Aircraft hangars, now a storage depot. 1916 with minor mid C20 alterations. (1)

Built 1916, notable for Belfast Truss roof. The Belfast Truss was developed in the late C19 as a way of achieving a maximum span using available resources, primarily timber and felt. It was quickly adopted by the military during World War I. In 1927/28 a range of technical buildings to the north of the hangars, these included an armoury, workshop, photographic block and guardhouse. Much of the works undertaken at Hucknall between the Rolls Royce and the RAF was secret both during and after the war years but included. The development of the world-renowned Merlin engine. The world’s first piloted vertical take-off jet powered aircraft, known as the Flying Bedstead. The development of the world’s first turboprop engine. The world’s first flight of a commercial jet-airliner. Development of the world’s first reverse thrust jet engine.The airfield closed in 1971, but engines continued to be tested as the adjacent Rolls Royce site until 2008. The grade II listed hangars fell out of aviation use becoming vehicle workshops and later warehouses. (2)

Hucknall, Watnall Road (south east side) Hangars 3 & 4 at K & M Hauliers. Listed Building Grade II. Aircraft hangars, now a storage depot. 1916, with minor mid C20 alterations. Brick, rendered, with segmental arched timber Belfast truss roofs. Side walls buttressed. Windows are metal glazing bar casements. Rectangular plan. 15 bays long by two 100 ft. spans wide. North side has single storey lean-to service building with external side wall stack. 5 C20 casements and door. To right, mid C20 lean-to single bay store with door. South side has 3 doors and 9 blocked segmental headed openings. Above, each side has 13 casements. Each end has multiple metal clad full width sliding doors, flanked by single 2 bay arcades with corbelled segmental arches, into which doors retract. Above, roof ends have each a louvred opening. Felted roof has full length gabled clerestory. Interior has central arcade, 13 bays, with blocked openings and corbelled piers. Laminated wood lattice braced roof trusses with gusseted struts at abutments. 3 braced spine beams. Diagonal boarded covering on longitudinal stringers. This building incorporates a novel form of construction devised to allow a large clear span to accommodate aircraft. (3)

The hangar was constructed for a Training Depot Station of 1918. (4)

The Training Depot Station was constructed between 1916 and 1918. The Belfast truss hangars were under threat of demolition in 1991. (5)

Aircraft Hangar at RAF Hucknall. SRF with 10 photographs. Recorder: M&D Sibley. (6)

Listed Buildings Slides, (Photograph). SNT2648.

Historic England, 2021, National Record of Historic Environment (Digital archive). SNT5271.

<1> DOE, Listed Building Description (Published document). SNT228.

<2> Ashfield District Council, 2016, Summary of Heritage Assets: Former RAF Hucknall Airfield, Watnall Road, Hucknall (Unpublished document). SNT5255.

<3> DOE, 1988, Listed Buildings - Dist of Ashfield (Published document). SNT6139.

<4> English Heritage, 2003, Survey of Military Aviation Sites and Structures Summary Report (Unpublished document). SNT6317.

<5> Airfield Research Group, 1992, Airfield Review (Serial). SNT6320.

<6> Council for British Archaeology, 1995-2002, Defence of Britain Project Database (Digital archive). SNT6173.