Ravenscar Second World War Radar Station

Bent Rigg is a scheduled monument roughly a kilometre southeast of Ravenscar. It was established in 1941 as a Type M station in the coastal Chain Home Low system, watching for surface shipping, and was later converted to Chain Home Extra Low. Both sides of the station survive here: the technical buildings that housed the radar and its power supply, and the living and administrative quarters of the crew who worked it, set above the stretch of sea the station was built to scan.

The buildings are secured and fenced, so viewing is from the outside. You can walk the field and read the layout on the ground, but you cannot go inside anything.

• The transmitter/receiver block
• The engine house and the fuel store
• A Nissen hut used as the communications hut
• About eleven barrack, domestic and administrative foundations, plus latrine remains
• An interpretation panel that explains which structure did what

• Parking is limited roadside space in Station Square
• There are no facilities at the site, so sort out water, food and toilets in the village first

• The field can be muddy, especially after rain
• The position is exposed to cliff-top wind and weather
• Livestock graze the field, so keep dogs on a lead and close gates behind you

Sturdy footwear or boots, a windproof layer whatever the forecast says, water, and something to eat if you are doing the circular route. Binoculars are useful for the coastline.

This is a modest site in a grazed field: a handful of buildings, concrete foundations and an interpretation panel. Everything is locked and fenced, there is nothing staffed, and the walk out and back takes real effort with a climb on the return. The reward is a readable wartime radar station with a big sea outlook.