Yorkshire's East Coast

Bempton Cliffs

The East Yorkshire coastline has been the location of early warning systems since the First World War when the Kilnsea Sound Mirror was constructed.
In WW2 a Chain Home station was constructed at nearby Staxton Wold and due to the height of the hard chalk cliffs, Bempton was the preferred site for a Chain Home Low & Extra Low system.

Unsurprisingly, images of these secret installations are not readily available but artist William Rawlingson made a series of radar station paintings. The above is unlabelled but Bempton must be a strong candidate.

A recent photograph shows the area where the Chain Home Low & Extra Low stations were likely located.

After a short period of disbandment, RAF Bempton became part of the British ROTOR system designed to counter possible Soviet bomber attack. In 1961 Bempton became a satellite station of RAF Patrington until its final closure in April 1972.



Unfortunately, the radar site is closed to the public and can only be viewed from the edge of the RSPB Nature Reserve.

The area of RAF Bempton is marked in red. Trails within the Nature Reserve go close to the southern and eastern edges of the site.

The view looking from the top right corner of the nature reserve shows the fenced off remains of the ROTOR site.


A short video about RAF Bempton

Access to the Nature Reserve is via the RSPB Centre..........click the image or this link to view their website (opens in a new window).