Denge Early Warning Station

United Kingdom / England / Lydd /
 Second World War 1939-1945, military, place with historical importance, First World War 1914-1918
Apparatus for detecting aircraft from their engine noise, large concrete parabolic dishes and parabolic wall.

Spectacular remnants of a dead-end technology, the three concrete “listening ears” were built by the Air Defense Experimental Establishment, under the direction of Major William Sansome Tucker in the 1920’s as an experimental early warning system for incoming aircraft.

The theory was that the mirror would reflect the sound of the aircraft into a microphone where an operator could then work out a bearing based on the volume of the aircraft noise. Several of these mirrors based down the coast could then cross reference their bearings to calculate a final position for the aircraft.

The problem was that by the late 1920’s aircraft had became so fast that by the time that all of the mirrors had calculated and cross referenced their bearings the aircraft was already somewhere else. Radar was developed, and the whole sound mirror project was dropped and the mirrors quietly forgotten.

This is the only site in Britain where all three designs are situated in one place.
This early warning system with a range of 20 miles became obsolete by the outbreak of the Second World War, but they have survived and are popular with visitors on pre-arranged guided walks in the summer.

www.dungeness-nnr.co.uk/history.php
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1005...
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denge
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   50°57'21"N   0°57'13"E

Comments

  • This is very cool...
  • Featured on the BBC Programme - Coast
  • Greatstone is the home to the Sound Mirrors, three large concrete structures built in the 1920s and 1930s to detect enemy aircraft. http://www.greatstone.net/
This article was last modified 4 years ago