Information for record number MWA8099:
RAF Bramcote

Summary RAF Bramcote, an airfield dating to the Second World War. The runways were subsequently taken up. The airfield was situated 1km west of Wolvey. After the war the aifield became first HMS Gamecock and then the Army's Gamecock Barracks.
What Is It?  
Type: Airfield
Period: Unknown
Where Is It?  
Parish: Burton Hastings
District: Rugby, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 41 87
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 An airfield opened in June 1940 and intended as a dispersal site for bombers. Was principally used for the training of Polish air crews, but was later used by the Royal Navy. Used by the army since 1959. The runways have been taken up and few traces remain of the former airfield.
2 runway still visible in aerial photograph of 1966.
3 Further information on the wartime use of this site, as an RAF airfield, and its subsequent post-war use by the Royal Navy as RNAS Bramcote (HMS Gamecock) between August 1947 and October 1957. The site was transferred, in 1959, to the British Army as Gamecock Barracks. The Barracks were home to the Junior Leaders' Regiment Royal Artillery, between the 1960s and the 1990s. This was an Army training establishment for the future NCOs of the Royal Artillery.
4 The airfield was built in 1939 by John Laing & Son Limited. Three steel matting runways were constructed, one at 1600 yards and two at 1400 yards. The decoy site for the airfield was at Wibtoft (MWA9672). It was home to Operational Training Unit No 18, intended to train Polish Air Force Aircrews. Detailed information.
5 A former military airfield opened in 1940 and later used as a navy and armybarracks. Construction of the base began in 1939- the base was planned as a training airfield. runways were established using Sommerfeld Track, a type ofsteel mesh. The airfield's initial wartime role was to train bomber crews for Polish units of the Royal Air Force (squadrons 300, 301, 304 and 305). OtherOperational Training Units (or OTU) were stationed there, including 105 and 108 OTU. In addition from 1941 onwards, a training unit named the 1513 Beam Approach Training Flight used Bramcote to practise a form of "blind flying". From 1946 to 1959 the airfield was taken over by the navy as "HMS Gamecock ", for mechanical training (for the Air Arm) and for the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve: it was possibly the furthest inland of the Navy's bases. From 1959 to the time of recording in 2003 the Barracks has been used by the army. From 1959 into the early 1990s it was used to train Army Junior leaders, and more recently it has been the home of the 30th Signals regiment. The expansion of the Barracks and the building of the M69 motorway destroyed much of the layout of the flying field by 1983.
 
Sources
Source No: 2
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title:
Author/originator: J Pickering
Date: 1962
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: SP4489 C/D/E/X
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Fifty years of changing land use
Author/originator: Freeman, H
Date: 1989
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Premises, Sites etc. within 30 miles of Harrington Museum used for Military Purposes.
Author/originator: John Brace
Date: Before 2017.
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire Airfields in the Second World War
Author/originator: Smith G
Date: 2004
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Internet Data
Title: Wikipedia
Author/originator:
Date: 2007
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
technique Aerial Photograph Aerial photographs are taken during an aerial survey, which involves looking at the ground from above. It is usually easier to see cropmarks and earthworks when they are viewed from above. Aerial photographs help archaeologists to record what they see and to identify new sites. There are two kinds of aerial photographs; oblique and vertical. back
monument YARD * A paved area, generally found at the back of a house. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. back
monument RUNWAY * A hard level roadway or other surface from which aircraft take off and land. back
monument MILITARY AIRFIELD * A landing and taking-off area for military aircraft. Often includes ancilliary structures and buildings for the maintenance and storage of aircraft, etc. back
monument BARRACKS * A building used to house members of the armed forces. back
monument DISPERSAL * An area of hardstanding for parking aircraft, in a state of readiness, usually around the perimeter of an airfield. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument MOTORWAY * Fast arterial road with separate carriageways limited to motor vehicles back
monument MUSEUM * A building, group of buildings or space within a building, where objects of value such as works of art, antiquities, scientific specimens, or other artefacts are housed and displayed. back
monument AIRFIELD * An area or site used for the landing and take-off of aircraft, often including associated buildings, equipment and other installations. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record