25-419: 51°24′27″N 0°50′58″E / 51.4075°N 0.8494°E / 51.4075; 0.8494 Shurland is a place near Eastchurch , Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England. Shurland Hall stood here and was visited by Henry VIII of England and used during World War I for billeting. This England -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Eastchurch Eastchurch
50-422: A number of new buildings some of the original buildings survive including a number of pillboxes . The main roads in the prison reflect the aviation links; Rolls Avenue and Airfield View, Short's Prospect and Wright's Way. In the entrance to HMP Swaleside are two brass plaques; one records that the prison is built on what was the airstrip of RAF Eastchurch, and the other lists the owners of the airstrip from 1909 to
75-498: A significant role in the history of British aviation from 1909 when Frank McClean acquired Stonepits Farm, on the marshes across from Leysdown , converting the land into an airfield for members of the Aero Club of Great Britain . The Short Brothers , Horace, Eustace and Oswald, built aircraft at Battersea to be tested at the site; later Moore-Brabazon , A. K. Huntington , Charles S. Rolls and Cecil Grace all visited and used
100-636: Is a former Royal Air Force station near Eastchurch village, on the Isle of Sheppey , Kent , England. The history of aviation at Eastchurch stretches back to the first decade of the 20th century when it was used as an airfield by members of the Royal Aero Club . The area saw the first flight by a British pilot in Britain. In 1910 it was operated by the Royal Navy as a training aerodrome and it
125-413: Is a note from the 1847 gazetteer commenting on the scarcity of fresh water which "makes the inhabitants very careful to preserve such falls from the clouds" and tells of spouts from the church designed to fill large tubs around it in the churchyard. Royal Navy Shore Station HMS Pembroke II was RNAS Eastchurch, Sheppey, Kent. An accounting base, it was operational from June 1913 to 1 April 1918 when it
150-454: Is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Sheppey , in the English county of Kent , two miles east of Minster . The village website claims the area has "a history steeped in stories of piracy and smugglers ". Eastchurch is styled the "home of British aviation" as Eastchurch airfield saw the first controlled flight by a British pilot on British soil. The Eastchurch airfield played
175-547: Is in the centre of the village, it is a large and extravagant church. Currently, the parish is in interregnum as of June 2016, the previous Parish Priest, Rector Chris Shipley, retired. He took the Parish from the Reverend Father Barry Birch SSC, who had been there since October 2008. His predecessor, Father Francis Searle, was the parish priest from September 2000 until his death in 2007. Father Searle
200-642: The Isle of Sheppey in 1909. One of the Club's members, Francis McClean , acquired Stonepits Farm, on the marshes across from Leysdown, converting the land into an airfield for members of the Aero Club. A club house was established nearby at the Mussell Manor (now known as Muswell Manor). At the same time the Short Brothers established an aircraft factory at Shellbeach on Isle of Sheppey . This
225-536: The Royal Flying Corps amalgamated. The station at Eastchurch was transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force and was re-designated Royal Air Force Station Eastchurch, or RAF Eastchurch for short. During the last few months of the War, No. 204 Training Depot Station, the 64th (Naval) Wing and the 58th (Training) Wing were based at Eastchurch. RAF Eastchurch remained active during the inter-war years and it
250-678: The 15th century. It was also rumoured to have housed Henry VIII and his wife, Anne Boleyn , for a few nights. For a short period before it was acquired by the Spitalfields Trust in 2006, it was owned by Violet Searle, a business woman who developed an early house within the village in Warden Road. The gatehouse is now in the care of the Spitalfields Trust and in the process of being renovated and restored. In Hidden Kent by Alan Major (Countryside Books, 1994), there
275-612: The Eastchurch Parish Council, planned the event for 25 and 26 July 2009. Eastchurch is also home to many forms of aircraft and is where they were originally developed in the early 1900s, notably by Short Brothers. The gatehouse is now all that remains of Shurland Hall , connected with many families including the Cheneys who were there in 1274; and Sir John Stanley, who was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in
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#1732800893020300-595: The Short Brothers' factory. They then took lunch at Mussell Manor with members of the Aero Club and there was considerable discussion regarding the possibility of establishing a flying school in Sheppey. In 1910 both the airfield and the aircraft factory were relocated to larger quarters at Eastchurch , about 2.5 miles (4 km) away, where the Short-Dunne 5 , designed by John W. Dunne, was built and became
325-545: The first tailless aircraft to fly. In 1911 Shorts built one of the first successful twin-engine aircraft, the S.39 or Triple Twin. At this time seaplanes had to be taken by barge to Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey to be launched and tested. In November 1910 the Royal Aero Club, at the instigation of Francis McClean, offered the Royal Navy the use of its airfield at Eastchurch along with two aircraft and
350-498: The first live cargo flight by fixed-wing aircraft. In order to disprove the adage that pigs can't fly he attached a waste-paper basket to a wing strut of his aircraft and airlifted one small pig inside the basket. Later Moore-Brabazon, Professor Huntington, Charles Rolls and Cecil Grace all used the flying club's services. In May 1909 the Wright Brothers visited Sheppey and inspected the airfield before moving on to visit
375-454: The flying club's services. Wilbur Wright and his brother Orville came to the Isle of Sheppey to visit the new flying grounds of the Aero Club. In 1909, Moore-Brabazon made the first live cargo flight by fixed-wing aircraft, tying a waste-paper basket to a wing strut of his Shorts-built Wright aircraft. Then, using it as a "cargo hold", he airlifted one small pig. The Eastchurch airfield was also
400-752: The risk. (Martin Gilbert, 1991, page 248). In 1914, it was under the command of Commander C.R. Samson (R.N.) and had 24 trained officers (as pilots) and 41 (trained) men. In 1916 a siding was laid to connect the Royal Navy Aviation School with Eastchurch railway station on the Sheppey Light Railway . Towards the end of the First World War , on 1 April 1918, the Royal Naval Air Service and
425-625: The services of its members as instructors in order that Naval officers might be trained as pilots. The Admiralty accepted and on 6 December the Commander-in-Chief at the Nore promulgated the scheme to the officers under his jurisdiction, stipulating that applicants be unmarried and able to pay the membership fees of the Royal Aero Club. Two hundred applications were received, and four were accepted: Lieutenants C.R. Samson , A.M. Longmore and A. Gregory, and Captain E L Gerrard , RMLI . It
450-698: The site, in July 1911, of the competition for the Gordon Bennett Trophy for powered air racing, attended by flyers from all over the world and won that year by the American pilot C. T. Weymann . During the Battle of Britain , it was one of the notable bases of the Polish Air Force . A stained glass window by Karl Parsons in the south side of All Saints' Church, Eastchurch (built in 1432),
475-643: Was dedicated to Rolls and Grace, who were killed in July and December 1910 respectively. The Memorial to the Home of Aviation was unveiled in 1955, in the centre of the village opposite the church. In July 2009, Eastchurch celebrated 100 years of aviation history associated with the Island. SkySheppey brought together a number of associations and joined with many visitors to recognise the importance of British aviation history which started in Eastchurch. The organisers,
500-509: Was home to No. 266 Squadron during the Battle of Britain . During the Second World War, Eastchurch was part of Coastal Command . RAF Eastchurch closed in 1946. The Memorial to the Home of Aviation was unveiled in near All Saints' Church in Eastchurch in 1955. The following units were here at some point: The following units were here at some point: The site is currently used as HM Prison Standford Hill . While there are
525-525: Was known as the Naval Flying School, Eastchurch . In the 1910s the airfield was designated Royal Naval Air Station Eastchurch . With the amalgamation of the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps on 1 April 1918, the station was transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force and was re-designated Royal Air Force Eastchurch . The members of the Aero Club of Great Britain established their first flying ground near Leysdown on
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#1732800893020550-613: Was originally planned that Cecil Grace would be their instructor but, following his untimely death, George Cockburn took his place, giving his services free of charge. Technical instruction was provided by Horace Short . The airfield later became the Naval Flying School, Eastchurch. In 1913 Winston Churchill , then aged 38, and in the Cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty, learned to fly here, despite warnings of
575-557: Was the first aircraft factory in the British Isles and the first factory in the world for the series production of aircraft, these being license-built copies of the Wright A biplane. It was here that John Moore-Brabazon (later Lord Brabazon of Tara) made a flight of 500 yards in his Voisin biplane The Bird of Passage , officially recognised as the first flight by a British pilot in Britain. Later in 1909, Moore-Brabazon piloted
600-554: Was the grandson of Violet Searle. The church has undergone the "Jubilee Project", also known as the "tower appeal". This involved bringing down the bells and restoring them (for the first time in 100 years). The tower itself has been modernised and a new floor and room added. This is now known as the "Jubilee Room" and is funded by sponsors such as the Shurland Hotel. RAF Eastchurch Royal Air Force Eastchurch or more simply RAF Eastchurch (formerly RNAS Eastchurch )
625-591: Was turned over to the RAF. Also known as HMS Pembroke 2 , it moved to Chatham as an accounting base from 1940 to 1957. The Shore Station was named after the nearby main base, HMS Pembroke I at the royal Dockyard in Chatham. Eastchurch is also home to three prisons, HMP Elmley , HMP Standford Hill and HMP Swaleside . The prisons complex is known as the Sheppey Prisons Cluster. All Saints Church
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