RAF Swannington

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title: "RAF Swannington" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["royal-air-force-stations-in-norfolk", "royal-air-force-stations-of-world-war-ii-in-the-united-kingdom", "military-airbases-established-in-1944", "military-airbases-closed-in-1947"] description: "Former Royal Air Force station in Norfolk, England" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Swannington" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Former Royal Air Force station in Norfolk, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military installation"]

Field	Value
name	RAF Swannington
ensign	[[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
partof
location	Swannington, Norfolk
nearest_town
country	England
image2
type	Royal Air Force station
coordinates
pushpin_map	Norfolk
pushpin_map_caption	Shown within Norfolk
pushpin_label	RAF Swannington
ownership	Air Ministry
operator	Royal Air Force
controlledby	RAF Bomber CommandRAF Maintenance Command
open_to_public
site_other_label
site_other
site_area
code
built
used	1944-
height
length
fate
battles	Second World War
current_commander
past_commanders
garrison	No. 100 Group RAF
occupants
footnotes
elevation
r1-number	00/00
r1-length
r1-surface	Concrete
r2-number	00/00
r2-length
r2-surface	Concrete
r3-number	00/00
r3-length
r3-surface	Concrete
h1-length
airfield_other_label
airfield_other
::

| name = RAF Swannington | ensign = [[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg|90px]] | ensign_size = | native_name = | partof = | location = Swannington, Norfolk | nearest_town = | country = England | image = | alt = | caption = | image2 = | alt2 = | caption2 = | type = Royal Air Force station | coordinates = | gridref = | image_map = | image_mapsize = | image_map_alt = | image_map_caption = | pushpin_map = Norfolk | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Norfolk | pushpin_relief = | pushpin_image = | pushpin_label = RAF Swannington | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_mark = | pushpin_marksize = | ownership = Air Ministry | operator = Royal Air Force | controlledby = RAF Bomber CommandRAF Maintenance Command | open_to_public = | site_other_label = | site_other = | site_area = | code = | built = | used = 1944- | builder = | materials = | height = | length = | fate = | condition = | battles = Second World War | events = | current_commander = | past_commanders = | garrison = No. 100 Group RAF | occupants = | designations = | website = | footnotes = | IATA = | ICAO = | FAA = | TC = | LID = | GPS = | WMO = | elevation = | r1-number = 00/00 | r1-length = | r1-surface = Concrete | r2-number = 00/00 | r2-length = | r2-surface = Concrete | r3-number = 00/00 | r3-length = | r3-surface = Concrete | h1-number = | h1-length = | h1-surface = | airfield_other_label = | airfield_other =

Royal Air Force Swannington or more simply RAF Swannington is a former Royal Air Force station located 1.9 mi south of Cawston and 9.3 mi north west of Norwich in Norfolk, England.

It was opened in April 1944, being developed from the estate of Haveringland Hall, and sold in 1957, though the Royal Air Force (RAF) left in November 1947. The site is now used for agriculture, though evidence of concrete runways and buildings remains; it lies largely within the civil parishes of Brandiston, with St Nicholas' Church to the north of the site, and Haveringland, with St Peter's Church close to one of the taxiways at the eastern end, and Guton Hall and a river valley separating the area from Little Witchingham civil parish to the west. Part of the Brandiston-Swannington road still runs over remains of the runways.

History

The first squadrons to use Swannington were No. 85 Squadron RAF, which moved from RAF West Malling, and No. 157 Squadron RAF from RAF Valley; these were under the command of No. 100 Group RAF and flew de Havilland Mosquitos. These squadrons supported bombing support operations as part of RAF Bomber Command.

Both squadrons were temporarily moved to RAF West Malling to counter the V-1 flying bomb threat before returning in late August 1944 to re-commence bomber support operations. On 27 June 1945 85 Squadron moved to RAF Castle Camps; and shortly after, on 16 August 1945, 157 Squadron disbanded, and the airfield was passed over to RAF Maintenance Command.

Swannington was the headquarters for No. 274 Maintenance Unit RAF (MU) for RAF Little Snoring, RAF North Creake and RAF Oulton. All these stations had mothballed Mosquitos of all versions, and there were also several hundred new Rolls-Royce Merlin engines in their crates. Between 1946 and 1947 the role of the site was to service and carry out important modifications to aircraft before they were flown out to a permanent MU for in-depth service, from where they were sold to foreign powers. Airframes which were beyond their sell-by date were towed to the dump and burnt after recovery of spare parts, including engines.

;Other units

• No. 451 Squadron RAAF
• No. 229 Squadron RAF

Current use

Haveringland Hall was demolished c. 1948. Many Nissen huts were sited in the extensively wooded and landscaped garden. After the decommissioning of the RAF station, these grounds were used for a caravan and camping ground.

References

Citations

Bibliography

References

1. [https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10363/ Haveringland: St Peter] at achurchnearyou.com, retrieved 7 February 2018
2. [https://www.networknorwich.co.uk/Articles/509537/Network_Norwich_and_Norfolk/Regional_News/North_Norfolk/Haveringland_church_remembers_RAF_Swannington.aspx Haveringland church remembers RAF Swannington] at networknorwich.co.uk, retrieved 7 February 2018
3. "Swannington". [[Royal Air Force]].
4. {{Harvnb. Jefford. 2001
5. {{Harvnb. Jefford. 2001
6. "Swannington". [[Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust]].

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