WW II Structures, Adj to 5 Nicholsons Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4JN

A complex of nine Second World War military structures adjacent to 5 Nicholson's Road, Kilkeel, forming the core of Communal Site 1 of the former Greencastle Aerodrome. The buildings were designed by the Air Ministry and constructed as part of Kilkeel RAF Station, which was commissioned on 30th July 1942, the main contractor being Carmichael of Edinburgh. The site was handed over to the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) on 3rd August 1943, becoming Station 237, one of twelve American airfields in Northern Ireland and a satellite to Langford Lodge near Antrim. Its principal roles were preparing aircraft for operational bases in East Anglia and, from 20th December 1943, operating as a Combat Crew Replacement Centre training aircrews arriving from America. That training role was disbanded in autumn 1944, and the base was returned to the RAF on 31st May 1945 and decommissioned shortly afterwards. The sites remained in Air Ministry ownership until the early 1960s, when they were sold to local buyers. The buildings are not architectural masterpieces; their interest lies in the historical circumstances of their construction, their intentionally short practical lifespan, and their austere, temporary character — an approach that sought to use the minimum of materials while achieving maximum utility. This group is of interest but is unfortunately much altered. The blast shelters are the only ones of their type remaining within the entire aerodrome complex.

The ten structures (labelled A through J) are described individually below.

A — Air Raid Shelter

Aligned northwest to southeast. A single-storey rectangular structure built on a concrete base. The roof is a flush, cast in-situ concrete slab, corrugated on its underside, and overhangs at each end where it rests on brick blast walls. All walls are red brick laid in stretcher bond, broadside up, forming a double skin with a concrete-filled cavity. There is an entrance at each end of each principal elevation, each sheltered under the overhanging concrete roof and protected by the end blast walls. All other walls are blank.

B — Stand-by Set House

Aligned southwest to northeast. A two-storey structure, square in plan, with lower abutments to the southeast and northeast elevations. The roofs are flat, cast in-situ concrete coated in a waterproof bitumen material. The permanent red brick walls are laid in English bond and are 200mm thick. The wall surface is broken occasionally by air vents in terracotta or concrete. The southwest elevation has a single vehicle opening that has been widened and heightened and is without doors. The southeast elevation is blank and is abutted by a shallow single-storey return, detailed as the main block, with a single central replacement door and blank cheeks on both sides. The northeast elevation is blank and is abutted by a one-and-a-half-storey return, also detailed as the main block, advanced to the right. On the left cheek of this return is a metal-sheeted timber door set within a larger infilled doorway. The return wall to the northeast has a modern arched opening. To the right, the return is abutted by a blast wall, now forming a modern toilet with a flat concrete roof and a sheeted door to the left cheek with a timber vent above. The northwest elevation is blank.

C — Blast Shelter

Aligned northeast to southwest. A low structure approximately 10 metres by 4 metres, consisting of four walls with an entrance at the centre of both the front and rear elevations. A modern shallow-pitched corrugated iron roof on a single course of concrete blocks has been added. The structure is built on a concrete plinth. The walls are red brick laid in English bond, 1.5 metres high and 300mm thick. To the centre of the front elevation, two projecting walls frame the entrance and taper down to ground level; the same arrangement is repeated at the rear. The tapering entrance walls suggest that the structure may originally have been embanked with earth on all sides. Now used as an animal byre.

D — Blast Shelter

Aligned northeast to southwest. As structure C, but with only the southeast portion roofed.

E — Blast Shelter

Aligned northwest to southeast. As structure C, but much altered. A corrugated roof has been added, the wall-head has been raised, the rear (southwest) entrance has been blocked up, doors have been added to the right gable, the whole structure has been rendered, and the interior has been stripped.

F — Squash Court

Aligned southwest to northeast. A double-height, single-bay structure with a pitched corrugated asbestos cement roof with a semicircular ridge and circular asbestos cement stops. There are moulded asbestos cement bargeboards and half-round asbestos cement rainwater goods. The permanent red brick walls are 200mm thick, cement rendered, with occasional brick buttresses. The southwest gable is divided into three bays and is abutted by a single-storey return; the wall above is blank apart from a rectangular vent in the gable. The return has a partially collapsed lean-to corrugated asbestos roof and walls matching the main block, with a sheeted entrance door to the centre flanked by one-third top-opening paned steel casement windows with no sills. The left (northwest) elevation is blank. The rear (northeast) gable is blank apart from a vent matching the other gable. The right (southeast) elevation has had a pair of sliding doors inserted.

G — Officers' Mess

Aligned southwest to northeast. A much-altered and extended single-storey structure, now ruinous. It may have originally continued further to the southwest. The roof is pitched corrugated asbestos cement with semicircular ridges and circular asbestos cement stops. The walls are rendered temporary brickwork, 100mm thick, with buttresses. The southwest gable of the surviving portion was originally an internal party wall and now has a large pair of modern corrugated metal doors. The southeast elevation is four bays long, with the left two bays advancing beyond and being wider than the right two. From left to right: the first bay has a door; the second and third each have a window; the fourth has a large opening at ground floor level and a small window to the upper right. The northeast gable is abutted at its centre by a rendered brick water tower with a flat concrete roof, with a slightly taller brick chimney to its right and a lower flat-roofed block to its left. Ruinous foundation remains are visible to the front. The rear (northwest) elevation is abutted by a modern concrete block lean-to.

H — Officers' Baths

A single-storey, eight-bay structure of uneven bay widths, aligned southwest to northeast. The roof is pitched corrugated asbestos cement with semicircular ridges and circular asbestos cement stops. There are no rainwater goods. The temporary red brick walls are 100mm thick, cement rendered, with buttresses between each bay. The southwest gable has two buttresses and a modern two-paned window to the centre. The southeast elevation has a single two-paned steel casement to each bay, with the following exceptions: bay one (to the left) has a pair of modern corrugated iron doors to the left of its window; bays two and three each have two windows; the fourth bay has a porch and a timber-sheeted door. The northwest elevation also has an assortment of two- and three-paned metal windows to each bay, with bays three and seven each having a porch and a sheeted door. Bay one is abutted by a modern outbuilding linking it to building J. The northeast gable has three bays and is blank.

I — Sergeants' Showers

A single-storey, five-bay structure (with the second bay double the width of the others), aligned northwest to southeast. The roof is pitched corrugated asbestos cement with semicircular ridges and circular asbestos cement stops. There are no rainwater goods. The temporary red brick walls are 100mm thick, cement rendered, with buttresses between each bay. The northwest gable has three bays, with a sheeted door to the right side and a three-paned casement to the middle. The southwest elevation, from left to right: bay one is blank; bay two has a two-paned steel casement window to the left and a blocked-up door to the right; bay three has a two-paned window; bay four has a three-paned window; bay five has a pair of modern corrugated doors. The southeast gable is abutted by the boiler house (J). The northeast elevation has three-paned casement windows to bays one, two, and five; bay three has a two-paned window; and bay four has two-paned windows.

J — Boiler House

Aligned northeast to southwest. A three-storey, single-bay structure abutting the southeast gable of the Sergeants' Showers (I). It has a flat concrete roof and cement-rendered permanent red brick walls, 200mm thick. The northeast elevation is blank and is abutted by a chimney rising above roof level. The southeast elevation is blank. The southwest elevation has a two-over-two top-opening window at ground floor level and a large infilled opening to the upper floor. The northwest elevation has a steel casement window at ground floor level and a small opening just below the roof. The boiler house is entered from within the shower block.

A 1946 Air Ministry map confirms this group of buildings as Communal Site 1 of the Greencastle Aerodrome. The stand-by set house appears identical to Air Ministry drawing number 15453/41. The air raid shelter and blast shelters are typical of their type. The squash court follows Air Ministry design number 16589/40. The mess, boiler house, showers, and bath house are all standard airfield structures. The site originally included a number of other structures that have since been demolished, among them a Sergeants' Mess, airmen's dining room, ration store, institute, grocery store, airmen's showers, latrines, gymnasium and chancel, tailor, barber and shoe shop, picket post, breakdown ration store, destructor house, latrine bucket emptying platform, and static water tank. The station's principal building groups were dispersed around the local area to avoid concentrated enemy bombing, with the radar station located furthest away at Maghereagh, to the northeast of Kilkeel. There were over 600 airfields in Britain by the end of the Second World War, and 29 in Northern Ireland.