Angus HER - NO43NW0051 - TEALING AIRFIELD

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Main Details

Primary ReferenceNO43NW0051
NameTEALING AIRFIELD
NRHE Card No.NO43NW51
NRHE Numlink 94183
HES SM No. NULL
HES LB No. NULL
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Incomplete
Details Remains of military airfield. The airfield at Tealing was located, apparently without regard for local weather and topography, in a hollow that is prone to fog and bad visibility and is overlooked by a range of hills to the west which made night-flying impossible. The airfield opened at the end of March 1942 as an advanced fighter training base and covered an area if circa 80 hectares with two intersecting runways, a technical area containing the control tower, hangars, huts and personnel buildings to the south-east and further accommodation areas around the perimeter (see also NO43NW0097). Remains of the Battlefield Headquarters stand on the east side of the airfield (NO43NW0107). Initially known as Kirkton of Tealing whilst under construction and renamed when No 56 Operational Training Unit was relocated there in March 1942. The original OTU was renamed Bi 1 Combat Training Wing in October 1943, becoming the No.1 Tactical Exercise Unit in January 1944 and disbanded in July 1944. From September 1944 Tealing became a satellite landing ground for No. 9 Advanced Flying Unit., the unit disbanded in June 1945. The accommodation was also used as a Prisoner of War camp in the latter part of the war although it is not known where the prisoners were housed. The airfield was placed on Care and Maintenance after the last unit based there disbanded in June 1945. The aerodrome is in a poor state now with one of the runways now covered with poultry sheds and the other is badly broken up. The tower, a large 518/40 type, remains but the hangars have gone. It is just possible to trace aircraft parking zones amongst other areas of weed-grown concrete. The original entrance to the station is difficult to find, being near the church on the northern perimeter. The accommodation site was also used as a prisoner-of-war camp in the latter part of the war but its location is not evident on 1988 aerial photographs. A programme of archaeological work was carried out across the airfield by Headland Archaeology in 2020 prior to works for an extension to the electricity substation and onshore cable route see also NO43SE0117). Standing building survey recorded 16 structures of the airfield. The control tower comprises a square plan two-storey building of brick with concrete render with a Met Tower at the eastern side. A number of the other buildings within the Technical Area appear to post date the war, as they do not appear on OS maps until the 1965 edition. Other buildings relating to the airfield in this are include offices, storehouses and workshops, and possible guard posts. To the west of the Technical area the survey also recorded an air-raid shelter if Stanton type made from arched segments of prefabricated concrete bolted together to form a standard Air Ministry shelter. It measured 10m by 2m and was 2m high. Metal detecting survey carried out ahead of topsoil stripping recorded only a few items directly related to the airfield, these including the base of a .303 calibre gun cartridge. A watching brief was subsequently carried out during topsoil stripping for construction works and on 21 test pits required for unexploded ordnance surveys. These watching briefs did no identify any previously unknown standing structures or foundations relating to the airfield, but enabled investigation of the construction of the runways, including drainage and lighting systems, and uncovered features relating to pre-19th century agricultural activity. The lighting system exposed in Area B is typical of the ‘Drem’ style lighting used on military airfields from 1941 onwards. Trial trenching by Headland Archaeology in 2021 along the cable route east of the technical area recorded a cut feature which, based in its location, was probably a construction cut for a foundation layer for structures associated with the airfield but which was likely removed when the airfield was decommissioned. Various features have been identified by the Pillbox Study Group on the 1965 1:2500 OS map: a blast shelter (NO43NW0106), and seven Stanton air-raid shelters - on the east side (NO43NW0108, NO43NW0115, NO43NW0116, NO43NW0117, NO43NW0118), and on the west NO36NE0152, NO43NW0105), all of which have been removed.
Last Update09/05/2023
Updated Bycpalmer
Compiler 
Date of Compilation 

Google Map for NO43NW0051

National Grid Reference: NO 4045 3705



Event Details

Event DateEvent TypeOASIS ID
2020 Building Recording headland1-411856
2020 Metal Detecting headland1-411856
2020 Watching-Brief headland1-411856

Excavations and Surveys


Artefact and Ecofact

Ecofact

Samples
Palynology
Ecofact Notes

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
HANGARS SITE OFD100
OFFICES REMAINS OFF100
WORKSHOPS REMAINS OFG100
STOREHOUSES REMAINS OFH90
SHELTERSAIR-RAIDREMAINS OFI100
AIRFIELDSMILITARYREMAINS OFE100
RUNWAYS REMAINS OFB100
TOWERSCONTROLREMAINS OFC100
FOUNDATIONS  J100
AIRFIELDSWORLD WAR IIREMAINS OFA100
HEADQUARTERSWORLD WAR IIREMAINS OFK100
SHELTERSBLASTSITE OFL100
SHELTERSAIR-RAIDSITE OFM100