free hit counter
Great Britain - RAF West Raynham, Norfolk - July 2020 | Oblivion State Urban Exploration

Post a thread

Post a thread in one of the forums

Browse the forums

Browse threads and contribute to reports

Contact Staff

Contact the team

Great Britain RAF West Raynham, Norfolk - July 2020

Urbandoned

OS Full member
OS Full member
Joined
Mar 4, 2018
Messages
104
Reaction score
404
Points
63
RAF West Raynham

50494499231_c19f18b2e3.jpg


Royal Air Force West Raynham or more simply RAF West Raynham is a former Royal Air Force station located 2 miles (3.2 km) west of West Raynham, Norfolk and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) southwest of Fakenham, Norfolk, England. The airfield opened during May 1939 and was used by RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War with the loss of 86 aircraft. The station closed in 1994, though the Ministry of Defence (MoD) retained it as a strategic reserve. Having lain derelict since closure, the station was deemed surplus to requirements by the MoD in 2004 and two years later was sold to the Welbeck Estate Group who resold the entire site in October 2007. It is now managed by FW Properties of Norwich, acting for administrators Moore Stephens. The technical area now operates as a business park with many buildings now reused. The former married quarter areas are now all occupied with a pub and nursery on site. Planning permission was granted for the installation of a 49.9 MW solar farm, together with plant housing and a perimeter fence, operated by Good Energy. The solar farm is now fully operational.

50494657112_062714492f.jpg


I was very glad to visit one of these abandoned RAF Bases finally on our weeklong trip this Summer with @DustySensorPhotography and @The Excursionists , because they had been put off for so long. It's something quite different but holds that size that I enjoy when exploring. Raynham interested me due to the minimal natural decay and lack of vandalism, despite it's 2004 closure. After camping beside the site in what appeared to be a rubbish dumping ground at daybreak, we set off for the morning to take a look at some of the favoured features the airfield has to offer.

The first building we looked at was the Officer's Mess, supposedly the grandest building onsite.

50494501681_5fd6bfe05f_b.jpg


Gone were the days when natural light entered at all points into the structure.

50493800298_0ace88670a_b.jpg


50493800468_546985dda7_b.jpg


The central mess hall, with a great glass panelled ceiling.

50494660102_3dcd4ac618_b.jpg


50494502161_228c8a0987_b.jpg


Moving onwards, we headed to a busier portion of the site to see the gym. With a security guard patrolling the area in a white jeep, we sent each other in one by one through the simple, but awkward access.

50494501161_676985e457_b.jpg


50493799293_7d14f30654_b.jpg


50494659047_507ab9a104_b.jpg


Jungle-like decay in the backrooms of the gym.

50493799818_d5573de1fe_b.jpg


Changing rooms.

50494499656_d308fab569_b.jpg


The 'Airmen's Restaurant' was next up.

50494658292_57f43807cf_b.jpg


50494658522_047e4c93e8_b.jpg


Finally, we headed up to the peak of one of the two water towers to get a nice view of the surrounding accommodation blocks. Below the tower, there was some interesting pumps and boilers, complete with old signage.

50494657687_7ae340c176_b.jpg


50494657912_03536bf6a4_b.jpg


From the top.

50494658157_7b6de11de1_b.jpg


Here's the link to our documentary styled video filmed at the RAF Base. We cover the premises' past, present and future through cinematics and narration:


Thanks for reading :)
 

KPUrban_

Surprisingly Unsurprising
OS Full member
Joined
May 21, 2019
Messages
297
Reaction score
397
Points
63
Location
Anglia
Website
www.flickr.com
Awesome effort on this. A few bits I've not seen before. I assume you didn't try your luck driving on the business park where the old radar and hangers are?
 

Urbandoned

OS Full member
OS Full member
Joined
Mar 4, 2018
Messages
104
Reaction score
404
Points
63
Awesome effort on this. A few bits I've not seen before. I assume you didn't try your luck driving on the business park where the old radar and hangers are?
Nah mate, apparently one of the formerly abandoned hangars was now back in use for storage. The control tower had slim chance at being open and was miles off!
 

AndyK!

OS Full member
OS Full member
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
1,404
Reaction score
1,237
Points
113
Location
Grimsby, UK

hamtagger

OS Full member
OS Full member
Joined
Jan 30, 2014
Messages
3,517
Reaction score
1,062
Points
113
Location
Lincoln
Considering the traffic this place has had over the years it looks like a lot of areas have stood the test of time, and the officers mess and JRM looks practically the same as it did 6/7 years ago! Nice looking job with that ATC tower in the comments too @AndyK! :)
 
Top