Orford Ness Lighthouse

There’s something quite charming about Orford Ness. There must be: this is the second time I’ve been in two years.

It was once the hub of Britain’s nuclear weapons research programme, where the casings and triggers of bombs were developed and tested before being shipped off to Australia, charged with a nuclear payload and then exploded in the desert in the name of defence, research and mass radiation.

Now it’s been passed over to the National Trust, which warns you as you step off the little 12-seater boat that ferries you across not to stray from the marked paths for fear of treading on an unexploded bomb.

Broken building at Orford Ness

Of more interest than the paths, though, are the buildings, as they’re so different to what you’d expect from the National Trust collection. Many are decaying and well beyond repair. Some have gone completely; others are still in the process of falling down.

The great pits in which the bombs were tested for withstanding the kind of vibrations they would experience in flight have slowly filled with thick green water. Likewise the centrifuges. It’s tempting to wander off to get a closer look, as there are so few people around, and only the thinnest of strings slung across a path mark the point you must not pass.

Testing chamber at Orford Ness

There is speculation that, due to its proximity to Rendlesham Forest, the lighthouse at Orford Ness may have been responsible for the mysterious flashing lights reported by witnesses of the infamous UFO sightings there in December 1980.

It’s owned and maintained by Trinity House, and warns ships of the swift tides and sand banks that claimed 32 boats on one single night in 1627. Its 1000 Watt bulb sends a white beam across 25 miles of open sea, once every five seconds.

It’s a shame more of the buildings aren’t open, as some of the most dilapidated, broken and out-of-bounds husks are also the most interesting. Coming back from the old Cobra Mist site, which was the location of the government’s wartime over-the-horizon radar experiments we found a broken down shack that had clearly been out of use for some time. The windows were smashed, the roof was falling down and there were large holes in the walls. The only sign of life was a stripped bare spine on the floor, and an old, broken toilet detached from its tank.

Exploded ordnance at Orford Ness

Orford Ness is on Suffolk’s east coast, around 20 miles north of Ipswich. Passage to the island on the optimistically-named Orford Ness ferry costs £6.50. It is open until 27 October this year, and then closes until mid-spring.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 14th, 2007 at 11:38 pm and is filed under Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.