It withstood attacks by Luftwaffe planes during the Second World War – but the future could be uncertain for a Suffolk landmark considered as historically important as the codebreaking headquarters at Bletchley Park.
Bawdsey Manor, home of the world’s first operational radar station and the RAF’s nerve centre during the Battle of Britain, has been on the market for £5million since October.
But whoever buys the listed cliff-top mansion will also have to fund the upkeep of defences separating it from the sea below.
Doubts about who would take on such a responsibility surfaced at the annual meeting of shoreline protection group Suffolk Coast Against Retreat (SCAR).
Private consultant Gerry Matthews masterminded a nearby scheme to save the 19th-century Martello tower at East Lane.
He asked landowners to sell a parcel of land to a developer, in order to provide funding for 22,000 tonnes of boulders to protect the tower and local homes.
In 2007, the government gave permission to allow housing on plots not designated as available for development. The money raised by the East Lane Trust was given to Suffolk Coastal to tender the defence project.
Mr Matthews said Bawdsey Manor could attract more interest through the same use of ‘enabling development’ – which permits proposals that would otherwise be considered harmful – but that the local authority had not made the process easy.
“After devising the East Lane Trust mechanism, it took four years to implement,” added Mr Matthews, who also set up the Suffolk Estuaries Funding Initiative, which ran for another four years.
“To the best of my knowledge, there has not been a similar enabling development passed through planning since.
“The institutional obstacles in getting that type of initiative through are truly staggering.”
He read from a letter by RAF heritage manager Wing Commander Erica Ferguson, who compared the significance of Bawdsey Manor to that of Bletchley Park and Bentley Priory, where a partnership with the developers of luxury homes helped fund a museum.
Mr Matthews said he and the owners had looked at options for enabling development.
“The property is for sale, and a number of developers have expressed interest, but they will walk away following due diligence and considering the prohibitive cost of sea defences,” he added.
“We have a dilemma. Nobody wants to buy it while the local authority sees it as the owner’s problem. We’re in deadlock.”
Also present at the meeting were Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey and her predecessor John Gummer, Lord Deben.
Mr Matthews said personalities like theirs were needed to “knock some heads together”.
Dr Coffey said she was prepared to facilitate interaction with the National Trust, but added that it was not for government to intervene when the property is privately owned.
Lord Gummer said: “If sea defences are going to be the sole responsibility of the buyer, it ain’t going to sell.
“The community has to ask ‘is this worth saving?’ If the answer is yes, we have to find a cost-effective way of saving it.
“My concern is that proper discussion is not taking place.
“A private operator could be attracted if there was a structure where they won’t be fighting institutional battles.”
Nick Crick, chairman of the Bawdsey Coastal Partnership, feared if nothing happens, Bawdsey Manor would be lost.
“It’s worrying,” he said. “Protective works were carried out below the manor by its first owner, Sir Cuthbert Quilter.
“He put in groynes and wooden piling, and built the cliff from Pulhamite [artificial rock].
“One day, unless protected, it could fall down.
“There is some steel sheet piling there – but it’s beginning to be undermined around the edges.
“It needs a coastal engineer to design a plan. At least, there needs to be reinforcement and beach replenishment.”
In 2015, engineering consultants Mott MacDonald reviewed sea defence improvement options for the Bawdsey Manor frontage and came up with a concept design cost of more than £4m, including material, earthwork, construction, design, supervision and management.
Property consultant Knight Frank, which is handling the sale, said it did not wish to comment at present.
Suffolk Coastal District Council said it could not provide a response in time for publication.
Bawdsey Manor was built in 1886 and later extended to be the main residence of Sir William Cuthbert Quilter.
Sold to the Air Ministry in 1937, it became the first fully operational radar station and ensured victory in the Battle of Britain – delivering crucial intelligence that enabled a vastly outnumbered RAF to overcome the Luftwaffe.
Miriam Stead, of Bawdsey Radar Trust, which last year received £1.42m of lottery funding for a £1.8m project to renovate the old transmitter block, said: “The estate is important to the history and development of radar, without which there would be big holes in today’s weather forecasts, air traffic control and mobile phone technology.
“It was equally as secret as Bletchley Park in the war.
“Bentley Priory was developed on the back of buildings being turned into apartments. We would want to work constructively with whoever acquires the estate, to ensure they appreciate its heritage – which should be its unique selling point.”
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