Site of mid 20th century Marconi research station, Roxwell Road (EHER 15939)

Site of mid 20th century Marconi research station, no longer extant

A Marconi Company brochure (Marconi, nd) indicates that there was a small experimental station at Bedell's End, Chelmsford (TL 6784 0762). Its site lies to the west of Chelmsford adjacent to a recently installed roundabout in open farmland with commanding views in all directions. The field in which it lay is under arable cultivation and except for a short length of tarmac path close to the hedgerow along Roxwell Road there is no surface indication of its site. The site was probably established during the Second World War, or shortly afterwards, and operated until the late 1960s. Known test equipment installed on the site included an Air Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import. Ministry Experimental Station Type 7 radar; in service use this comprised an operations building and a sunken concrete well that housed the radar's transmitter and receiver equipment, and turning gear, above which was a rotating aerial. During the early 1950s, Marconi's was commissioned to develop an L-band (23cm wavelength) radar with a clutter rejection system for the RAF, and the first experimental model was installed at Bedell's End. But the site, situated in saucer shaped expression, topographically proved to be too good for testing the equipment against permanent echoes and from 1954 a new site was developed at Bushy Hill (TQ 89 NW 27), near South Woodham Ferrers. Bedell's End, nevertheless, continued in use, and in the mid-1950s was used for moving target indicator experiments (Gough 1993, l25-6). <1>. February 2019. Geophysical survey. The listening post is recorded as being in the south-west corner of the field which was in Area 1 of the survey. Apart from some ferrous-like response, there is nothing visible in the data which could be highlighted as equating to the former structure. Unfortunately, the presence of large metal tanks and an electricity pole (with an electrical transformer) prevented survey in the corner of the field where this station was located. <2> Additional references <3> <4> <5> <6>