RAF Ibsley Watch Office
Help put this precious place back togetherThe final step to save the Watch Office
Help save RAF Ibsley
RAF Ibsley Watch Office (also known as Ibsley Control Tower) once played a crucial part in Britain’s fight against the dark forces of Hitler’s planned invasion. It now stands derelict and in peril. Our project aims to rescue and restore the Watch Office at the former Second World War airfield at Ibsley, near Ringwood in the New Forest.
After more than two years navigating the labyrinth of ecology and planning, Landmark was granted planning permission for the Watch Office earlier this year. The scene is finally set fair and we will soon be ready to start putting this precious place back together.
We have 94% of the funds needed to save the Watch Office at RAF Ibsley. If we can raise the last 6% we can retrieve this building from the dreadful state into which it has been allowed to fall.
-
From 1941 to 1944 both the RAF and USAAF saw active service at Ibsley.
-
A rare surviving example of its type, the Watch Office is in an extreme state of dereliction
-
We continue to believe that the rescue of the Watch Office must be possible while at the same time respecting the building’s highly protected setting.
-
P-47 Thunderbolts lined up at RAF Ibsley in June 1944 ready for their assigned mission.
-
RAF Ibsley played a key part in the campaign to sustain national morale as the location of this celebrated film.
The final step to save RAF Ibsley Watch Office is in sight
We are grateful to everyone who has already donated to support the rescue of RAF Ibsley Watch Office. The now-derelict building will, we hope, soon be a Landmark for eight with four bedrooms, four bathrooms and panoramic views. From inside and out the exceptional wildlife of the lakes and woodland of the New Forest, which long since reclaimed the former runway, can all be enjoyed.
Your support today, whether new or renewed, will help save this building.
Progress so far
0% £232,000 left to raise
A donation today will
-
Replace
the panes smashed and torn down by vandals with new, steel-framed windows
-
Remove
the breeze blocks from the window openings allowing light to flood the building again
-
Invest
in the careful design and traditional craft skills used to hand-build the bespoke kitchen
-
Recreate
the green and cream paint scheme as it would have been in the 1940s
The final step to save the Watch Office
Your messages and wartime memories reassured us of our cause
During the course of our campaign to save the Watch Office we received hundreds of messages from supporters sharing their own wartime memories or connections to the site.
As Winston Churchill reflected unforgettably in 1940, never in the history of warfare was ‘so much owed by so many to so few’.
-
My father served in the RAF at Ibsley from June 1943 to May 1944.
He was a Band Sergeant responsible for music and entertainment on the base and raising morale.” Peter Rees, Landmark supporter
-
My glamorous and brave brother Richard Early of the USAAF died volunteering for one last sortie weeks before the end of the war, aged just 21.
Landmark supporter Marcia Brocklebank told us that he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters and the Purple Heart for his service.
-
My father, Wing Commander GC 'Bill' Banning-Lover, was a Flight Leader of 66 Squadron
He was based at Ibsley from Mr MG Banning-Lover, Landmark supporteray to October 1942. I was astonished to see a photo of him included in your previous letter. Mr M
-
My father, Tim Hamer, joined the RAF Volunteer Reserves in 1939 determined to be a pilot.
His logbook shows him based at RAF Ibsley in the summer of 1942 and in early 1943. Fiona Mosely, Landmark supporter
Latest news and updates
Follow along with the latest news and updates from site as we strive to rescue this former RAF Watch Office from its current state of near dereliction.
The final step to save the Watch Office
Other ways to donate
Other ways to pay
Please call us on 01628 512124 to make a donation over the phone.
By post
Please mail any donations by cheque or CAF voucher to:
RAF Ibsley Appeal
The Landmark Trust
Shottesbrooke Park
Broadmoor Road
White Waltham
Maidenhead
SL6 3SW
Leave a gift in your Will
We depend on the generosity of individuals, and gifts in wills play a vital role. Every gift, small or large will help protect important historic buildings, as well as the flora, fauna and marine life on Lundy.
