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RAF Long Kesh is a Second World War airfield and military installation located near Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The site comprises Bellman hangars, operational runways and dispersed airfield infrastructure, alongside defensive structures built to protect against enemy air attack. These defences include a concrete pillbox and blast shelters positioned strategically across the airfield. The underlying Sherwood Sandstone bedrock, exposed in the local geology, provided stable foundations suitable for airfield construction, though the softer sandstone, siltstone and mudstone of the Ladinian period required careful engineering for the runways and taxiways.
The airfield's layout reflects standard Second World War dispersal doctrine, with hangars and facilities spread across the landscape to minimise damage from bombing. The Bellman hangars, distinctive curved structures of steel and concrete, remain characteristic features of RAF stations from this period. The pillbox and blast shelters exemplify the passive defence measures deployed at operational airfields during the war years, designed to provide protection during air raids and enemy strafing attacks.
Today RAF Long Kesh is protected as a historic monument under Historic Environment Division reference 16008, preserving evidence of Northern Ireland's crucial role in the Second World War air war and in supporting Allied operations across the wider theatre.
Raf long kesh. bellman hangars, airfield & wwii defensive features including pillbox and blast shelters, [dhp.no.71] is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 16008. View the official record →
RAF Long Kesh is a Second World War airfield and military installation located near Lisburn, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 16008.
Raf long kesh. bellman hangars, airfield & wwii defensive features including pillbox and blast shelters, [dhp.no.71] dates from the modern period, and is classified as a airfield. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Raf long kesh. bellman hangars, airfield & wwii defensive features including pillbox and blast shelters, [dhp.no.71] is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 16008.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Todd's grove. bivallate rath (5.6 km), Spirehill. rath (6.7 km), Rath (8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Raf long kesh. bellman hangars, airfield & wwii defensive features including pillbox and blast shelters, [dhp.no.71]'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.
Raf long kesh. bellman hangars, airfield & wwii defensive features including pillbox and blast shelters, [dhp.no.71] stands on Sherwood Sandstone Group, bedrock that formed in the Ladinian. The rock here is sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.