page_title: Morgan's Hill
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Morgan's Hill / Communications site / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo showing Morgan's Hill, Devizes, Wiltshire, UK, showing detail of concrete bases of wireless masts and a brick building to house equipment.
context_page_description: Morgan's Hill is a 12.6 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Calne and Devizes in Wiltshire, England. The SSSI was notified in 1951 and again in 1987.
context_section_description: A Marconi Imperial Wireless Chain receiving station was built on the south-east slopes of the hill in 1913, as the receiving station for the Leafield transmission station in Oxfordshire. The contract for the Imperial Chain was terminated by the Post Office after the outbreak of war and the station was not used for its original function when Leafield was resurrected after the War.
  The structure was converted to military use in 1916 for the Royal Engineers as an army intelligence station, used to determine the position of German Zeppelins and communication stations. The plans for the structure showed masts 300 feet (91 m) high and 2,700 yards (2,500 m) long. It is not known when the station closed but sources show that it was considered redundant by 1919.
  In 1919 the General Post Office and the Marconi Company agreed to convert the receiving station into Britain's first long-range maritime communications station. The station opened in 1920 with the callsign 'GKT' and was equipped with a six-kilowatt valve transmitter and a receiver, guaranteeing a two-way range of 1,500 miles (2,400 km). The equipment and staff were housed in old army huts. Radiotelegrams were received and forwarded to London for the price of 11d per word; the service proved successful and in 1924 a second mast with callsign 'GKU' was added.
  By 1926, as experiments with short-wave communications proved successful, Devizes expanded again with the installation of Britain's first short-wave maritime transmitter. Again the service proved successful and the GPO investigated the possibility of expanding the Devizes site again; however, the limited space on the site led the company to open a new station at Portishead, Somerset, and close the Devizes station in 1929. All equipment was removed by 1935.
caption: The remaining concrete bases from the original masts
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