BAWDSEY

Manor houses with an interesting past for which new uses have been found seem to be a feature of this part of Suffolk. In Nacton, we met Orwell House, which once served as the residence of a naval hero, and is now used as a prep school. Bawdsey Manor, a handsome clifftop red brick building built in the Victorian gothic style, in the village of the same name, is nowadays used as a PGL Adventure Centre, with wonderful views down to to the Deben estuary.  However, its past claim to fame was in the years leading up to the Second World War, when it was used as a top-secret research establishment for the MOD. It was here that Sir Robert Watson Watt and his team developed the radar, a technology which had been tinkered with for a while, although Britain was the first country to use radar as a defence against attack from the air. Bawdsey also marked the beginning of a chain of radar stations which were to protect the country during the Second World War. The Bawdsey Radar Trust is open to visitors, who can view interactive displays on the subject.  At Shingle Street, further up the coast towards Orford Ness, it has been disclosed that the Lifeboat Inn was used to test a chemical bomb developed by Porton Down.

Map of the area.

Derelict Martello Tower Bawdsey Beach (2). Photo by oxyman, via Wikimedia Commons.