Orford Ness was previously a top-secret miltary test site
We paid a long overdue visit to Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast, today. A 10-mile shingle spit of land separated from the mainland by the river Ore, it can be reached from a ferry run by the National Trust (who own the Ness), which leaves Orford Quay every twenty minutes or so.
The largest vegetated shingle spit in Europe, it is both a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and a place of mystery, as the stark concrete buildings which populate the far reaches of the stony beaches tell stories of danger and experimentation. Orford Ness was home to both the Ministry of Defence’s Experimental Flying Research Station, and after World War 2, the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE).
Orford Ness ceased miltary operations in 1985
Top-secret military testing at this officially designated Outstanding Area of Natural Beauty was hosted during both World Wars, while the AWRE moved in during the Cold War. An experimental over-the-horizon-radar, known as Cobra Mist, was developed in the buildings and land now occupied by Orford Ness Transmitting Station, too, which now broadcasts the BBC World Service to Eastern Europe, and Radio Nationaal to The Netherlands.
BBC Word Service transmitters at Orford Ness
Much of Orford Ness can be explored, and it is both an eerily austere and beautiful place, because of its sinister warfare history and its natural scenic landscape. Three walking trails take visitors around the spit, and although the shingle beaches and former airfield can be accessed, parts of the old Cobra Mist and atomic weapons research sites remain out of reach to the public.
Strolling around the signposted paths (visitors are advised to keep to the marked routes as although made safe after its closure, buried and unexploded ordnance can make its way to the surface), we felt among the privileged few this afternoon, and with a blanket-cloud, and largely featureless sky above us, a mysterious and foreboding atmosphere lingered in the air, occasionally broken by the calls of wheeling birds.
Orford Ness lighthouse was built in 1792
Orford Ness lighthouse sits at the top of the shingle beach, overlooking the sea, and was used both as a navigation aid by Allied and German aircraft, in wartime, an observation post. The timbered Black Beacon housed an experimental ‘rotating loop’ navigation beacon (which led to an aircraft location system), and although their parts in conflict have long been played out, both structures still stand proudly. The lighthouse is still operational, guiding ships away from the shingle and sand banks, although history tells the role it may have had in the now-infamous UFO sightings in the nearby Rendlesham Forest, which allegedly took place in December 1980.
The Black Beacon dates from 1928
Mysterious tales of electrical disturbances, ghosts and UFOs, still shroud Orford Ness, even today. Compasses reportedly don’t work anywhere on the island, while computers and camera monitors have been known to stubbornly refuse to operate. The sole-remaining electrical fields still known to be active are the World Service transmitters, where the strange effects are supposedly the weakest. UFO sightings also litter the story of the spit, which only add to the Ness’ already thick air of mystery.
The paths up to the former AWRE site are the most sinister, and it’s only when the first former testing chamber for nuclear weapons is entered, that you get a dark sense of what went on at Orford. Developmental work on the British atomic bomb took part under top secret conditions in the concrete and metal buildings which are now in a state of disrepair, and you can only marvel at the dangers people faced working in such places, and the magnitude and impact the weapons their livelihoods depended on would have had if they were ever used.
A former AWRE ‘Pagoda’ (left) and testing chamber
The so-called ‘Pagodas’ are well-known on the coast in this part of Suffolk. Two of the six huge laboratories built, along with many smaller buildings, they tested every combination of physical situation and stress which the atomic bombs might be subjected to. Designed to contain high explosives, their roofs deflected debris down into the testing chambers in the event of an accidental blast. It is these buildings which are the most striking and distinctive, their columns and shallow pyramid roofs belying their dark and dangerous past.
A fascinating place to go and see, a visit to Orford Ness is highly recommended. As we strolled back leisurely to the military trailer housing the National Trust island look-out, our tired legs were telling us all we needed to know. But, it had been a well-spent and interesting afternoon, in both a historically important and remote location.
