Buildings 455 and 456 (Five Aircraft Hangars), Durrington Camp

National Heritage List for England Data

Buildings 455 and 456 (Five Aircraft Hangars), Durrington Camp is listed on the National Heritage List for England with the following data. Some information may have become outdated since the date of listing. Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

DURRINGTON

1382/0/10016 LARKHILL 01-DEC-05 Buildings 455 and 456 (Five Aircraft H angars), Durrington Camp

GV II* Aircraft hangars. 1910, for the War Office . Corrugated iron over steel frame. PLAN: five gabled sheds, each of 5 bays with their gables facing the road. To the right of the 3 on the left is a range of offices under the sweep of the roof, the two hangars to the left - separated by a gap of approx. 1.5metres - at a lower level. EXTERIOR: Original sheeting to all sheds with the exception of the front (W) elevation which has had block infill to front doorways and flat-roofed addition. these having block infill to former doors. Steel casement windows to sides and rear. INTERIOR: steel truss roof, with portal framing and steel grooves in concrete and stone flag floor for former sliding doors to front. Flight offices with original joinery including matchboarded partitions and lining and doors.

HISTORY: Built in June 1910, and retaining internal details such as the matchboarded office and evidence for the original sliding doors, these survive as the earliest known aircraft hangars in Europe. They are thus amongst the most historically significant structures associated with the pioneering phase of powered flight, ranking in terms of their early date with the remains of the Wright Brothers workshops and the resited 1910 Boeing workshop at Seattle, which have been given Landmark status by the US government.

The flying field at Larkhill, now partly developed by housing and subsequent tree planting, was Britain's first military airfield...

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