Building 194 the “Institute” of Communal Site No.2 at RAF Ibsley
The current Ibsley village hall was built covering part of building 194 the “Institute” of Communal Site No.2 at RAF Ibsley. The rest of the WWII building forms the surface of part of the car park. In 2015 this area of the car park was resurfaced. Prior to this resurfacing work the visible remains of building 194 were surveyed by a collaborative team made up of members of the RAF Ibsley Airfield Heritage Trust, three archaeology students from Bournemouth University along with Lawrence Shaw (Heritage Mapping and Data Officer) and Gareth Owen (Project Officer – New Forest Remembers project) of the New Forest National Park Authority.
A full photographic survey was also undertaken and the results have been uploaded to the Heritage Portal.
We would like to thank Josie Hagan, Phil Trim and Hayden Scott-Pratt the Archaeology students from Bournemouth University, Bournemouth University for the loan of the equipment, Emma Blake, Roly Errington from the RAF Ibsley Airfield Heritage Trust and the Ibsley Village Hall Committee for granting permission to conduct the survey and opening up the hall for tea making facilities.
You can find out more about Ibsley Airfield in this overview article, which has links to other articles relating to Ibsley Airfield.