NHER 69726 (Monument record) - Site of World War Two era buildings associated with Hethel Airfield (Defence Site 1)

This group of buildings within the former Hethel Industrial Estate were originally associated with Hethel Airfield (NHER 9522) – a heavy bomber base constructed between 1941 and 1942 and then operated by the USAAF. The group comprises two large multi-phase building complexes and two adjacent, smaller structures. A contemporary - previously classified – plan of the airfield (S1) shows this triangular plot of land had been known as 'Defence Site 1' during the war, with the westernmost of the two main building complexes corresponding with structures labelled as 'Crew Rest and Locker' and the easternmost with buildings labelled 'Bomber Ops'. A small extant building immediately to the north of the former can be clearly seen on RAF aerial photographs taken in 1946 but doesn't appear to be on the Air Ministry plan (a small structure labelled 'Bomb Inst and Store' is shown close to its location but appears to be a different building). By 2022 few of the wartime airfield structures still survived, the majority having been demolished in the decades following the deactivation of the airfield in 1948. There buildings represent the majority of the surviving structures.
Information from report (S2).
P. Watkins (HES), 11 February 2026.

September 2022. Building Survey.
Detailed photographic survey of surviving World War Two airfield buildings, ahead of their proposed demolition.
The westernmost of the two large building complexes (Building A, marked 'Crew Rest and Locker' on the Air Ministry plan) comprises three long parallel ranges, linked laterally by a series of infill connecting passages. The eastern range and elements of the central and western ranges represent the original airfield buildings. Although there have been a number of post-war extensions and other modifications the eastern range retains its original footprint and exterior appearance (along with a number of the original windows). The interior of this range also retains much of its original character, along with the metal trusses of its wartime roof. The original portion of the central range also appears to have retained its original roof. Similar metal roof trusses were also noted in the northernmost element of a simple rectangular building forming the northernmost element of the western range. This is though a later addition, suggesting it either represented a military building constructed not long after the others or utilised reused roof trusses from elsewhere on the site.
The easternmost of the two large building complexes (Building B, marked 'Bomber Ops' on the Air Ministry plan) comprises a largely square northern element of multiple phases and a long east-to-west aligned range to the south, connected by a short linking building. It is clear from aerial photographs that these structures are mostly of World War Two construction. The southern range retains much of its original character, although, as with Building A, the complex has seen various additions and alterations. Like Building A the removal of fixtures and fittings relating to the recent industrial use of these structures has exposed much of the surviving wartime fabric, including the original metal roof trusses.
Building D is a slightly 'L'-shaped building to the north of the eastern range of Building A. As noted above this building was constructed prior to or during 1946 but is seemingly not the 'Bomb Inst and Store' shown to the north of Building A on the Air Ministry plan. It is a single-storey structure with a flat roof and rendered exterior and is believed to have been constructed as a toilet block – a function it retained until the closure of the industrial estate.
Also recorded was Building C - a rectangular east-to-west aligned post-war building immediately to the east of Building B. It is clad in corrugated metal sheeting and has a large central doorway in its northern elevation.
See report (S2) for further details. See also digital photographic archive (S3).
P. Watkins (HES), 11 February 2026.

Recent aerial imagery shows that these buildings were all demolished at some time between 2023 and 2025.
P. Watkins (HES), 11 February 2026.