Historic seaplane hangars at Plymouth Sound need repairs
Plans have been drawn up
Plans have been drawn up to repair two historic former seaplane hangars which were once part of a Plymouth air base where Lawrence of Arabia was stationed.
The archaeologist, soldier and diplomat became famous after his mission in the Middle East inspiring Arab tribes to fight against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, and his exploits were featured in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia starring Peter O’Toole.
Lawrence, known by his initials TE, shunned publicity and later decided to rejoin the armed forces, under the assumed name of TE Shaw. He joined the RAF in 1925 and later served in the Marine Branch of the RAF at RAF Mount Batten. The road alongside the former base is now called Shaw Road in his memory.
Lawrence is remembered for his part in the development of fast rescue launches after witnessing a failed attempt to save the crew of a crashed seaplane in 1931.
Lawrence left Mount Batten in 1933 for the RAF Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe, in Suffolk, and died two years later, aged 46, in a motorbike accident near his home in Clouds Hill, Dorset.
The hangars, which were the base for Sunderland seaplanes during the Second World War, are listed for protection due to their historic importance, but now need repairs because of the corrosive effects of the marine environment.
The structures at the former air base, on a headland between Plymouth Sound and Cattewater, date from 1917 and were used for the storage of First World War seaplanes.
They are now owned by Plymouth Yacht Haven and used to store and work on yachts as part of a marina. An application has been submitted to Plymouth City Council on behalf of the owner for listed building consent to carry out the work.
A report from Plymouth-based planning consultants Bailey Partnership says repairs are needed to steelwork and finishing, gutters and downpipes, cladding sheets, and the doors and runners.
It says the work is planned to be carried out sympathetically and is designed to protect the structures to ensure their long-term survival.
A heritage statement by experts from AC Archaeology says the seaplane sheds date to 1917 and are associated with Royal Naval Air Station Cattewater. The base was transferred to the Royal Air Force when it was set up in 1918 and it remained a defence establishment until the 1980s.
At the start of the Second World War RAF Mount Batten was one of the RAF’s main flying boat bases, along with Pembroke Dock in South Wales, and was equipped with the Sunderland flying boat. It had an anti-submarine role and was responsible for local air sea rescue.
The western hangar was damaged in a Second World War bombing raid in 1940 and was rebuilt. After the war it became a reserve base and was the main station for the RAF Marine Branch and the school of survival.
Both hangars were reclad and later altered inside after the redevelopment of the air base in the 1990s following its closure in 1986. The buildings are described on the National Heritage List for England as “an important survival of early aviation structures.”