York Historic Environment Record

The site escaped the extensive re-development of the rest of the airfield which took place during the 1980s, but structures were partially demolished at some point between 1988 and 2002. Fortunately, a number of photographs were taken in 1988 prior to this demolition. Although now mostly demolished, the remains of the site are clearly visible on 2015 modern colour vertical aerial photography (Google Earth).

In 2020, the remains of the bulk petrol installation were formed by two elongated earth mounds formerly containing the petrol tanks, both aligned approximately northsouth and containing exposed brickwork on their surfaces. The mounds were separated by an area of brick and concrete rubble representing the demolished remains of two small pump houses; a metal stand post associated with the south pump house still survived. The whole was surrounded by an elliptical concrete roadway, covering an area 40m square, which would have allowed tankers to both bring petrol to the facility and to take petrol out to the aircraft which were dispersed around the airfield. The installation lies on the north-western edge of the former airfield, close to a perimeter taxi-way.

The site is clearly shown on the 1951 aerial photograph. On the 1967-69 Ordnance Survey map, the site is depicted as being surrounded by an elliptical concrete roadway, itself linked to one of the perimeter taxi-ways. Within the area enclosed by the concrete roadway, there are short linear north-west/south-east aligned mounds at the east and west sides, reinforced by walls. photographs were taken in 1988 prior to this demolition, although these erroneously identify the site as gun butts. They show that each of the linear mounds was open to the concrete roadway and incorporated a substantial brick wall to the other three sides. The walls appear to have been capped with concrete slabs. Each wall had a flight of nine or ten concrete steps rising to the top of the south end, whilst a small square brick structure projected above the north end; these may possibly have had vents or openings to their south sides. Between the mounds, the two small rectangular structures marked in 1967-69 can be seen. They were both brick-built, of a single storey, with flat concrete roofs - the southern structure had an entrance in the east elevation flanked by a screen wall, and the 1967-69 map shows the other was of the same plan. To the south of the south structure, there is a tall metal stand post. The contrast between the appearance of the linear mounds in 1988 and their existing appearance demonstrates that there was some infilling to the open (roadway) sides when the demolition took place.

It is surrounded by an elliptical concrete roadway, of sectional construction using reinforced concrete panels; the surface of the roadway is set an average height of 13.25m AOD. The complex has maximum dimensions of 39.5m east-west by 39.5m north-south, but the roadway is not the same width all the way round - on the centre of the east and west sides it is only 3.0m wide, but increases to 6.0m wide to the centre of the north side and 9.00m to the south side. The additional width of the south side of the roadway provided room for the RAF tankers to park then, after being filled up with aviation fuel, they would have then have been driven out to the aircraft that were dispersed around the airfield. Where the edges are visible, the concrete panels are on average 0.10m thick. They do not appear to have a uniform size or shape, although it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between original joints and later, regular, cracks; the largest visible panels, placed at the centre of the south side of the roadway, measure 9.0m by 4.5m. Some of the panels around the roadway retain traces of their original bitumen coating. To the external south-west side of the roadway, there is a shallow ditch with a more prominent outer bank. It was initially thought that this was likely to be a modern feature, but a similar earthwork to the south of the adjacent taxi-way finished abruptly at the boundary fence of the A1237, suggesting that it might in fact be related to wartime activity. The section of roadway connecting the bulk petrol installation to the adjacent taxi-way to the east was only partly visible at the time of the initial survey.

The elliptical concrete roadway encloses two mounds (‘A’ and ‘B’) and an area of rubble between which contains the remains of two ruined structures. The west mound (‘A’) measures 20m northsouth by 9.50m east-west, and stands to a maximum height of 1.35m. It has a flattened top, and is generally more steeply scarped to the east side than to the other three sides; comparison with the 1988 photographs demonstrates that much of the west scarp was created after this date. The brick wall visible in 1988 partly survives, but has clearly been very substantially truncated since that date. This brick wall has a maximum surviving north-south length of 11.0m, returning to the west for a maximum of 4.10m at either end. It has an average surviving width of 0.36m but now survives to a maximum visible height of only 0.55m. The wall is built from orange brown machine-made bricks (average dimensions 230mm by 120mm by 80mm) laid in an approximate English bond (alternating stretcher and header courses) and set with a cement mortar. At the north end, the small square structure shown here in 1988 is built of the same brickwork and is tied into the main wall; it measures 0.74m square internally and is at least 1.00m deep, with all internal faces being rendered.

The east mound (‘B’) measures 19.0m north-south by 11.50m east-west, and stands to a maximum height of 1.35m. It has a gently rounded top, and is generally less steeply scarped to all four sides than the west mound; again, it is likely that much of the east scarp was created after 1988. The brick wall visible in 1988 partly survives, but has clearly been very substantially truncated since that date. This brick wall has a maximum surviving north-south length of 11.0m, returning to the east for a maximum of 4.5m at the north end; the latter appears to represent the original full extent. It has an average surviving width of 0.36m but now survives to a maximum visible height of only 0.50m; the wall is built of the same brickwork as that described within the west mound. At the north end, there was once a square structure again as described for the west mound but it has been largely destroyed, leaving two stub walls; it retains no traces of any internal render. A length of steel cable projects from the surface of the mound close to the remains of the wall at the south end, whilst to the south of the wall itself a small section of concrete remains in situ.

Two evaluation trenches were excavated on the site, across the centres of the two linear mounds formerly housing the petrol tanks, whilst loose rubble and concrete was cleared from on and around the two pump houses. Trench 1 through the west mound (‘A’) was aligned broadly east-west. The trench was excavated to a maximum depth of 1.90m below the top of the mound (c.12.75m AOD), which placed it some 0.50m lower than the surface of the concrete roadway surrounding the installation, which was set at an average height of 13.25m AOD. At the east end, immediately beyond the trench, what had previously been thought to be ex situ concrete from the demolished pump houses was revealed to actually form the remains of a sloping concrete skirt placed around the bottom of the eastern scarp of the mound. This skirt was 1.60m wide, 0.70m high and extended for at least 2.00m to the north of the trench; it was not clearly visible to the south.

The north end of the chamber was fully excavated, revealing that it had a concrete floor, set at c.12.75m AOD. On the north, east and west sides, the chamber’s brick walls were rendered to 0.45m above the level of the internal floor, with bare brickwork above this. The north wall survived to a maximum height of 2.05m above the concrete floor, but the west wall was much lower, having been truncated during the 1988-2002 demolition works.The tank itself had been supported on a series of low brick piers with curving upper surfaces. One was positioned at the base of the north wall of the chamber, with further paired examples running the length of the concrete floor. The paired examples alternated with pairs of anchor points, each comprising three U-shaped links.

Trench 2, excavated through the east mound (‘B’), was aligned broadly east-west and was excavated to a maximum depth of 1.55m below the top of the mound (c.13.00m AOD), which placed it some 0.25m lower than the surface of the concrete roadway surrounding the installation. At the east end, within the trench, the upper most deposit was a black/dark brown sandy silt topsoil, extending to a maximum depth of 0.70m BGL (c.13.85m AOD), but generally shallower. This topsoil overlay a loose, clean orange-brown sand, which extended beyond the base of the trench itself (c.13.00m AOD. The sand was backfill material, put in place after the 1988-2002 demolition works, which had evidently broken into the chamber from the east side; the earthwork survey demonstrated that the scarp of the mound here was far less regular than that to the west side. The sand overlay the east wall of the north-south brick chamber formerly housing the petrol tank. The wall was built of the same brickwork as already described above, and had an average width of 0.36m. The main body of the chamber measured 10.25m long by 3.50m wide internally. Unlike the chamber within the west mound, the floor and internal structure were not exposed, and these elements did not survive to the same degree as the west mound. However, two parallel lines of brick were noted in plan only adjacent to the west (internal) face of the east wall. It is probable that these were the remains of a support for the base of the petrol tank, as described in the west mound. The west wall of the brick chamber was truncated during the excavation of the trench, but it was visible in both sections rising through the full height of the mound; that part of the walling within the trench was rendered to both faces. Beyond the west wall, the majority of the west slope of the mound comprised a mid to dark-brown sandy silt, containing a higher proportion of sand than seen in the topsoil. The sandy silt had a level base, set at c.13.25m AOD. It overlay a horizontal deposit of compacted dark brown silty sand which smelled strongly of oil/petrol; it continued below the base of the trench (c.12.10m).

North Pump House
Prior to clearance, the remains of the northern pump house were obscured by its reinforced concrete roof, which had fallen to the ground in a single piece; it measured 4.50m east-west by 2.70m northsouth. The removal of this slab revealed the foundations of the building, which was formerly connected to the roadway by a 1.00m wide concrete footpath. The footpath terminated at the partial remains of a blast wall, visible in plan only, which had once shielded the doorway of the pump house. The pump house itself was a rectangular brick structure, aligned east-west, measuring 4.30m by 2.50m externally. There was a doorway in the west wall, formerly giving access to the interior, which contained two concrete bases, probably the remains of an engine bed or mounting and associated machinery. The larger base is aligned east-west, measuring 1.55m east-west by 0.55m north-south. It is at least 0.10m high, with chamfered corners. There are three bolts projecting from the upper surface - each bolt is 15mm in diameter and up to 130mm long, with the upper half only being threaded. The adjacent smaller base is 0.55m square, with similar bolts to three corners; the corners are again chamfered.

South Pump House
Following clearance, the southern pump house was revealed to have also been formerly connected to the roadway by a 1.00m wide concrete footpath. The footpath terminated at the remains of a blast wall, visible in plan only, which had once shielded the doorway of the pump house. The south pump house was a square brick structure, aligned east-west, measuring 3.80m across externally; at the north-east corner, the walls survive up to 0.50m in height. There was a doorway in the east wall, formerly giving access to the interior, which contained two concrete bases, probably the remains of an engine bed or mounting and associated machinery. These bases were similar to those seen in the northern pump house. The larger, centrally-placed base is aligned east-west, and measures 1.55m east-west by 0.55m northsouth. It is 0.30m high, with chamfered corners. There are six evenly-spaced bolts projecting from the upper surface; each bolt is 15mm in diameter and up to 130mm long, with the upper half only being threaded. The smaller base to the south is damaged, but was once c.0.50m square, again with chamfered corners. It has a bolt to each of the surviving three corners; each bolt is 15mm in diameter, threaded and 30mm long. Again, these would have supported the pump and motor unit, and the starter gear. Some clearance was also taken around the base of the metal stand post placed between the southern pump house and the concrete roadway. The delivery pipe noted above ran into a rectangular chamber containing a meter. A flexible pipe or hose left this chamber and rose up the stand post to an angled arm, and then hung down from this; the post and arm had a total height of 9 feet 9 inches (2.97m). The form of the post and hose suggests petrol was delivered into the top of the waiting RAF tanker, which parked on an adjacent section of the roadway which had been strengthened. A shallow channel ran along one side of this standing to catch any spilled petrol.

The stand post is formed by an I-section (steel?) stanchion, measuring 150mm by 80mm in section and standing to a total height of 4.05m, significantly taller than the height shown on the Air Ministry design. At the base of the north side, there is a metal ring with an internal diameter of 0.17m set into the ground and surrounded by a fillet of concrete. The stanchion has three brackets welded to the south face, set at 0.48m, 1.21m and 3.07m above ground
level respectively. Each bracket measures 150mm by 80mm, with an inverted U-section and a pair of holes 20mm in diameter to the front (south) side. These brackets must once have supported the hose rising up the stand post. An electric cable once ran up the north face of the stanchion.

There were formerly five galvanised metal clips here, each held in place by a pair of small, dome-headed bolts with nuts behind, but only one clip survived at the time of the survey. The cable rises to a thin metal plate set at 1.45m above ground level; the plate was not secured to the stanchion, but has two fittings of unknown function secured to its upper surface. The plate might once have supported a control panel to govern the supply of petrol through the hose into the tanker. Metal sheathing for a cable rises a further 0.94m above the plate, terminating at a circular fitting that perhaps once housed a dial, gauge or light. At its top, the stanchion has short flanges to the north and south sides. A horizontal (steel?) arm was once bolted to these, although at the time of survey it had become partly loose. The arm is 0.70m long and angles upwards slightly at the south end, where it has a bracket welded to it; the bracket is of the same form as those to the south face of the stanchion. To the immediate west of the stanchion, there is an opening that gave access to the underground meter tank. It is at least 0.75m deep and was filled with water at the time of the survey. The opening has a cast-iron frame surrounded by a concrete fillet,and was fitted with a cast-iron cover in two parts bearing a lattice-pattern. The frame bears the cast mark ‘DUDLEY & DOWELL LTD CRADLEY HEATH STAFFS’, the same as seen on the drain covers flanking the taxi-ways described above.

Ed Dennison, 2020, A1237 York Northern Outer Ring Road (Unpublished document). SYO2595.