View source for RAF Spadeadam

{{Short description|Royal Air Force station in Cumbria, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name          = RAF Spadeadam
| ensign        = Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
| ensign_size   = 90px
| native_name   = 
| partof        = 
| location      = 
| nearest_town  = [[Gilsland]], [[Northumberland]]
| country       = England
| image         = RAF Spadeadam - geograph.org.uk - 825475.jpg
| caption       = RAF Spadeadam
| image2        = RAF Spadeadam badge.png
| image2_size   = 150px
| caption2      = 'Si vis pacem para bellum'" (If you seek peace, prepare for war)
| pushpin_map   = Cumbria#United Kingdom City of Carlisle
| pushpin_label = RAF Spadeadam
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in [[Cumbria]], England##Location in the [[City of Carlisle]] district, [[Cumbria]]
| coordinates   = {{Coord|55|01|30|N|002|36|08|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| type          = [[List of Royal Air Force stations|Royal Air Force station]]
| code          = 
| site_area     = {{convert|3165|ha|order=flip}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Estate Baseline 2009 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/33240/DEDP09_annex_a.pdf |page=8 |date=3 July 2009 |access-date=2 October 2016}}</ref>
| height        = 
| ownership     = [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]
| operator      = [[Royal Air Force]]
| controlledby  = 
| open_to_public = 
| condition     = 
| built         = {{Start date|1955}}
| builder       = 
| used          = 1957 – present<!--{{End date|1946}} -->
| materials     = 
| fate          = 
| battles       = 
| events        = 
| current_commander = Wing Commander Andrew Tidmarsh BSc (Hons) MA MRes MSc RAF
| past_commanders = <!-- past notable commander(s) -->
| garrison      = 
| occupants     = 
| website       = 
}}
'''RAF Spadeadam''' (pronounced "Spade Adam"<ref>{{cite news |last1=Perry |first1=Charles |title=Why Nigel Can't Spell |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-apr-26-tr-43090-story.html |access-date=5 November 2019 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=26 April 1998}}; {{cite news |last1=Lloyd |first1=Chris |title=Cold spell means long johns are hot stuff |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/opinion/columnists/chrislloyd/chrislloyd/15774423.cold-spell-means-long-johns-are-hot-stuff/ |access-date=5 November 2019 |work=The Northern Echo |date=14 December 2017 |language=en}}</ref>) {{Airport codes|N/A|EGOM}} is a [[Royal Air Force station]] in [[Cumbria]], England, close to the border with [[Northumberland]]. It is the home of the 9,000 acre (36&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) [[electronic warfare]] (EW) tactics range, making it the largest (by area) RAF base in the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jennings |first1=Gareth |title=RAF reforms 11 Group to counter new and evolving threats |url=https://www.janes.com/article/84412/raf-reforms-11-group-to-counter-new-and-evolving-threats |access-date=26 November 2018 |work=janes.com |date=8 November 2018}}</ref> Its primary use is for EW training to the RAF and [[NATO]] allies.<ref>{{cite book|title=UK Defence Statistics 2004|date=2004|publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]|location=London|isbn=0-11-773020-3|page=119}}</ref> The site and course of [[Hadrian's Wall]] runs a few miles south of the range.<ref name="MOD Heritage">{{cite web |title=MoD Heritage Report 2011-2013 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470261/MOD_Heritage_Report_FINAL.pdf |access-date=6 July 2016 |publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=8}}

==Spadeadam<!--[[Spadeadam]]redirects here-->==
The Spadeadam area was remote and largely uninhabited and known as Spadeadam Waste.<ref name="MOD Heritage"/>{{Reference page|page=6}} The name is possibly a corruption of [[Cumbric]] ''ysbyddaden'' "hawthorn", or "ysbytybrenin" "king's hostel", and in 1950 the recorded pronunciation was {{IPAc-en|s|p|ɪ|d|ɪ|d|əm}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Armstrong |first1=A. M. |last2=Mawer |first2=A. |last3=Stenton |first3=F. M. |last4=Dickins |first4=Bruce  |series=English Place-Name society |volume=20 |title=The Place-names of Cumberland, Part 1: Eskdale, Cumberland and Leath Wards |date=1950 |location=Cambridge |publisher= Cambridge University Press |pages=96–97 |language=en}}</ref> It is mentioned as "Speir Adam"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reed |first1=James |title=Sir Walter Scott: Landscape and Locality |date=2014 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=9781472514110 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hMBMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA27  |access-date=5 November 2019 |language=en}}</ref> or "Spear Edom" in "[[Hobie Noble]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quiller-Couch |first1=Arthur |title=The Oxford Book of Ballads |date=1910 |chapter-url=https://www.bartleby.com/243/139.html |access-date=5 November 2019 |chapter=139. Hobbie Noble}}</ref>

==History==
===Cold War===
[[File:Blue Streak Engine Test.jpg|thumb|left|One of the rocket-firing stands for the [[Blue Streak missile]] at RAF Spadeadam]]
The site was first built in 1955 to be the test centre for the [[Blue Streak (missile)|Blue Streak]] [[intermediate-range ballistic missile]] project.<ref>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafspadeadam/aboutus/history.cfm |publisher=Royal Air Force}}</ref> The role of Spadeadam in Britain's [[Cold War]] nuclear weapons programme was made public in 2004 when tree felling uncovered remains of abandoned excavations for an experimental [[missile silo]]. Spadeadam was probably intended to be one of 60 launch sites planned for remote locations.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5vK4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT13|title=Lost Britain: An A-Z of Forgotten Landmarks and Lost Traditions|first= David|last= Long|publisher=Michael O'Mara|year=2015|isbn=978-1782434399}}</ref>

The Rocket Establishment, as it was called, was divided into five areas: an administration and assembly block, a [[British Oxygen Company]] compound for on-site [[liquid oxygen]] fuel manufacture, a component test area, the engine test area and the static firing stands.<ref>{{NHLE|num= 1413245|desc=RAF Spadeadam: Blue Streak Rocket |accessdate = 5 July 2016}}</ref> The engine test area at Prior Lancy Rigg consisted of four concrete stands into which the engines could be mounted for test firing.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=RAF Spadeadam: Priorlancy Rigg, Engine Test Area|num=1413098|access-date=25 November 2021}}</ref> Two rocket-firing stands themselves stood at Greymare Hills and were large enough to accommodate a full Blue Streak missile.<ref>{{PastScape|num=1580748|desc=RAF Spadeadam Greymare Hill Missile Test Area|accessdate=5 July 2016}}</ref>

The RAF took the site over in 1976 and it became Europe's first electronic warfare tactics range in 1977.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forgottenairfields.com/airfield-spadeadam-966.html|title=Spadeadam|publisher=Forgotten Airfields|access-date=25 November 2021}}</ref>

===Post-Cold War===
The site continues to be used in training the Royal Air Force and NATO allied aircrew in electronic warfare. It also hosts other exercising forces such as [[Joint Forward Air Controller Training and Standards Unit|JFACTSU]] [[forward air controller]] training delivered from [[RAF Leeming]] in North Yorkshire. [[Close air support]] (CAS) training is carried out too. Since 2006, this has been the only mainland UK location where aircrews can drop practice bombs.<ref>{{cite web|title=Close Air Support|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafspadeadam/aboutus/closeairsupport.cfm |publisher=Royal Air Force|access-date=5 July 2016}}</ref>

[[DNV]] (previously Advantica) uses the site for industrial hazard testing including fire and the destruction of pipelines. The remoteness of the area is key to their operations.<ref>{{cite news|title=Explosives testing centre to open at Spadeadam|url=http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/business/Explosives-testing-centre-to-open-at-Spadeadam-bf5d181d-4d63-4d6d-bc18-114a55d11571-ds|access-date=5 July 2016|work=News and Star|date=30 June 2016}}</ref>

In July 2021, RAF Spadeadam was used to conduct [[drone swarm]] trials; a first for the [[British Armed Forces]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Ben |title=Commandos operate drone swarms in UK military first |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/commandos-lulworth-cove-cumbria-dorset-royal-marines-b946263.html |access-date=23 August 2021 |work=Evening Standard |date=17 July 2021}}</ref>

==Landscape==
The outlying moorland landscape of the site is of increasing importance for its visual quality and for nature conservation.  The area includes a pristine peat [[bog]], populations of all three species of British [[newt]] and forestry habitat suitable for endangered [[red squirrel]]s.<ref>{{cite news|title=Efforts to protect red squirrels|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/7135345.stm|access-date=5 July 2016|work=BBC News|date=9 December 2007}}</ref> Otters have been noted along the watercourses and still ponds that are dotted across the vast training area.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Cumbria - RAF Spadeadam |magazine=Sanctuary |date=2008 |issue=37 |page=68 |publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] |issn=0959-4132}}</ref> Trees that were planted on the site after the [[First World War]] were felled in 2008 to 2009 to allow the peat bogs to return. Despite concerns about trees being [[carbon sink]]s, the rarity of the peat habitat meant the [[Forestry Commission]] decided to fell 145,000 trees.<ref>{{cite web|title=Open Country|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jpyw1|website=BBC Radio 4|publisher=BBC|access-date=5 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=RAF bombers halted by peat bogs|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7347786.stm|access-date=5 July 2016|work=BBC News|date=15 April 2008}}</ref>

==Freedoms==
'''RAF Spadeadam''' has received the [[Freedom of the City|Freedom]] of several locations throughout its history; these include:
* {{flagicon|England}} '''18 June 2017''': [[Brampton, Carlisle|Brampton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bramptonparishcouncil.co.uk/|title=Brampton Parish Council - Home|website=www.bramptonparishcouncil.co.uk|access-date=11 July 2019|archive-date=13 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613100301/http://www.bramptonparishcouncil.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.briefreport.co.uk/news/raf-to-receive-special-honour-in-brampton-5082509.html|title=RAF to receive special honour in Brampton}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|England}} '''2 June 2018''': [[Carlisle]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cumbriacrack.com/2018/05/25/raf-spadeadam-to-receive-freedom-of-the-city-of-carlisle-in-celebration-of-raf100/|title=RAF Spadeadam to receive Freedom of the City of Carlisle in celebration of RAF100|website=cumbriacrack.com|date=25 May 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|RAF Spadeadam}}

*{{Official website|https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/stations/raf-spadeadam/}}
*[http://www.bunkertours.co.uk/spadeadam.htm Photos from a Subterranea Britannica visit]
*[http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&scale=25000&mapsize=small&x=361620&y=570300&gride=361620&gridn=570300&title=RAF+Spadeadam+at+Gilsland,+Cumbria+-&pc=RAF+Spadeadam+at+Gilsland,+Cumbria RAF Spadeadam on Multimap.com] [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&scale=25000&mapsize=small&x=359660&y=571890&gride=359660&gridn=571890 Priorlancy rocket engine test area] [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&scale=25000&mapsize=small&x=362100&y=574200&gride=362100&gridn=574200 Rocket & missile test area at Graymare Hill]
*{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20040515130256/http://www.spaceuk.org/bstreak/bs/k11.html Plans of the Blue Streak ''K11'' missile silo]}}
*[http://www.gl-nobledenton.com/en/consulting/SpadeadamTestSite.php GL Noble Denton - Spadeadam Test Site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223071348/http://www.gl-nobledenton.com/en/consulting/SpadeadamTestSite.php |date=23 February 2011 }}
*[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Spadeadam,+Brampton,+UK Google Earth view of Spadeadam Farm]
{{Royal Air Force}}
{{Royal Air Force bombing ranges}}
{{Royal Air Force stations}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spadeadam, RAF}}
[[Category:Bombing ranges]]
[[Category:Cumberland (unitary authority)]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force stations in Cumbria|Spadeadam]]
[[Category:Science and technology in Cumbria]]
[[Category:Space programme of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Military installations established in 1957]]