Second World War station headquarters, Bradwell Bay Airfield, North of Curds Grove (EHER 81597)

A ruined station headquarters building associated with the former RAF Bradwell Bay military airfield (EHER 160467). The headquarters is a single storey brick gabled building, which was probably built in 1941 when the airfield was redeveloped. The roofless shell of the building was still standing in 1999 but was said to be in a 'dangerous' condition; it has since been re-roofed. It is situated close to the former control tower (EHER 81596) to the North of Curds Grove.

1996. Military Airfields in Essex survey. Behind the control tower (EHER 81596) stands the derelict station headquarters (SHQ, type 14376/40). The SHQ was the central building around which the main technical site for the airfield (EHER 16047) was constructed. This site is now agricultural. <1> January 2009. World War Two Defences in Maldon survey: site visit and desktop assessment. Behind the control tower, the SHQ is still extant, newly roofed over. The control tower and SHQ oversaw operations at the airfield. <2> Twenty photos. <3> The station headquarters survives to the rear (South) of the control tower. It is a long single-storey building which appears to have been repurposed as a workshop. <4><5> The SHQ was re-roofed between 2000 and 2005. <6> NRHE data transfer, 1387527: An article by Paul Doyle notes that the ruins of the station headquarters for the former military airfield at Bradwell Bay were still standing in 1999. The roofless building was described as being in a 'dangerous' condition at the time of publication. There is an accompanying photograph of the headquarters, showing a single storey brick building with gabled ends but with no roof remaining. <7> Included in a subsequent article by Paul Doyle mainly concerned with the origins of Bradwell Bay airfield is a plan of the airfield, which shows a number of features, including the location of the station headquarters, situated to the north of Curds Grove. <8> The position of the station headquarters marked on the plan in <8> matches a rectangular building depicted on the OS sheet TM 00 NW 1979 edition, at TM 0080 0775. <9> NRHE data transfer, 1419428: 1995-2002. Defence of Britain survey. Battle Headquarters. LOCATION: Bradwell Bay. <10> <11> NRHE summary description: The site of a Second World War Battle Headquarters at RAF Bradwell Bay.