ÿþ<HTML LANG=en-GB> <HEAD> <TITLE>The Derelict Miscellany :: Tatsfield B.B.C. Receiving Station</TITLE> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="BBC, station, monitoring, tatsfield, receiving, bunker, radio, masts, listening, post, bunker, abandoned, derelict, "> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="A former BBC Technical station which monitored domestic and foreign broadcasts and in 1957 was the first place in Britain to recieve signals from the Russian satellite Sputnik I."> <META NAME="author" CONTENT="D. A. 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Measurement and Receiving Station</font></u><br><font size="4"></font> <br> </center> <b>What:</B> Broadcast monitoring station <BR> <b>Where:</B> Near Tatsfield, Surrey <BR> <b>Built:</b> 1929 <BR> <b>Architect:</b> Unknown <BR> <b>Abandoned:</b> c.1974 <BR> <b>Listed:</b> No. <BR><b>Visited:</b> 2011<BR> <b>Last Known Condition:</b> Very poor, both surviving buildings have been damaged by fire and surviving mast bases are at risk of destruction. <br><b>Page Updated:</b> January 2012<BR> <p align="left"> The Tatsfield B.B.C. Receiving and Measurement Station was established in 1929 to monitor domestic radio broadcasts and gather technical data about them with the aim of ensuring that broadcasts were made on the correct frequency and to the highest possible standards. Situated on an exposed site on the North Downs chosen for its elevation and proximity to London, by 1938 the station it was also monitoring news bulletins from several European countries as well as Tokyo and New York. <br> In the spring of 1939, the British government gave the go-ahead to prepare for war-time monitoring of foreign radio, leading to the formation of the B.B.C. Monitoring service. The outbreak of war in September of that year ensured that Tatsfield and its sister stations at Wood Norton in Worcestershire and later Caversham Park in Berkshire were kept busy gathering news and information. <br> Wartime operations at the B.B.C. Monitoring Unit were divided into two distinct parts:  M unit was the conventional monitoring section while  Y unit, taken over from the military in 1940, focused on enemy propaganda. Information from monitoring foreign services fed into Britain's own propaganda channels, including the so-called  black stations run by the Political Warfare Executive. As a technical station, Tatsfield was not actually concerned with the content of the programmes received, which were listened to at Wood Norton. Instead, Tatsfield carried out technical measurements on the station frequency, signal strength, location and identity of the broadcasts: it swept the wavelengths continually for any changes from the norm, which would often be an indication of events taking place in or near the studios or transmitters themselves. The station also had responsibilities for locating foreign propaganda transmitters and reporting on jamming of BBC and British Government propaganda stations overseas. During the war Tatsfield suffered some bomb damage, with some of the masts being destroyed but fortunately there were no casualties. <br><center> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/tatsfieldmap.png', 1104, 533, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/t0.png" border=1></a> <img height=170 src="comms/bbc/e.JPG" border=1></a> <img height=170 src="comms/bbc/4a.JPG" border=1></a> <img height=170 src="comms/bbc/crr.JPG" border=1></a> <br> Left to Right: [1]. Site Plan, c.1964 (click for full); [2]. The main entrance and operations block in 1968 (V. Lehtoranta*); [3]. The office block in 1968 (V.L.); <br>[4]. Control and Relaying Room in 1961, showing banks of diversity receivers (B.B.C.) <br></center><br> Peacetime meant a change of priorities at Broadcasting House: even during the war questions had been raised about the future of B.B.C. Monitoring and in 1947, the B.B.C. stated publicly that  the future of the Monitoring Service is now under review in the light of peacetime requirements. The budget was cut by around one third, from £430,000 to £300,000 p.a. and staffing was reduced by half. Tatsfield would of course be spared due to its technical role, but its foreeign broadcast monitoring operaations were to be greatly reduced. Shortly after this announcement, however, the descent of the 'Iron Curtain' over much of Eastern Europe and Asia saw a resurgence of interest in foreign broadcasts, augmented by the emergence of the 'Cold War' between the U.S.S.R. and the West. That year the United States Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service approached the B.B.C. with a view to sharing information and avoiding duplication. The following year came a formal agreement between the two which saw full exchange of output and shared coverage of broadcasts which continued until the site's eventual closure. <br><br><center> <img height=170 src="comms/bbc/o.JPG" border=1></a> <img height=170 src="comms/bbc/s.JPG" border=1></a> <img height=170 src="comms/bbc/pl.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/TATSFIELD.png', 631, 597, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/t.png" border=1></a> <br> [5]. Overview (V.L.); [6]. Operational Supervisory equipment in 1968 (V.L.); [7]. Plessey cathode ray radio-compass direction finder in 1968 (V.L.); <br>[8]. Plan of surviving buildings in 2011 (click for full). <br><br></center> By 1961 the Tatsfield Site covered 40 acres, most of them dotted with various aerials receiving both radio and television broadcasts, connected to the main building by co-axial cables. Newly constructed experimental aerials also received satellite signals (this was the first place in the United Kingdom to detect signals from the Russian Sputnik satellite on 4 October, 1957). Facilities on site included a large main receiving building, a small office block, thermally-controlled underground bunkers housing frequency standards apparatus and radio direction finding equipment, tennis courts, a cafeteria, a social club and a small wastewater treatment plant. <br> The site is believed to have closed in in 1974 when its work was merged with that of B.B.C. Monitoring's receiving station at Crowsley Park in South Oxfordshire. The masts were removed and the site divided between a local farmer, British Telecom and SEGAS. A BT repeater station was built on the site of the main block while all of the buildings to the rear of the site were presumably demolished when a new gas compound was built down the hill to the west. What remains is spread out over a large area and has deteriorated greatly in recent years due to neglct, vandalism and the return of the site to agriculture. <br><br><center> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/1.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/1.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/2.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/2.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/3.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/3.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/4.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/4.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [9]. BT repeater station on the site of the main block; [10]. Uprooted mast-stays outside the main gate; [11]. Fuel oil tank: the station was heated by an oil-fired boiler and hot water radiators which were partly pump assisted. Sufficient oil for several weeks' use was stored and, in emergency, a diesel-alternator would also have sufficient oil-supply for a similar period. [11]. The Engineer-in-Charge (E.i.C.), the Assistant E.i.C. and clerical staff had offices in this hut <br><br> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/5.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/5.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/a.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/a.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/6.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/6.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/7.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/7.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [12]. the A.E.i.C and Clerical Staff offices have been gutted by fire; [13]. Dry cell battery and teacup fragment by the E.i.C's Office; [14]. E.i.C's Office; <br>[15]. Secretary's office <br><br> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/8.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/8.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/9.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/9.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/10.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/10.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/11.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/11.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [16]. Telephone in the secretary's office; [17]. Unidentified equipment in the foyer; [18]. Three quartz crystal frequency standards were installed below ground level in this special thermally-controlled Standards Room; [19]. Due to rampant overgrowth, the only way into the standards room was by this emergency exit <br><br> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/12.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/12.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/13.JPG', 570, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/13.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/14.JPG', 490, 650, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/14.JPG" border=1></a> <img height=170 src="comms/bbc/14a.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/15.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/15.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [20]. Frequency standards room; [21]. Desk; [22]. Laboratory; [23]. Remains of unidentified equipment; [24]. Cable chart <br><br> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/17.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/17.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/18.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/18.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/19.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/19.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/20.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/20.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [25]. Heating switches; [26]. Standards equipment isolator; [27]. A room adjacent to the standards room contained checking and monitoring apparatus with which the frequencies of the standards could be compared with British National Standard Frequency transmissions, the similar Standard frequency transmissions from other countries and with U.T.2 time signals from Britain and U.S.A.; [28]. Checking and Monitoring Room <br><br> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/21.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/21.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/22.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/22.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/22a.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/22a.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/23.JPG', 490, 650, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/23.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/24.JPG', 490, 650, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/24.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [29]. Unidentified measuring equipment; [30]. Electrical components in the accumulator room; [31]. Possibly part of an intercom system; [32-3]. Main entrance stairs <br><br> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/25.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/25.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/26.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/26.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/27.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/27.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/28.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/28.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [34]. Lamp-post and gate to mast fields; [35]. Perimeter fence; [36]. These connifers hide the site of the tennis courts; [37]. Remains of tennis court edge <br><br> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/29.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/29.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/30.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/30.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/31.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/31.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/32.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/32.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [38]. Rubbish on the site of Pilchers Copse Farm, a pig farm which stood to the west of the station; [39]. Foundation of a building, possibly the staff sports and social club; [40-1]. Two of several huts along the edge of the mast fields; <br><br> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/33.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/33.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/34.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/34.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/35.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/35.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/36.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/36.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [42]. Gate between the upper and lower mast fields; [43-5]. Mast stays. <br><br> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/37.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/37.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/38.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/38.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/40.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/40.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/39.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/39.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [46-7]. Sewage plant; [48]. Mast base; [49]. View over East London towards Canary Wharf <br><br> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/b.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/b.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/c.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/c.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/x.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/x.JPG" border=1></a> <a href="#" onClick="jkpopimage('comms/bbc/d.JPG', 650, 490, '.'); return false"><img height=170 src="comms/bbc/d.JPG" border=1></a> <br> [50]. A cathode ray, radio-compass direction finder with adcock and crossed-loop aerials was installed c.1940 on the site of an earlier aerial lighthouse about 200 yards (approx. 180 metres) from the main station. Its main use was in tracing the origin of interference and identifying 'unknown transmissions'. It is now used as a communications mast site, see image 7; [51]. Remains of surface apparatus; [52]. Mast anchor block; [53]. View up the modern comms. mast <br><br> <br> <br> <font size=1.5> <U>CONCISE BIBLIOGRAPHY</U> <br><br> Faulkner, Dennis, 2005, 'My life and times as a BBC engineer' [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/21/a7157621.shtml] Accessed 06/01/12 <br><br> Ellen, Martin, n.d., 'The BBC Engineering Measurement and Receiving Station at Tatsfield' [http://bbceng.info/Operations/Receivers/Tatsfield/tatsfield.htm] Accessed 06/01/12 <br><br> Anon, n.d., 'Tatsfield History Project | Section Five' [http://www.surreycommunity.info/tatsfieldhistoryproject/archive-catalogue/section-five/] Accessed 06/01/12 <br><br> Anon, March 1961, "The B.B.C. Engineering Measurement and Receiving Station at Tatsfield" London: B.B.C. Engineering Information Dept. <br><br> * Picture No. 4 from Anon, March 1961, "The B.B.C. Engineering Measurement and Receiving Station at Tatsfield" London: B.B.C. Engineering Information Dept.. All other Archive pictures by and copyright of V. Lehtoranta, All rights reserved. View thes pictures full-size at http://bbceng.info/Operations/Receivers/Tatsfield/tatsfield.htm. <br><br> </font> <br> </font><b> <a href="index.html">Home..</a></b><br> <BR> </td><td width=13></td></tr></table> </TD></TR><TR><TD bgcolor="#EEE9E9" ALIGN=CENTER> <font size=1>Derelict Miscellany. Website &amp; content Copyright D. A. Gregory 2005-Present unless stated to be otherwise.</font> </td></tr></table> </font> </body> </html>