RAF Shinfield Park was a

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 ...

administrative site in the south of

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

. It served as the

Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...

residential training college from 1971 until 2002. The

European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an independent intergovernmental organisation supported by most of the nations of Europe. It is based at three sites: Shinfield Park, Reading, United Kingdom; Bologna, Italy; an ...

was built on part of the site in 1978.

History

The site is adjacent to the west side of the A327 road in the south of the Reading area, near the current roundabout with the B3270. Adjacent to the south is the former Shire Hall of

Berkshire County Council The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, also known as the Berkshire County Council, was the top-tier local government administrative body for Berkshire from 1889 to 1998. The local authority had responsibilities for education, social servi ...

, and the M4. Adjacent to the north is the independent

Crosfields School Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, just south of Reading. It contains and is administered by the unitary authority of Wokingham District. Shinfield Park is the northern part of the parish, becoming phy ...

, built on a former part of the RAF site. To the west is

Whitley Wood Whitley Wood is a suburb to the south of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Geography Whitley Wood is bounded to the north by an ill-defined boundary with the suburb of Whitley, to the east by a ridge of high ground carrying the roa ...

. Although it was built as a part of Berkshire, the current site is in the civil parish of

Shinfield Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, just south of Reading. It contains and is administered by the unitary authority of Wokingham District. Shinfield Park is the northern part of the parish, becoming p ...

, in the

Borough of Wokingham The Borough of Wokingham is a Districts of England, local government district in Berkshire, United Kingdom. It is named after its main town, Wokingham. Other places in the district include Arborfield, Barkham, Charvil, Earley, Finchampstead, H ...

. The RAF station was built on the Shinfield Lodge Estate. The site had been owned by

Ebenezer Maitland Ebenezer Fuller Maitland FRS (23 April 1780 – 1 November 1858) was an English landowner and politician. Origins Maitland was the only son of Ebenezer Maitland (1752-1834), a London businessman and Bank of England director, and his wife Mary, d ...

in the 1700s.

RAF Flying Training Command

For many years it was the headquarters of

RAF Flying Training Command Flying Training Command was an organization of the Royal Air Force; it controlled flight training units. The command's headquarters were at Shinfield Park, Reading in Berkshire. History Flying Training Command was formed from the elements of ...

(HQFTC) from 27 May 1940 until 1 June 1968. From 1940 until 1945, it was also the headquarters of

RAF Technical Training Command Technical Training Command was an organization within the Royal Air Force which controlled units responsible for delivering aircraft maintenance training and other non-flying training, initially in Berkshire and then in Cambridgeshire. History Te ...

RAF Training Command

From 1 June 1968 to 13 June 1977 it was the headquarters of

RAF Training Command Training Command was the Royal Air Force's command responsible for flying and ground training from 1936 to 1940 and again from 1968 to 1977. Training Command was formed from RAF Inland Area on 1 May 1936 and absorbed into RAF Support Command on 13 ...

. In June 1977 RAF Training Command became part of

RAF Support Command Support Command was a command of the Royal Air Force between 1973 and 1994. The headquarters was located at RAF Brampton in Cambridgeshire. History It was formed on 31 August 1973 by the renaming of RAF Maintenance Command,

, situated at

RAF Brampton RAF Brampton was a non-flying Royal Air Force installation near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, England. Formerly the home of RAF Support Command, it also became the home of several elements of Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), which itself was ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

Meteorological Office College

It became the Meteorological Office College in October 1971, who had moved from

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at high. The district, which ...

in north-west London. The Met Office College, when under Peter Ewins, left in 2002, briefly staying at

South Devon College South Devon College is a further education college with 9 different campuses within Torbay and the surrounding area. The college is part of The University of Plymouth Colleges network. In December 2017, South Devon College achieved an over ...

, before moving to Exeter in 2004. The Met Office College trained not just British meteorologists, but TV weather presenters across Europe. TV weather presenters would receive an intensive 18-week course in meteorology.

ECMWF

The

was established next to the Met Office College in 1978. It is known for its

Integrated Forecast System The Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) is a global numerical weather prediction system jointly developed and maintained by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) based in Reading, England, and Météo-France based in Toulous ...

. It has around 100 staff. The site had been agreed to be built following a meeting of 18 countries in Brussels in March 1973. It looked at forecasts from four to ten days hence.

Recent development

Most of the site has been turned into housing. Shinfield Lodge has Grade II listing.

References

External links

RAF Shinfield Park

Met Office College history

2010 planning application to Wokingham Borough Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinfield Park, RAF Education in the Borough of Wokingham Grade II listed buildings in Berkshire Met Office Meteorology and climate education Military installations established in 1940 Military installations closed in 1977 Organisations based in Reading, Berkshire Royal Air Force stations in Berkshire 1940 establishments in England 1977 disestablishments in England