The following is a press release by The Landmark Trust, announcing their plans to restore the RAF IBSLEY control tower / watch office in the New Forest, Hampshire.
We are delighted to announce that our plan to restore RAF Ibsley Watch Office in Hampshire has reached a new milestone.
The now-dilapidated RAF Ibsley Watch Office is a rare surviving example of a Second World War control tower. Our plans can proceed now we have signed a long lease on the building. This point has only been reached through close working with the RAF Ibsley Airfield Heritage Trust and we are grateful for their enthusiasm and support.
Landmark hopes to restore the Watch Office to its 1940s glory while at the same time adapting it as self-catering holiday accommodation for up to eight guests. This would enable public access and protect the building and its significance in perpetuity. Our restoration will combine environmental sustainability and accessibility, and seek to draw out the special atmosphere of this remarkable place.
A fundraising appeal will be launched this summer. If the money can be raised, holidaying guests – together with visitors to free public open days – will be able to experience the thought-provoking site and enjoy the surrounding nature reserve that the former airfield has become. It is hoped work could begin in 2024 for an opening in 2025, which marks 80 years since the end of the Second World War and the year of Landmark’s 60th anniversary.
The now-dilapidated RAF Ibsley Watch Office is a rare surviving example of a World War II control station. It was constructed between 1941-2 and saw active service, including the D-Day invasion, for both the RAF and US Air Force. The building’s exceptional significance lies in the part it played during a period of great peril in our national history, when young pilots defended Britain with such courage and at such personal cost. Ibsley was used as the location for the wartime film ‘The First of the Few’. We aspire to save it from further dilapidation and vandalism, so that Landmark guests can experience this thought-provoking setting and enjoy the surrounding nature reserve that has displaced the former airfield.
