials while achieving maximum utility. They are not architectural masterpieces; their importance lies in the historical circumstances of their construction, their short practical lifespan, and their deliberately austere, temporary character.

The wider complex consists of eleven buildings in total. The largest is a Gunnery and Crew Procedure Centre to the north of the site. At the centre of the group stands the double AML bombing teacher block, and to its south a similar but single AML structure. The remaining buildings are single-storey temporary brick structures used for various purposes. The Air Ministry Laboratory blocks were designed to Air Ministry drawings: the double block to Drawing No. 6301/42 and the single block to Drawing No. 1739/41. Both types were invented at Imperial College London and contained projection equipment to simulate ground conditions as seen from the air.

DOUBLE AIR MINISTRY LABORATORY (AML) BOMBING TEACHER BLOCK

This structure is almost symmetrical and contains two identical suites. The roof is pitched corrugated asbestos cement with semicircular ridges and circular asbestos cement stops. There are moulded asbestos cement bargeboards and no rainwater goods. The walls are of permanent construction, 200mm thick red brickwork without buttresses, finished in smooth cement render throughout.

The south-west facing front elevation is abutted at its centre by a single-storey lean-to shed, which has a cement rendered chimney rising up to the right where it meets the main block. To the right of centre, an unrendered brick chimney rises above the eaves level. At the extreme left and right of this elevation are painted sheeted doors. At first-floor level, to the left and right of centre, are small window openings, both blocked up, without cills. Beyond these on either side is a pair of sheeted timber three-quarter-height doors. The lean-to shed has a lean-to asbestos roof and cement rendered walls. Its front wall contains a three-paned steel casement window without a cill, and another window to its left, which is blocked up. The left cheek of the shed is blank; the right cheek has a painted sheeted door.

Each gable is identical. Both are abutted at their centre by one-and-a-half-storey lean-to structures, and the remaining gable walls are blank except for a single small window. The north-west gable has a two-by-four-pane steel casement window; the south-east gable window has been boarded up. Each lean-to has a monopitch asbestos roof and rendered walls with a single ground-floor window opening, also boarded up, and blank cheeks.

The rear north-east elevation has a single sheeted half-door at ground-floor level to the left, which is a modern insertion.

SINGLE AIR MINISTRY LABORATORY (AML) BOMBING TEACHER BLOCK

This structure is identical to the left-hand portion of the double block. The roof is pitched asbestos cement with semicircular ridges and circular asbestos cement stops, moulded asbestos cement bargeboards, and no rainwater goods. The walls are permanent 200mm thick red brickwork without buttresses, finished in smooth cement render.

The south-west facing front elevation is abutted at ground-floor level on the right by a single-storey lean-to shed with a cement rendered chimney rising at the right corner where it meets the main block. The chimney rises above the eaves in unrendered brick. At the extreme left of this elevation is a blocked-up doorway at ground-floor level. At first-floor level to the right is a small window opening without a cill, also blocked up. To the left is a pair of sheeted timber three-quarter-height doors. The lean-to has a pitched asbestos roof and cement rendered walls. Its front wall has a blocked-up window opening the width of two casements, without a cill. The left cheek of the shed is blank; the right cheek has a painted sheeted door.

The left (north-west) gable is abutted at its centre by a one-and-a-half-storey lean-to structure and to its left bay by a later single-storey outhouse. The remaining gable walls are blank except for a single one-third top-opening casement window at the centre of the gable. The lean-to has a monopitch asbestos roof and rendered walls, with a single three-paned metal casement window at ground-floor level. The outhouse has a pitched corrugated metal roof, concrete blockwork walls, and a sheeted door on its left cheek.

The rear north-east elevation has a single sheeted half-door at ground-floor level, positioned right of centre, which is a modern insertion. The right (south-east) gable of the main block is blank.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Construction at Greencastle began in spring 1942, with Carmichael of Edinburgh as main contractor. Kilkeel RAF Station was commissioned on 30th July 1942. On 3rd August 1943 it was handed over to the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), becoming Station 237, one of twelve American airfields in Northern Ireland. The station served as a satellite to Langford Lodge near Antrim, preparing aircraft for operational bases in East Anglia, and also as a training school for aircrews arriving from America.

The Combat Crew Replacement Centre (CCRC) was established at Greencastle on 20th December 1943. Under this arrangement, veterans of European bombing raids shared their expertise with incoming inexperienced crews. It is recorded that approximately one hundred crews passed through the CCRC every month until it was disbanded in the autumn of 1944. The station was handed back to the RAF on 31st May 1945 and decommissioned shortly afterwards. It remained in Air Ministry ownership until its subdivision and sale in the early 1960s.

The principal building groups were of utility construction and were deliberately dispersed around the local area to reduce vulnerability to concentrated enemy bombing; the radar station, for instance, was located at Maghereagh, to the north-east of Kilkeel. There were over 600 airfields in Britain at the end of the Second World War, and 29 in Northern Ireland.

OWNERSHIP AND RECENT USE

The owner's father had the land compulsorily purchased during the Second World War and subsequently bought it back. The double AML block was used by the Department of the Environment Roads Service as a depot until August 1998; the other buildings were used as animal houses and stores. All are now vacant. The 1946 Air Ministry record site plan of Greencastle Aerodrome identifies this group as an instructional site. All buildings remain intact with the exception of a Type B picket post, which was demolished to accommodate the construction of 102 Greencastle Road.

The remaining buildings on the site, including the Gunnery and Crew Procedure Centre, a Link trainer building (two compartments), a latrine block, and a further six structures of common utility construction, are recorded separately. The functions identified on the Ministry site plan for the common structures include a lecture room, administration block, instructors block, armament classroom, intelligence and technical classroom, and latrine block, though the precise function of each individual building is uncertain.