page_title: RAF Honington
section_title: Built heritage
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Honington / Heritage / Built heritage
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Air Force Fighter Command, 1939-1945. The turret of a Pickett-Hamilton Retractable Fort, fully raised and manned by a bren-gun team of the Coldstream Guards, taken on a fighter airfield in Southern England.
context_page_description: Royal Air Force Honington or more simply RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located 6 mi south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. Although used as a bomber station during the Second World War, RAF Honington is now the RAF Regiment depot.
context_section_description: Two Second World War era hardened field fortification survive within the airfield boundary. The Pickett-Hamilton forts were designated as scheduled monuments by English Heritage (now Historic England) in September 2002. The forts were constructed in late 1940 in order to provide ground defence for the airfield. A third example is thought to have been destroyed during redevelopment of the station after the war.
  The forts were designed to be lowered into the ground while not in use, as such they would be inconspicuous and would not interfere with the passage of taxiing aircraft or other vehicles. The forts could be raised to about 2 feet 6 inches (0.76 m) above ground level where it would be a physical impediment to aircraft and vehicles and from where a small crew could fire with rifles or light machine guns.
  The examples at Honington are described by Historic England as having "importance as comparatively rare surviving examples of an unusual and innovative type of airfield defence installation. The outer structure and lifting heads of both remain in good condition, and the example which is in working order, with its principal internal fittings intact, is of particular interest."
caption: The turret of a Pickett-Hamilton fort, fully raised and manned during the Second World War.
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