Second World War floodlight base, New House Farm, Old Barn Lane, Rettendon (EHER 20875)

Partially destroyed. The site of a Second World War floodlight and generator building, of which only the concrete floodlight base remains. Both structures can be seen in an aerial photograph from October 1946. The floodlight was probably constructed between 1936 and 1940 as part of an experiment to light up the night sky with a grid of large, fixed 'floodlights', as a defence against German bombers. The experiment, termed 'Silhouette', failed as the network of floodlights acted as a navigational aid for the enemy aircraft, and it was subsequently terminated in March 1940. When visited in 2005, nothing of the generator building remained, but the concrete floodlight base survived as a circular concrete pat around a flowerbed. It is one of six concrete bases to survive.

January 2005. World War Two Defences in Chelmsford survey: site visit and desktop research. An aerial photograph taken in October 1946 shows the clear outline of an experimental 'floodlight' standing 200 yards to the west of the A130 at Rettendon. Its generator building can be seen a few yards away from its north-east face. <1> Visited in January 2005, this area is now the rear garden of a new house, 'New House Farm'. The base of the floodlight still survives as a circular concrete path around a flowerbed. The path is about 5’ wide and still retains some of the rusting steel brackets embedded in its surface. The diameter of the structure is about 45’ across. At the south-east edge of the circle a wider part of the concrete shows where the entrance was. There is no apparent trace of the base of the generator building. <2> Four photos. <3> During the late 1930s/early 1940s (probably 1936-1940), an experiment was conducted to light up the night sky with a grid of large, fixed 'floodlights', as a defence against German bombers. Each installation consisted of a steel enclosure, 50 feet across, in which the floodlight was mounted, surrounded by twelve large mirrors angled towards the sky. Information on the experiment is still scarce; an enquiry to the Imperial War Museum has been unsuccessful. Enquiries by Mr F. Plume at the Public Record Office (PRO) in 1992/1993 have resolved some of the questions. <4> <5> A map drawn by Mr Plume in 1999, from his earlier investigations, shows 50 sites in Essex, located in an area from Little Leighs in the North to Eastwick in the South. It is not known whether this was the complete grid (although one floodlight is known to have been sited at Dovercourt, EHER 10715) or whether the experiment overlapped to other counties. The experiment was not a success - it is said that the light reflecting from the clouds lit up the countryside as a perfect navigational aid for the bombers, and the work was terminated in March 1940. <6> <7> The project was termed 'Silhouette'. <8> See EHER 20565 for details of the only known remaining example of a Second World War floodlight from this experiment in Essex. Note: This monument is one of six floodlights from the original 50 where the concrete base is known to survive. See also EHER 10715, EHER 20661, EHER 20858, EHER 20978 and EHER 20999.