Second World War Radar Tower, Coalhouse Point (EHER 10296)

A second World War radar tower, built on the foreshore at Coalhouse Point in 1940. The tower was under the supervision of the Navy was used to locate invaders or raiders, in the nearby electrically-detonated minefield, in the event that they had got past the naval craft, boom and coast artillery down river. The radar tower, along with a number of related defence sites on Coalhouse Point, is included in the scheduling of Coalhouse Fort.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import. The massive radar tower stands on the north bank of the River Thames. It is hexagonal, approximately 30' wide x 60' high and comprises three levels. The ground level is brick-built with two entrances leading to five rooms. The middle level comprises criss-crossed girders and an iron staircase leading to the third level which is constructed of concrete and once housed the aerial array. At the time of the site visit this level was inaccessible. <1> The hexagonal radar tower was built in 1940 probably to defend against surface vessels and surfacing U-boats in the River Thames. Operated by the Navy and protected by mobile units of the Royal Marines, it is possible that the tower operated in conjunction with the minefield control bunker in Coalhouse Fort, 1/2km to the north. <2> It is thought that this is one of only three of its kind surviving in the country. <2> The site was, apparently, manned by naval personnel during World War Two - possibly with a type N.T. 284 instrument which is described in War Office records as having been established for minefield observation. <1> Three photos of site. <3> Site Assessment = The second and third levels are inaccessible without a ladder. In 2010, two similar naval radar towers were surveyed and recorded at Tollesbury (EHER 10726) and Beacon Hill, Harwich (EHER 55). Each is hexagonal, three-storey, on an estuary, but not entirely the same pattern. See the individual records for more details. Each is variously stated as anti-shipping, Radar Direction Finding or radar site, probably built in 1940 / 41, manned by Royal Navy personnel, with a Type 284 or 287 RDF set. Twenty-two photographs were taken of the Tollesbury tower in June 2010. <5> Twenty-three photographs were taken of the Beacon Hill tower in July 2010. <6> August 2012: A low-level, oblique aerial photograph at the National Monument Record shows the radar tower apparently newly-built. The date is 18 August 1941. <8> The radar tower was surveyed by English Heritage in October 2000 as part of a project looking at archaeological structures in the inter-tidal area at Coalhouse Point. For the full report and archive plan contact the National Monuments Record (from 2015 known as - Historic England Archive). <2> The RDF tower's job was to locate invaders or raiders in the nearby electrically-detonated minefield--in the event that they had somehow got past the naval craft, boom and coast artillery down river. It was installed at the same time and for the same role as the hexagonal RDF towers at Tollesbury and Harwich. The minefield was an emergency backup defence--too far upriver to have ever detected any enemy warships or U-boats out at sea. The radar was a naval 50-cm Type 287, installed in about March 1941 and shut down in about mid-1943. Sources--Admiralty files on defensive minefields and naval radar, War Office Eastern Command lists of 'Vulnerable Points', 1941-43. <9> Additional reference <10>