The £1.4M Nissen Hut

Details here:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9449007...ome-market-1-4m.html

Looks more like a Romney to me. Is it really part of an airfield?

Estate Agents details assets.savills.com/properties/GBCHRSCHS2...0039_CHS21001638.PDF

its at TL 66778 18244.

wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm?lat=5...grat=None&rgrat=None

and from Geograph in 2007. www.geograph.org.uk/photo/389870

That's interesting... First of all, the two nearest airfields are Great Dunmow and Andrews Field, both of which are North of the town of Great Dunmow, so I don't think they're part of an airfield - they're 5 1/2 miles from Great Dunmow and about 4 miles from Andrews Field (both still visible on Google Earth, the latter still being an active aerodrome on part of the WW2 site).

What interests me more, though, is the dimensions, measured from GE. 35' wide, roof mounted "flush-ish" windows and vents, I agree it's a Romney, but I measured the length to get the number of bays and it's 6' too long or 2' too short, at exactly 21 3/4 bays! Both sides measure 174', which is 21.75 8' Romney bays... But exactly 29 x 6' Nissen bays. I still think it's a Romney, but they cut bits off the ends, because of rust or something. Neither of the two structures the other side of the road (102' and 86' x 38' on GE, but the photo is clearly distorted as the western sides of both are curved) divide by 8, either. If you go straight from one end to the other, including the central gap, however, 208' is exactly 26 x 8' bays. It would make sense for both to have been 208' long, 26-bay, but the developers cut out the irreparable rusted bits. That's my guess anyway.

Paul's book only gives a 12-bay (96') example as in use at "some bomber airfields". Both Great Dunmow and Andrews Field were B-26 units primarily, but, as I said earlier, quite a long way away.

Just my opinion, but I'd say they are Romneys, not Nissens, and not part of an airfield. They're a little too far to be a dispersed technical site. Watch someone come along now and prove me wrong.

(Sources, Military Airfields, Willis/Hollis; RAF Squadrons, Jefford; Military Airfields of Britain, Northern Home Counties, Delve; British Military Architecture, Francis).

Cheers,

Ian P.

Thank You. I guessed a Romney, and like you, couldn't place it as on an airfield dispersed site. Maybe it was moved from one post war, or it's some kind of MoS depot. We need local knowledge.

here are the original planning application documents from 2015. planning.chelmsford.gov.uk/planning/plan...ription=15/00181/FUL

the structural report is possibly misleading in that it describes the "barns" as light aircraft hangars,

As far as I could see there was no archeological work provided for the application

I stand corrected there is a historic assessment based on maps,