For 70 years along a shingled strip of Suffolk’s coast, scientists battled in global race for military might.
From early experiments in aerial warfare through the heightened tensions of the atomic age, Orford Ness played a pivotal – though little known – role in furthering advancements in weaponry technology.
Today, the desolate landscape is a natural wilderness once again, with rare birds roosting in abandoned research buildings.
But the legends of the past live on. And tonight a BBC documentary will shed new light on Orford Ness’s role in atomic warfare.
Britain’s Nuclear Bomb: The Inside Story airs on BBC Four at 9pm with the story of how a dummy device was being flown to the Suffolk coast in the early 1950s when it came loose over Dorking in Surrey.
A project engineer said it was dropped in the Thames estuary, where it remains to this day.
The programme, which features interviews and newly released footage of atomic tests, offers a rare glimpse into a shady area of military history.
Of all the secretive goings-on, those at Orford Ness, are perhaps most shrouded in mystery.
In his foreword to Paddy Heazell’s definitive book The Hidden History of Orford Ness, Dick Strawbridge said while the stories of Bletchley Park and Bawdsey Manor have been told, Orford Ness “has held out”.
Its remote location made it well-suited for the top secret experiments held there - and ensured they remained so.
Mr Heazell’s book looks at its role in the three great conflicts of the modern age - the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War.
Intriguing stories about the site’s connection with earthquake bombs and post-Project Manhattan nuclear ballistics tests give a flavour for the significance of the work.
While today’s military equipment offers laser-guided precision at the touch of a button, the early experiments in what was then an entirely new chapter of warfare were a far more ramshackle affair.
Photographs and eye-witness accounts reveal an approach to aerial warfare so basic it verges on the comical.
The first bombs had no sophisticated release mechanism; they were simply thrown from the plane’s cockpit.
As lead ranger for the National Trust at Orford Ness, David Mason explained, the early experiments involved as much guesswork and daredevil spirit as they did scientific expertise.
“It was all pretty hazardous, seat-of-your pants kind of stuff,” he added.
“Not quite back of a fag packet, but I think trial and error played a big part in it.”
Its first involvement in military activity began soon after the War Office agreed its £13,500 purchase in 1913.
The 2,000 acre site was prepared as an air strip, with the first squadron setting off for manoeuvres in Ireland the following year.
After the First World War broke out, the Ness took on a more experimental role, with tests on bombing, aerial photography and later on the use of machine guns and parachutes. Much of the work was fraught with danger and several young men lost their lives.
The experiments continued throughout the war and beyond through “lethality and vulnerability” trials, which sought ways to destroy enemy aircraft more efficiently.
Eminent figures present around this time and into the Second World War included Sir Henry Tizard, a scientist who worked with Robert Watson-Watt on radar, and Professor Bennett Melvill Jones, who went on to become chairman Aeronautical Research Committee.
The term “boffin” was coined at Orford Ness during the Second World War as a term of appreciation for the scientists who worked with the military.
Their work included the development of radar, which Mr Mason said was initially intended as a “death ray”, as well as research into the accuracy of bombing, which left the ness’s surface pitted with craters and plagued with unexploded ordnance for years to come.
Bombing ballistics took on a new significance with the coming of the atomic age, with the Ness again playing a pivotal role.
Britain had contributed to the Manhattan Project, which produced the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. But post-war, the USA was less keen to co-operate overs its nuclear programme, leaving Britain to “go it alone”.
From 1954, Orford Ness was a major player in Britain’s nuclear deterrent. The Atomic Weapons Research Establishment took over more than half the site. It created a research facility to test the ballistics of bombs when dropped and the elaborate trigger mechanisms needed to ensure they detonated.
The Cold War era also saw the Cobra Mist radio research station, developed in 1967 in partnership between the Ministry of Defence and the USA.
By 1972, however, the ness’s military role was drawing to a close and it began to fall into decline.
The National Trust moved in around 1993, with an initial focus on establishing a nature reserve.
However, Mr Mason said the trust had also looked to develop the site’s history, including through the creation of an audio archive.
Much of the charm, he says, is the combination of the site’s intriguing military history and its environmental accolades as the largest shingle spit in Europe and a site of special scientific interest.
“The contrast between this military history and the way nature has now taken over is a fantastic process,” he said.
“Although these building are in decline now, they have become nesting sites for rare birds.”
How did it affect the local community?
Despite the secrecy surrounding Orford Ness’s military history, intriguing tales have emerged from the local community.
Orford Museum chairman Michael Flint’s relatives were in the village around the time of the first nuclear ballistics tests when he says they were advised by police to stay in their homes because a prisoner had escaped.
“That night, they came across the river with two or three vehicles towing a long trailer behind,” he added.
“The rumour that was circulated subsequently was that it was a nuclear device.”
He said there was an “extraordinary” level of secrecy about what went on. “It had been going on for so long that there wasn’t any grumbling,” he added.
In fact, the military presence was seen by many as an economic boost, bringing visitors to guest houses and local pubs
Others, such as the German prisoners of war and Chinese labourers used to maintain the site, integrated less.
Visit here for details about National Trust events at Orford Ness
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