First World War flight station at Stow Maries, Stow Maries Aerodrome, Cold Norton (EHER 16686)

The First World War '1st Class Flight Station' of Stow Maries is a rare example of a well preserved First World War flight station which retains almost all of its original buildings and layout. The airfield was used between 1916 and 1919 as part of the home defence network of airfields that protected London from German raids. The site was abandoned after its closure in 1919 and, although it was surveyed twice during the Second World War for re-use as an airfield, it was not used again. A large number of the original buildings still survive making Stow Maries the most complete example of a First World War airfield and air station in England. The airfield covered an area of around 118 acres and there was a technical and domestic site. The technical area (15 acres) was located at the north end of the airfield and consisted of two aeroplane twin sheds (EHER 81727 and EHER 81728), workshops (EHER 81729 and EHER 81732), stores (EHER 81730, EHER 81733, EHER 81737 and EHER 81744) and motor transport sheds (EHER 81735). The domestic site was located to the south and SW and consisted of a number of buildings including the reception station (EHER 81761), officers' mess (EHER 81757), regimental institute (EHER 81742), offices (EHER 81741) and accommodation blocks (officers and men) (EHER 81749-81756). Stow Maries was a flight station for 37 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, and 'B' Flight was initially based there operating BE12 aircraft. In 1918 the squadron was re-equipped with Sopwith Pups, Y2-Strutters and Snipes and Stow Maries became the squadron headquarters. After it closed in 1919, the buildings were maintained and reused to temporarily house Italian farm workers after the end of the Second World War, and later for agricultural purposes hence their preservation. At the beginning of 2009 restoration began at the airfield to restore it to as near its original state as possible, and in 2012 the site was listed at Grade II*. It now operates as a museum.

Stow Maries was built as a London defence aerodrome which opened in 1916. It was a flight station for 37 Squadron Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and closed in 1919 when the war ended and the Squadron left. More than 20 upstanding buildings remain, in various degrees of preservation, making this an extremely rare and well preserved First World War airfield and military camp. <1> - <4> 1996. Military Airfields in Essex survey. The aerodrome covered three fields to the south of Flambirds Farm and three from Old Whitmans Farm, on land requisitioned from local farmers in late 1914. Hedges were grubbed out to provide an area of approximately 120 acres, with the main entrance situated on Strawberry Hill Lane. Permanent brick structures began to be built, although all the buildings were not completed until 1918. The first flying unit arrived in 1916, 37 Squadron RFC. Their task as a Home Defence (HD) Squadron was to combat the threat from German airships and aircraft to London and East Anglia. On March 17th 1919, 37 Squadron flew to Biggin Hill and the aerodrome closed down. In 1939, with the threat of war looming closer once more, the Air Ministry considered reopening Stow Maries, but opted to update Rochford (later renamed Southend, EHER 14870) instead. The site was surveyed again in 1942 as a possible US 8th Air Force station but although plans were drawn up they were never carried through. The land, which returned to cultivation shortly after the demise of the aerodrome in 1919, has continued to be in agricultural use. The buildings have been used for various agricultural purposes including housing farm workers and storing agricultural equipment. The report recommends a full architectural survey be carried out at the site, and that the extant buildings are candidates for listed status. <3> April 1997. RCHME field survey. The airfield complex comprises 25 buildings in various states of repair, seven more which can be identified on the ground as foundations or parchmarks, and 15 which can no longer be identified on the ground, but whose sites are known from the Ordnance Survey 3rd edition 25-inch map (surveyed in 1920). All lie to the west of the site of the airfield itself, on either side of a straight track which leads southwards from Flambirds Farm. Amongst those buildings which survive relatively well are (from north to south) the motor transport sheds (EHER 81735); the ammunition store (EHER 81733); the workshops and workshop offices (EHER 81729, EHER 81730, EHER 81732); the commanding officer's car garage (EHER 81736); the aircraft repair shop (EHER 81729); the blacksmith's shop (EHER 81734); the fuel and coal store (EHER 81744); the telephone exchange (EHER 81731); the other ranks' canteen (EHER 81742); the water tower and its associated reservoir (EHER 81748); the squadron HQ (EHER 81741); the senior non-commanding officers' (NCO's) quarters (EHER 81755); the night-flying equipment store (EHER 81758); a complex of officers quarters (EHER 81756, originally six buildings, three are still roofed, one is partly demolished, two are foundations only); a complex of three barracks for enlisted men (EHER 81758); and the officers' mess building (EHER 81757). The generator building (EHER 81762) stands isolated from the rest of the complex, 160m to the west. Only part of the foundations of the two aircraft sheds can be identified on the ground (EHER 81727 and EHER 81728). The sites of both have been partly re-used by modern buildings. Contemporary practice divided these between 'technical buildings' for storage, transport, repair and maintenance, and 'regimental buildings' devoted to administration, accommodation and associated amenities. There is also a degree of zoning within the site: the technical buildings are clustered at the north end behind the former aircraft sheds which opened on to the airfield, while the distribution of the regimental buildings to the south and south west reinforces the hierarchical nature of military life, with officers (and women, see EHER 81749-81754) segregated from other ranks. In design the buildings are simple and functional. They are single-storeyed and have thin brick walls strengthened with piers, some of which incorporate flues for heating stoves. The roof trusses are mostly of timber, some with metal members, and the roofs are mostly slate-covered. The original windows are a mixture of a standard timber design and a standard cast-iron glazing unit. A full Level 3 report and site plan at 1:500 scale are held in the Historic England Archive. <5> - <8> 1997. First World War Airfields in Essex survey. Situated in farmland on a plateau at 174m above Mean Sea Level and first surveyed in August 1916, the site took in a total of twelve fields belonging to Edwins Hall and Old Whitmans farms, three-quarters of a mile to the NW of the village that was itself located two miles north of the River Crouch. The locals knew it as Stow St Mary, after the parish church of St Mary and St Margaret, although the name 'Stow Manes' came from a marshy area of the parish by the river. Occupying some 118 acres of land in the hands of Frederick Todd, farm bailiff to Strutt and Parker, it gave a useful landing area of 850 x 650 yards with open surroundings but for a few small woods. No activity occurred until 15 September 1916 when 'B' Flight of No.37 HD Squadron moved in from Orfordness, Suffolk. The unit had been based there whilst on attachment to the experimental establishment but now as a squadron in 50th Wing, South Fast Area it was dispersed: 'A' and 'C', flights were sent to Rochford and Goldhanger respectively, and the squadron HQ established at The Grange (EHER 39085), Woodham Mortimer, a large house at that time owned by Charles Bentall. Building works started but the landing surface, although moderate, had to be improved in order to achieve 1st Class Flight Station status. Indeed such was the rate of deterioration of the surface due mainly to weathering that remedial works by the 'works and bricks' section using the station steamroller were carried on throughout the operational life of this flight station. Ostensibly to be used as a base for HD aircraft operating at night, no facilities for night flying were initially provided, the first official sorties of this type carried out on 23 May 1917 by two B.E.12a aircraft being uneventful although later operations fared better. In 1918 re-equipment with Sopwith Pups and 1 Y2-Strutters preceded Camels as the more advanced types appeared, and in June the squadron headquarters moved onto the site in anticipation of all the flights operating from there. By December of 1918, a batch of Sopwith Snipes had arrived, which also coincided with the end of the programmed building phase for the station. All the completed buildings were retained for use whilst the other unfinished structures making up a total of 44 on the 15-acre technical site area were demolished down to foundation level and building works then ceased. Stow Manes closed down on 17th March 1919 and the site reverted back to its original owners and, with Harry Turner at Edwins Hall making no attempt to remove any of the completed buildings, agriculture and grazing took over the flying field. All the draining was left in situ and remains to this day but, whilst traces of the cinder tracks leading away from the aeroplane sheds can be seen from the air, one thing noticeably absent from the southern part of the site is the silhouette of a Gotha cut out of the turf and filled with whitened stones for use in firing practices. In the 1930s, point-to-point steeplechases were held on the site, frequently by the Essex Farmers Hunt Club, with the venue reported in the press as 'Stow St Mary Aerodrome'. Prior to the Second World War, surveyors from the Air Ministry inspected the site to see if it could be re-opened but it was decided instead to upgrade Rochford (EHER 14870), some 8 miles to the SE. No attempt was made to demolish the aeroplane sheds or other buildings, or to obstruct and camouflage the landing ground, as a result of which it still resembled an operational station and attracted a number of Luftwaffe bombs as well as Hurricane P3715, LE-D of 242 Sqn, which force-landed there with radiator damage as a result of combat on 7 September 1940. A pair of parachute mines dropped near to Flambirds Farm on 20 April 1941 partially demolished the northern aircraft shed but the remaining sheds were not all taken down until 1946. After seeing no more action, the site was again surveyed in 1942, this time as the proposed location for a bomber station to serve the expanding American Eighth Air Force in East Anglia. Allocated the USAF Station number 163 it would have had the name of RAF Cold Norton, this being a reversion to 1843 when the airfield site had been completely in that parish. The new airfield would have taken in most of the First World War flight station, but due to the need to finish other airfields already in progress, the land requisitioned and surveyed in September was given up in December when the project was shelved. The site remained as agricultural and grazing land, and 26 of the First World War buildings were left in place, some being used post-war to house Italian farm workers. Stow Maries was built as a London defence aerodrome which opened in 1916. It was a Flight Station for 37 Squadron RFC, and closed in 1919 when war had ended and the squadron left. Of all the sites in the county, Stow Maries is the most completely preserved example of a First World War Flight Station, let alone landing ground, due mainly to the inaccessibility of the site. Short of a change of use for the land it looks set to last another 50 years. <9> 1997. Site Assessment. More than 20 upstanding buildings remain in various degrees of preservation. These buildings include officer's mess and quarters, enlisted men's quarters, motor transport sheds and more. This is a rare example of a First World War flight station surviving in an almost complete state. Every effort possible should be taken to preserve the buildings and landing ground in their entirety as they have considerable value as a group. The site should be considered for scheduling. <5> <9> See also <10>. April 2012. Grade II* listed. The remaining buildings of the First World War RFC airfield at Stow Maries, built between 1914-1918, with some late 20th century alterations are listed at Grade II*. There are a total of 24 buildings, the largest known surviving group of RFC buildings on a First World War aerodrome which, being abandoned in 1918, was not adapted for further military use later in its history. The individual building types are rare survivors; only two other RFC officers' messes are listed and there are no designated examples of some of the other building types which remain at Stow Maries including the 'pilots' ready room', aircrew mess, reception building and squadron headquarters. With the exception of some of the women's hostels, the hangars and the temporary buildings which have been demolished, this group of technical and regimental buildings is a complete example of a 1914-1918 RFC aerodrome with the associated infrastructure, parade ground and flying field. <11> In April 1918 the RFC became the Royal Air Force (RAF) and in June 1918, Stow Maries became the Station Headquarters for 37 Squadron. With the arrival of Sopwith Pups at around the same time, the squadron was officially classed as a night fighter unit. However, as no offensive sorties were flown, and although the complement of aircraft was further boosted by Sopwith Camels in October, the war ended without them seeing action. When the RAF survey was carried out in October 1918, the station personnel totalled 219. Amongst that number were three members of the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF), who had separate lodgings on the station (EHER 81749-81754) and 12 civilian women who came in on a daily basis to undertake the various domestic duties on the site. The complement of aircraft numbered 16 Camels, but the site was still not complete; the 'technical buildings' were described as 85% complete, but only 55% of 'regimental buildings' were finished. Elements of the site infrastructure were even less advanced. Completion was forecast for 15 December 1918, but hostilities ceased on 11 November and it is likely that some buildings were never completed. After the war, the airfield remained in use and in February 1919, C-Flight became the third to be based at Stow Maries. The complement totalled 300 personnel, including 11 pilots, and 24 aircraft. This brief state of affairs ended in March 1919 when the airfield closed and the squadron moved to Biggin Hill in Kent. The land was converted to agricultural use and many of the buildings were adapted to either domestic use for homeless families (until the 1960s) or agricultural purposes. <12> February 2016. Watching brief. A watching-brief was undertaken by M. Medlycott on the 5/2/2016. Foundation test-pit adjacent to the S wall of large open-sided shed established it had a brick course foundation resting on a concrete slab - pit c. 1m deep. A 40cm deep cable-trench next to the road revealed the previous cinder-track , this apparently extended to the other side of the road, meaning the track was originally wider than the current concrete surface. A foundation test-pit on the derelict building to the S of the Pilots Ready-room revealed 2 courses of brick foundations on 12" of concrete foundation. The topsoil averaged 8" thick (20cm), subsoil is heavy clay. No report. <13> Stow Maries airfield was established as a London defence aerodrome on twelve fields belonging to Edwins Hall and Old Whitmans farms. There were often problems with the runway and it had to be steamrolled daily to maintain it. The airfield contained 44 buildings and six pilots were killed from Stow Maries. During the Second World War it was surveyed twice, and even given an airfield number of USAF 163, however it was never used. The airfield was actually bombed by the Germans thinking it was an active airfield. Immediately after the war it was used to house Italians working on local farms. <14> 37 Squadron RFC was the only squadron based at Stow Maries and it was also used as a night landing ground equipped with flares and landing lights. For more details on the squadrons and aircraft please refer to the source. <15> The site has been recently bought (2009) and is being restored to a close resemblance of its original appearance during the First World War. A museum, site visits and a series of historical lectures are being planned for this unique site. The website contains historical information on the airfield as well as photographic galleries (historical and of the current restoration), forums and visitor information. <16> See aerial photograph <17>. See also <18> <19> <20>. Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import.