Royal Air Force Bishopscourt or more simply RAF Bishopscourt is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

airfield, radar control and reporting station located on the south east coast of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, approximately from

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the bu ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

and from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Northern Ireland. A Marconi

AMES Type 84 The AMES Type 84, also known as the Microwave Early Warning or MEW, was a 23 cm wavelength early warning radar used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as part of the Linesman/Mediator radar network. Operating in the L-band gave it improved perfor ...

radar was located on the airfield and an

AMES Type 80 The AMES Type 80, sometimes known by its development rainbow code Green Garlic, was a powerful early warning (EW) and ground-controlled interception (GCI) radar developed by the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) and built by Decca f ...

radar was located at Killard Point,

Ballyhornan Ballyhornan (from Irish ''Baile an Eoirna'' meaning ‘the town land of the barley’) is a village and townland in eastern County Down, Northern Ireland, located along the coast of the Irish Sea. It has about 1,000 residents and located less tha ...

(remote from the station itself). An AMES Type 93 mobile radar was also located on the airfield from 1989 until the station closed.

History

Airfield

A number of different units were based at the airfield: * 819 Naval Air Squadron *

No. 7 Air Observers School RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a Typography, typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal number, ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For exampl ...

between (17 May 1943 and 15 February 1944 * No. 12 Air Gunners School RAF between 1 August 1943 and 31 May 1945 *

No. 7 (Observers) Advanced Flying Unit RAF No. 7 may refer to: *No. 7 Squadron IAF, an Indian Air Force unit *No. 7 Squadron RAAF No. 7 Squadron was an Australian flying training squadron of World War I and medium bomber squadron of World War II. The squadron was formed in England in Oc ...

between 15 February 1944 and 31 May 1945 * No. 7 Air Navigation School RAF between 31 May 1945 and 4 June 1947 * No. 2 Air Navigation School RAF between 4 June and 1 October 1947 *

No. 3 Air Navigation School RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a Typography, typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal number, ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For exampl ...

between 3 March 1952 and 14 April 1954 * No. 671 Gliding School RAF between 22 January 1959 and September 1962 * No. 664 Volunteer Gliding School RAF between February 1987 and 31 October 1990

Radar station

RAF Bishops Court formed part of the UK Military Air Traffic Service, as one of four reporting stations it was to control its sector (North Atlantic) and was commanded by HQ Military Air Traffic Operations (MATO) at

RAF Uxbridge RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three years ...

and

RAF Strike Command The Royal Air Force's Strike Command was the military formation which controlled the majority of the United Kingdom's bomber and fighter aircraft from 1968 until 2007 when it merged with Personnel and Training Command to form the single Air C ...

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

. The site was known as Ulster Radar and had both a military and civil role. In its civil role the civilian personnel (using the military radar) controlled air traffic, primarily over the Atlantic to ensure correct height and separation. The

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

fired five mortar bombs at the radar site on 11 September 1989. The responsibilities of the site were assumed by the air traffic control centre at

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, in October 1978. The radar equipment was soon removed from the site, however the RAF remained. In the early 1980s new bunkers were constructed and a mobile radar was installed. The decision to close the 577 acre (2.3 km²) site was taken in the late 1980s and it was put up for sale in the period 1991–1995. Alexander Galt the famous Scottish artist was stationed here during the war. While there he painted murals on the wall of the officers mess. The paintings are still visible.

Current use

Since the sale the land surrounding the runway has been used for agriculture, while the land at one end of the site (including some of the airfield runways) has been used for motor sport being called Bishopscourt Racing Circuit. Today at least one runway remains intact and is used by gliders, the married quarters are now civilian housing. In 2003 it was reported that Bishopscourt was a contender for a

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...

airfield in the south of Northern Ireland. While the site would require significant infrastructure works if this were to happen, the former RAF station would fit into the Ryanair business model (selecting airports some distance from a capital/major city with low landing fees etc. and providing transport to that city.)

References

External links

* Unofficial Web site for Ulster Radar
Bishopscourt Racing Circuit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishopscourt, RAF

Bishops Court A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...