Site of First World War women's hostel, Stow Maries Aerodrome, Cold Norton (EHER 81752)

Now destroyed. The site of one of a series of blocks which are identified in the 1918 RAF survey as the women's hostel (see EHER 81749-81754), and are set well away from technical buildings. It was a brick-built four-bay construction and appears to have been intended as an accommodation block, built around a courtyard. Though extant at the time of the RCHME survey in 1997, the building appears to have been demolished at some time between 2005 and 2006. The building was intended for use as part of the women's hostel, but appears as though it may have been used by the 'Bricks and Works' department.

1997. RCHME field survey. One of a series of blocks which are identified in the 1918 RAF survey as the women's hostel (see EHER 81749-81754), and are set well away from the men's huts (EHER 81758 and EHER 81759) and technical buildings on the site. Scant evidence for internal divisions survives, but where it does it suggests rooms which were a little smaller than those in the officers' quarters (EHER 81756). This building is a bay shorter than EHER 81750 and EHER 81754, which it sits between. All three seem to have been intended as accommodation blocks, built around a courtyard on the east side. It was intended to link all three buildings by intervening lengths of wall along the west side. Buildings EHER 81749, EHER 81751 and EHER 81753 are more various in size than this building, EHER 81750 and EHER 81752, suggesting a range of different functions within the hostel. This is a single-storey, yellow and red-brick building, 12.5m long by 6.35m wide. The building is gabled with barge boards. The west elevation contains three doorways under concrete lintels. The NW corner is constructed so as to allow for the bonding of a wall running northwards. Part of this wall survives close to ground-level, but it is unclear whether the wall has collapsed or whether it was not built. The SW corner also allows for the keying-in of a wall which extended to EHER 81754. The building's slate damp-proof course is visible on the inside, as it sits on a foundation wall broader than the wall above. It is likely that the floor sat on the projection of the base wall, although it is possible that it was never laid. Flues surmounted by chimneys at the NE and SE corners, and another immediately north of the second window from the north, vented small heating stoves. Internally these flues have holes which were created to accommodate pipes from the stoves. The building is of four bays internally, the trusses resting on concrete pads on top of piers at the walls. The piers supporting the first bay from the north are toothed so as to allow the adjoining of an internal brick partition which does not seem to have been constructed. <1> Notes from A. Doyle amended to <1> describe that 'although given as a women's hostel, an elderly local resident has confirmed that, when working on the site as a cook, she and others were collected daily from their homes (in her case Woodham Ferrers). Apparently the 'serving' women did not stay on site overnight. [EHER 81749-81751] were unfinished by December 1918, whilst [EHER 81752-81754] were used by the 'Works and Bricks' department employed in building up the site. EHER 81754 was used to house the steam roller necessary to restore the flying area 'rutting' to smoothness.' The building is depicted on the 3rd edition OS map.<2> The building was extant at the time of the RCHME survey, but has since been demolished. Aerial imagery from Google Earth places this sometime between December 2005 and November 2006. <3> 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. <4>