RAF Hospital Nocton Hall

The old RAF Nocton Hall site

The Nocton Hall Chestnut tree - October 2009

RAF Hospital Nocton Hall was a 740-bed RAF hospital serving the predominantly RAF personnel based at the large number of RAF Stations in the area. Officially designated as No. 1 RAF Hospital Nocton Hall^[1] it opened in June 1947.^[2] It was used by forces personnel, their families and local civilians until it closed on 31 March 1983.^[3]

The hospital was situated near the small village of Nocton in rural Lincolnshire and partly in the grounds of Nocton Hall. The Hall was used as the Officers' Mess. The main part of the hospital consisted of long corridors with wooden hut wards and departments branching off them. The hospital was on a slight slope so the corridors were not level.

In 1984 it was leased to the United States Air Force (USAF) for use as a wartime contingency hospital. During the Gulf War, over 1,300 US medical staff were sent to the Hall and many were billeted at RAF Scampton, although ultimately only 35 casualties had to be treated. In its later days 13 American personnel remained to keep the hospital serviceable. RAF Nocton Hall was handed back to Her Majesty's Government by the USAF on 30 September 1995 but has never been brought back into use as a hospital.

The only accessible part (as of October 2013) of the hospital is the site of the former Married Quarters, which still carry the original RAF street names. They are of former RAF Hospitals overseas; Changi Close, Habbanya Rise (RAF Habbaniya misspelt), Rostrop Road (RAF Rostrup misspelt), Steamer Point Road, Fayid Lane (now Woodland Drive), Hinidi Lane (RAF Hinaidi misspelt, now extended and renamed Nocton Park Road), Khormaksar Drive, Wegberg Road and Akrotiri Square.

Sign on new entry road to former Married Quarters.

The rest of the hospital site is fenced off and inaccessible with only glimpses of the derelict Hall visible through the trees. There is no 'memorial' to the former RAF Hospital despite the large numbers of personnel and patients involved there.

References

1. "RAF Nocton Hall / No 1 RAF Hospital Nocton Hall". Retrieved 29 September 2014.
2. Mary Mackie, SKY WARDS, p. 366
3. A commemorative postal First Day Cover was issued that day.

Bibliography

• Mary Mackie: WARDS IN THE SKY – the RAF’s Remarkable Nursing Service (The History Press, UK, 2014, ISBN 9780750959568).