Info and vintage pictures from subbrit website here:
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/s/stenigot/
RAF Stenigot was opened in 1940 as an east coast Chain Home radar station. Stenigot provided long range early warning for raids from Luftflotte V and the northern elements of Luftflotte II along the approaches to Sheffield and Nottingham and the central midlands.
Stenigot was retained as a CH station during the early stages (Phase 1 & 2) of the ROTOR 1 programme which was evolved in 1950 to re-establish an effective air defence radar network.
In 1959, Stenigot was selected as part of NATO's Ace High communications programme developed in the mid 1950's.
The Ace High station utilized 4.72 acres of the former CH site between the earlier transmitter and receiver blocks. It was enclosed within a security fence and provided with high intensity lighting. A two storey police house stood at the entrance gate part way along a track running north west from the road. The most prominent feature was two pairs of parabolic dish antenna, 60 feet in diameter supported on seven lattice steel girder legs.
With the development of new microwave communications technology in the 1980's, tropospheric scatter systems became redundant and the Ace High network was abandoned in the early 1990's and the stations closed.
The equipment and buildings were removed in 1996 although the four parabolic dishes can still be seen lying on the ground close to the old chain home receiver block (recently demolished 2011, only one block still remains near the road).
