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Monument details
| HER Number: | TQ 76 SW 482 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Rochester Airport incorporating air defences ( bofors emplacement) |
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Summary
Rochester Council established an airport at the site in 1933. Short Brothers began flying at the site soon after and in 1934-5 took over the airfield. In the early years they used the site for test flying but began civilian flights in 1934 flying to Southend. In 1938 a flying school was established, also run by Shorts. The airfield was heavily bombed on 15th August 1940 hitting the factory, where Stirlings were being built, the runway and other buildings. Shorts left the airfield in 1946 but the airfield continued to be used for training and small scale flying
| Grid Reference: | TQ 7450 6450 |
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| Map Sheet: | TQ76SW |
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| Parish: | ROCHESTER & CHATHAM, MEDWAY, KENT |
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Monument Types
- AIRFIELD (AIRFIELD, Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
Full description
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Former military airfield and RAF flying school. Used as emergency landing strip and as atake off for short stirling bombers constructed here in early WW2. Became civil airfield and avionics factory site after WW2. Contains some local defences including at least one pillbox. (1)
<1> Victor Smith and Ron Crowdy, Thames Gateway Assesment: Gazetteer of Defence Sites (Index). SKE6445.
Sources and further reading
| Cross-ref.
| Source description | | <1> | Index: Victor Smith and Ron Crowdy. Thames Gateway Assesment: Gazetteer of Defence Sites. |
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