© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw
Dome Gunnery Trainer is a post-medieval gunnery training dome located at Pembrey Airfield in Wales. The structure stands on bedrock formed from the Moscovian period, comprising mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete of the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation and South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation. These sedimentary deposits, laid down in ancient deltaic environments, provided a stable foundation for twentieth-century military infrastructure built across the South Wales coalfield.
The dome represents a specialised form of aerial gunnery instruction, allowing trainee gunners to practice targeting and firing techniques within a controlled, protective environment. Such training facilities were essential to air force operations, offering safe repetition of essential skills before live deployment. The reinforced structure would have housed moving targets and observation equipment to assess accuracy and performance.
The monument is protected by Cadw, the Welsh Historic Monuments service, under reference CM248, recognising its significance as evidence of Wales's contribution to military aviation training. The Pembrey site itself has deep historical roots in aviation, and this gunnery trainer forms part of the wider story of how airfields supported both operational flying and the systematic preparation of aircrew for combat conditions.
Dome Gunnery Trainer, Pembrey Airfield is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CM248. View the official record →
Dome Gunnery Trainer is a post-medieval gunnery training dome located at Pembrey Airfield in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference CM248.
Dome Gunnery Trainer, Pembrey Airfield dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a gunnery training dome. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Dome Gunnery Trainer, Pembrey Airfield is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is CM248.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Garreg Lwyd Enclosure 600m SE of Crosslane Cottages (2.1 km), Court Wood Enclosure 500m SSW of Pen-Llwyn-Isaf (2.4 km), Glanstony Aqueduct, Trimsaran (2.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Dome Gunnery Trainer, Pembrey Airfield's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Dome Gunnery Trainer, Pembrey Airfield stands on Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.