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Brown's Quarry Old Air Shaft

RAF Rudloe Manor, Corsham.

This shaft is shown originally as an "Air Shaft" on the First Edition OS maps of Wiltshire. It does not appear as a shaft on more recent maps. Brown's Quarry developed originally as a small independent quarry to the north-west of Tunnel Quarry. It was taken over by the MOWB in 1940 and then came into operation as No.10 RAF Fighter Group. It was responsible for air defence of the western region. By 1950 Brown's Quarry was selected to be the new Southern Sector Operations Centre, and the quarry continued in operation into the Cold War forming the HQ of the Controllerate of Defence Communications Network. Today, little remains of the Second World War use of the quarry as the Operations Room was gutted, and the remaining areas are empty shells. Access was by electric lift to the surface (Brown's Quarry Lift Shaft) at the northof the site or along a narrow passage into the adjacent Spring Quarry.

Alternative Names: None recorded.