RAF Ringstead

RAF Ringstead
Ringstead Bay, Dorset in England
One of the former transmitter blocks of RAF Ringstead in 2011
Site information
TypeRoyal Air Force Station
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRoyal Air Force
United States Air Force
Location
RAF Ringstead
Shown within Dorset
RAF Ringstead
RAF Ringstead (the United Kingdom)
Coordinates50°38′03″N 002°20′35″W / 50.63417°N 2.34306°W / 50.63417; -2.34306
Site history
Built1941 (1941)
In use1942 - 1946 (1946)
Battles/warsEuropean theatre of World War II
Cold War

RAF Ringstead is a former Royal Air Force radar station at Ringstead Bay, Dorset, England. It is notable for having served three separate functions: first as a Chain Home early-warning radar station during WWII and then, during the Cold War, as a Rotor station and then, finally, as a USAF Tropospheric scatter station. The first of these functions commenced in 1942; the last of the functions ceased in 1974. The structural remains were Grade II listed in 2020.