Thorpe Camp
Preservation Group

The Centre was formerly part of No 1 Communal Site, RAF Woodhall Spa, and was built in 1940 with a planned lifespan of only ten years! The site included the Officers' and Sergeants' Messes, Airmen's Dining Halls and the NAAFI building, together with ration stores, latrine and ablution blocks. Only the Airmen's Dining Halls, the NAAFI and ration store are within the Centre's boundary.

At the end of the war, when the RAF vacated the site, it became a target for squatters and was taken over by the Horncastle Rural District Council who converted it into temporary housing for which it was used until the early 60s.

By 1987 the site was completely derelict and overgrown. Part of it came within the area acquired by the Woodland Trust when they purchased the adjacent Carr Woods and it was their plan to demolish the buildings. About this time the Lincolnshire Aviation Museum, set up in 1968, was forced to close when the owner of the site changed.

The Preservation Group is formed

Five enthusiasts, led by Mike Hodgson set up the Thorpe Camp Preservation Group and in April 1993 it was registered as a Charity (No. 1020259) with the aim of restoring the site and creating a Visitor Centre depicting the story of RAF Woodhall Spa and its squadrons, and Civilian Life in Lincolnshire during WWII.

Only a few of the original camp buildings remained and these where initially leased from the Woodland Trust and, subsequently, in April 1998, purchased outright.

The Group aims to finish the restoration of the buildings (including the refurbishment of the NAAFI for use as an education block) and to continue to keep a part of our History available for visitors and future generations.

In 2008 we were honoured when Sqn/Ldr A. Pinner MBE, BSc, OC of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight became President of the Preservation Group.

Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre seen from the air during a
1940s Weekend in 2007.  Photo by Tim Taylor.