Site of Second World War observation post, Blankets Farm, Bulphan (EHER 21504)

Now destroyed. The site of a Ground Controlled Interception (GCI) radar station at Blankets Farm. GCI stations were developed by the Air Ministry from 1940 to detect, locate and track enemy aircraft and provide inland radar coverage of Britain. The station at Blankets Farm was operational by April 1942 and could have been in use throughout the Second World War. By the 1980s the station had been removed and the site restored to agricultural use.

October 2012. World War Two Defences in Thurrock survey: desktop research and field visit. Contemporary records state, 'Observation Post. ‘Front’ field, Blankets Farm (approx. 4 acres). Map ref. 066040. (Mil. Ed.) <1> ‘Blankets Farm’ lies to the west of Bulphan, on Dunnings Lane. The map reference indicates that the observation post stood to the south of the farm, perhaps where Fen Lane crosses Dunnings Lane. What form the observation post took is not known. Nothing significant can be made out on an aerial photograph taken in May 1946. This area is flat, open fields. Nothing surviving could be seen at the time of the site visit. <2> NRHE data transfer: A Ground Controlled Interception station located at Blankets Farm (TQ 620 853), called site 40G. Ground Controlled Interception (GCI) radar stations were developed by the Air Ministry from 1940 to detect, locate and track enemy aircraft and provide inland radar coverage of Britain. The stations worked in cooperation with local Fighter Sectors that had Airborne Interception (AI) radar fitted in its aircraft to enable the crew to accurately home in on targets. <3> Aerial photography from 1981 shows that the station had been removed and the site given over to agricultural use. <4>