No current operator or landowner permission for a public visit was established in this review. The linked designation is historical evidence, not an access invitation. Do not enter the site, open hatches or cross private land on the strength of this map.
Read the source used for this access review ↗ · checked 2026-09-13
Stay within authorised areas. Do not enter unstaffed tunnels, shafts, railway land or restricted property.
How to explore responsiblyReviewed 2026-09-13 · review due 2026-10-13. Desk research from the full official designation and the cited historical context. No site visit or direct operator contact.
The recorded history
The surviving building controlled the Hambleton night decoy for RAF Church Fenton. Historic England’s entry identifies references from August 1941 and August 1942. Its lighting imitated a working airfield after dark, while the shelter combined operating space, communications, power generation and accommodation. This was an installation designed to be mistaken for somewhere else; its own buildings were only part of the effect.
How to understand the remains
The designation describes separate operations and engine rooms. Their relationship offers a practical way to read the structure: one space managed the display and its communication with the parent station, while another supplied power. The original lighting array should not be assumed to survive simply because its control building is recorded. Compare this building-led evidence with Heslington’s landscape earthworks. Neither record establishes present public access, and neither map point should be used as an entrance or a suggested parking place.
What remains uncertain
Descriptions of survival refer to the source record, not a September 2026 inspection. Current fabric, ownership and authorised visitor arrangements require further checking.
Sources used for the access review
- Historic England — World War II bombing decoy control building 270m south of Scalm Park Cottages ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13
What the official index records
Historic England / Planning Data records this location as World War II bombing decoy control building 270m south of Scalm Park Cottages. Our atlas groups it under wwii defences using that source wording.
Record details
- Category
- WWII defences
- Source classification
- World War II bombing decoy control building 270m south of Scalm Park Cottages
- Period / construction dates
- Q-site documented 1941–1942
- Current condition
- Not verified
- Designation
- Scheduled monument
- Designation date
- 2002-03-07
- Nearest reference town
- York (approximate)
- County / historic source county
- Not supplied
- County or local authority (ONS)
- North Yorkshire
- Nation
- England
- Source record ID
- 1020499
- Coordinates
- 53.786182, -1.144672 (reference point, not an entrance)
- Index checked
- 2026-09-13
- Source last updated
- 2026-08-28
- Published access reviewed
- 2026-09-13
Index verification means the record and supplied attributes were checked against the official downloaded index on 2026-09-13. It does not mean a site visit or confirmation of current access. Points may refer to a whole complex, a surviving component or a recorded location.