A Tuesday lunchtime and I found myself at a former RAF site which is now a RSPB conservation site which houses three sound mirrors aka acoustic mirrors or “listening ears”.
The mirrors were built around 1930 for experiments to detect enemy aircraft and although the experiments worked the system was never fully operational and became obsolete when radar was functional in the late 1930s.
The 200ft foot mirror is a curved wall and the only other existing mirror is in Maghtab in Malta.
The 20ft mirror is similar to an acoustic mirror in Kilnsea, East Riding of Yorkshire.
The 30ft mirror is a circular dish which still has a metal microphone pole at its centre.
The mirrors were most effective against slow moving vehicles and there were issues identifying between aircraft and sea vessels. The experiment was abandoned and radar took over leaving the site to decay.
In 2003 English heritage secured funding to restore the damage caused by gravel works and now the RSPB manage the site and have installed a swing bridge to stop unauthorised access and vandalism. The site is accessed on specific days by ticket although a footpath gives a view of the mirrors.
The mirrors have featured on an album cover for Turin Breaks and The Prodigy’s Invaders Must Die video.
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