RAF Denge

RAF Denge
Dungeness, Kent in England
RAF Denge is located in Kent
RAF Denge
RAF Denge
Shown within Kent
RAF Denge is located in the United Kingdom
RAF Denge
RAF Denge
RAF Denge (the United Kingdom)
Coordinates50°57′22″N 0°57′14″E / 50.95611°N 0.95389°E / 50.95611; 0.95389
TypeRoyal Air Force station
Site information
OwnerAir Ministry
OperatorRoyal Air Force
Site history
Built1920 (1920)s
In use1920s - 1932 (1932)

Royal Air Force Denge or more simply RAF Denge is a former Royal Air Force site near Dungeness, in Kent, England. It is best known for the early experimental acoustic mirrors which remain there.

The RAF had begun research into acoustic mirrors during World War I.[1]

The Denge acoustic mirrors, known colloquially as 'listening ears', are located between Greatstone-on-Sea and Lydd Airport, on the banks of a now disused gravel pit. The mirrors were built in the late 1920s and early 1930s as an experimental early warning system for incoming aircraft, developed by William Sansome Tucker. Several were built along the south and east coasts, but the complex at Denge is the best preserved, and are protected as scheduled monuments.[2]

  1. ^ Air and Space Power Review, Vol 22 No 3, The RAF and its Approach to Science in The Interwar Period https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/centre-for-air-and-space-power-studies/aspr/aspr-vol22-iss3-7-pdf/
  2. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1005119)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 February 2017.