Monument record CSM 035 - Raydon/ Statford St Mary, Auxiliary Unit Operational Base (Mod)

Raydon/ Statford St Mary, Auxiliary Unit Operational Base
The entrance shaft has since collapsed. The corrugated sheeting lining its earthen walls can still be seen at ground level.
The main chamber has silted up and much of it has collapsed, leaving a small cave-like area behind one of the sidewalls which can be accessed through a hole in the wall where corrugated sheeting is missing.
Much of the corrugated sheeting that forms the roof and lines the earthen sidewalls is still in place, some of it is badly corroded or has deteriorated. The roof was supported by sections of railway line or disused Ipswich tram line, resting on a variety of sturdy posts, one appearing to be a telegraph pole. The corrugated sheeting lining the walls is held in place by a wooden frame.
A glazed ceramic field pipe protrudes from the ceiling at an angle, no trace could be found of its exterior end and perhaps it has slipped further down into the soil when the structure collapsed.
A tin pipe of about 7.5 cm diameter is still in situ beside the collapsed entrance shaft. It appears to run all the way down the wall within the main chamber. Extending upwards and through the roof, its exterior end is capped with an elbow, also still in its original place by the entrance shaft. Presumably it served as a flue pipe for a stove that the patrol kept in their OB. Layers of sand have trickled into the chamber over time, covering what may still be in place at the original floor level (S2).
Location given in DOB is the Wenham OB, Location of Raydon/ Statford St Mary OB unclear at present, needs further research.



.