Year built 1786 | In use 1940-1975 (1975) Owner Ministry of Defence | |
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Type Royal Air Force station / Headquarters | ||
Royal Air Force Barton Hall or more simply RAF Barton Hall is a former Royal Air Force station situated between the villages of Barton and Broughton, near Preston, Lancashire, England.
During World War II, the RAF's 9 Group Operations Centre was housed here in three buildings (Operations Room; Filter Room; Communications Centre), which were partially buried for protection, similar to buildings in 12 Group, in Watnall, and 13 Group, in Inverness. The Filter Room contained a map table showing the British coast from north Wales through western Scotland. One of the WAAF officers in the Barton Hall Filter Room, Eileen Younghusband (WAAF airwoman) recorded her experiences there in "One Woman's War."
Post World War II, Barton Hall was the site of the Preston Air Traffic Control Centre which provided the Area Control service between N52.30 and N55.00, with London ATCC (at Heathrow and later West Drayton) to the South and Scottish ATCC (at Prestwick) to the North. The unit closed in 1975, its task having been absorbed by London ATCC and Manchester Sub-centre situated at Manchester Airport.