oobject » Cardington hangars

(votes: +86)

Although the airship hangars in Cardington, England are less interesting architecturally than Hangar One at Moffett Field, they are at risk and are of historical significance.

I am not sure if this is still the case, but the enormous size of these hangars was such that entire mockup buildings could be burnt inside for research into the effects of fire, without damaging the roof structure.

View the entire chart: giant airship hangars

8 Responses to “Cardington hangars”

trevor monk Says:
December 29th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
hi there
Cardingtons sheds are unique buildings, shed 1 was origionaly built in 1916 for the shorts aircraft company and R31 R32 and R38 were built there. later it was enlarged under the imperial airship scheme. the r100 r101 ships. shed 2 was origionaly built in pullham in norfolk but later taken to cardington for the IAS. both sheds when enlarged housed the ships, R101 was built and housed in shed 1, r100 was built in howden in yorkshire and later housed in shed 2 at cardington. later being taken into shed 1 for a refit and enlargement but this was stopped after the R101 accident.

they are unique buildings, shed 1 should have start getting renovated next year hopefully saving this unique building for future admirers.

trev

p.s the airship heritage site is a bit of a must to find out more on these buildings.
john Says:
December 31st, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Shed 2 currently houses Gotham city.

The last two Batman movies have been shot there.

These buildings are so big that apparently, on the first day of shooting, they opened the main doors and a cloud appeared - inside!
trevor monk Says:
January 1st, 2008 at 3:04 am
hi there
heres a picture of both sheds back in the days of the R100 and R101, with the doors open and the ships at home.

http://www.airshipsonline.com/sheds/images/shed1.jpg

also a more recent picture of the sheds taken in the fog last year.

http://www.airshipsonline.com/sheds/cardington_fog_22_12_06/shedsfog_4.jpg

also a close up of shed 2’s doors.

http://www.airshipsonline.com/sheds/images/Doors.jpg
Keith Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:19 am
Shed No.2 was renovated some years ago at a cost of approx. £1m, but Shed No. 2 is in a poor state of repair and it has been said that unless something is done in the next few years it will become beyond economic repair.
However, as part of a recently approved plan for an adjoining housing and commercial development, it is understaood that the Developers have agreed to fund the restoration of Shed No. 1 as part of the deal. Suggested cost would be in the region of £5m.

These are incredible awe inspiring landmarks and deserve to be preserved as part of our history.
wallace clarke Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
These hangers represent the past history of British Airships and from the way things look for the future
they could form the starting place for any new development.They are great landmarks,and over the years
have proved useful for numerous projects. They should be preserved at all costs as a tribute to the British
Nation.
Andy Cox Says:
June 18th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I worked in shed two in 1995, We built the entire ‘in the round’ stage for the Rod Stewart Tour at one end for the production rehearsals, in the middle of the shed was a film set and at the other end was a Stockpile of 5000 Ford cars being stored. It took 36 minutes to open the doors and I used to drive to the toilet! Biggest building I’ve ever seen. They should be saved just for their shear feat of engineering, let alone history.
nd Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Thes buildings are absolutely massive. I worked on batman begins in 2004 and every day when I got there I was amaed at the sheer size of the place. there were 9 story buildings and streets and town built in side and there was still loads of room left over!
Derek M Says:
November 1st, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I served with the RAF Police in the early 1950s at RAF Cardington. I often did foot patrols of the hangar area when on night shift. On a very cold winter night trying to walk between the two huge hangars with snow flurries and in the face of a very strong wind, it could be quite a challenge. At that time the area was considered to be a top security duty for us. The Cold War was on and the hangars were being used for units of the Special Forces in training. It was known that Soviet agents were showing an interest in the facility.
Locals and many servicemen were convinced that the area was haunted by the ghosts of victims of the R101 crash. Strange phenomenon were frequently reported, and our patrol dogs certainly behaved very strangely when taken to this site.

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