Feature: The Story of the Former Wisley Airfield – Part 1

Published on: 11 Sep, 2018
Updated on: 18 Sep, 2018

Ben Paton

Ben Paton is a resident of Ockham who continues to campaign against the development of the former Wisley Airfield. In a series of three articles, he tells the story of the site from the perspective of a local resident whose family goes back in the area some generations.

In this first part, Ben traces the history from the Second World War to the 1980s…

Until 2007, government policy at national and local levels was resolutely against permanent development on Three Farms Meadow in Ockham, also known as the former Wisley Airfield. After nearly 80 years,  government policy change seemed extremely unlikely.

So how did the policy and use for the land and the adjacent commons evolve up to 2007?

Ockham had been a recognised entity for more than 1,000 years, described as, “is and always has been a community of small hamlets and dwellings scattered over more than 2,000 acres” (A history of Ockham to 1900. Lachelin and Primrose, Surrey Archaeological Society).

Three Farms Meadow, at the centre of the parish, is formed by an outcrop of Bagshot Sand. The nine hamlets of Ockham necklace this high ground. The area is thought to have been inhabited since the Mesolithic period.

The extensive heathlands in Ockham and Wisley may be the result of over-farming in prehistoric times. In 2013, a Bronze Age hoard (c. 1300BC) was discovered at the Hautboy Hotel. The parish is thought to take its name from someone called Occa, in Saxon times.

Three Farms Meadow, like the rest of Ockham, formed part of the Ockham Park estate. In 1943, it was farmed from Stratford, Corsair and Hyde farms. Many fields had been consolidated by the estate.

A photo of the former Hyde Farm. This was commandeered and turned into a control tower. It was demolished before HMG sold the land back to Lord Lytton.

During WW2, a Vickers test pilot in an emergency found the gently sloping, open land at Three Farms Meadow ideal to crash-land for his Wellesley bomber. He recommended the site as a good potential company airfield for Vickers.

In 1943 HM government requisitioned Three Farms Meadow from the estate for a temporary grass airstrip for Vickers, building at its factory in Brooklands.

Before Surrey County Council (SCC) and Guildford were given assurances that the land would be returned to its pre-war agricultural use after the war. The special character of the land was already recognised by Surrey and London County Councils.

Ockham Common was purchased by Surrey County Council in 1936, with contributions from London County Council in exchange for a covenant that the land would be preserved from building or industrial development.

In 1940, SCC declared Ockham Common to be part of the green belt around London. In 1959, the MP for Wimbledon bought Wisley Common and donated it to SCC. In 1965, SCC bought Chatley Heath. These land parcels form one large “Commons Group”. In 1975, they were designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Shows a BOAC VC10 with the original war-time hanger on the Elm Corner side of the main entrance behind in 1964. The aircraft behind appears to be a Vickers Valliant nuclear bomber – possibly back for some sort of servicing or re-fit. Valliant bombers were built at Weybridge and tested at Wisley in the 1950s.

After WW2, Vickers continued to use the site and became part of the British Aircraft Corporation. When BAC rationalised its business in 1974 it relinquished its lease over the former Wisley airfield and all flying ceased.

In 1981, the new Conservative government was keen to raise money from privatisations. It removed all the aviation infrastructure from the former Wisley airfield and sold the land at agricultural land value to Lord Lytton, inheritor of the Ockham Park Estate, who had right of first refusal. The government reneged on its promise to remove the runway before the sale. Local people demanded an inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

A photo of a VC 10 in front of the original war time hangers at Elm Corner in 1962

In 1976, Lord Lytton had applied for permission to create intensive livestock farming of beef cattle and chickens, reusing existing buildings. Guildford refused permission and after a public inquiry and an appeal, the application was refused as an unsuitable use of the land.

In 1980, a new planning application by a company called Jenstate for a commercial airfield won the support of Lord Lytton. The applicant took the case all the way to the Secretary of State.

Shows a Super One Eleven in September 1968 from the opposite direction to shots 2 and 3 (looking west) with the much larger and more modern hanger that was built to accommodate jet airliners.
All the hangars were removed prior to the sale of the land back to Lord Lytton in 1981.

The inspector’s decision to refuse the appeal was upheld by Michael Heseltine. The inspector wrote:

“It would, in my opinion, call for the most exceptional circumstances, a clearly established national need, and exhaustive survey and subsequent rejection of all other possible alternative sites with less formidable planning barriers, before I could conceive of this site, with its surroundings containing such highly valued and vulnerable recreational areas protected as it is by such longstanding and recently so authoritatively approved planning policies being suitable for this use even at the very lowest conceivable level of user.’

That seemed to put an end to the threat of development and to confirm the permanent status of the green belt in Ockham.

To be continued…

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