Portsdown Tunnels - Surface Sites

Surface Sites

Portsdown Main

Created 17-10-2004 Last update 30-10-2011

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Portsdown Main was an impressive 'art deco' style building which dominated the north Portsmouth skyline and was familiar to any Portsmouth resident who would probably have identified it as ASWE. Its history has been poorly documented due to the nature of the defence work that went on there.

It was designed in the 1930s (hence its style) as a building which would be located somewhere in the UK. The Second World War prevented further progress and it was eventually built on Portsdown in 1952 as an Admiralty Signals Establishment (ASE). It was subjected to many changes during its lifetime either wholesale or with various departments coming and going. The primary changes can be summarised as:

1952 - Admiralty Signals Establishment (ASE)

Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (ASWE)

Admiralty Research Establishment (ARE)

Defence Research Agency (DRA)

Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) - 1997

(with thanks to Andy Michael)

There were a total of 32 buildings on the 46 acre site built between 1946 and 1955 with Portsdown Main being the most outstanding. To the west is Fort Southwick a former Royal Navy COMMCEN. To the east are two further distinct sites on Portsdown Technology Park: an operational Ministry of Defence (MoD) establishment consisting of the Maritime Warfare Centre (MWC) and the Land-Based Test Site (LBTS); and QinetiQ Britain's largest independent science and technology company.

Portsdown Main finally closed its gates on 1 January 1997 and although there had been a number of Government departments interested in the site none had any plans to move there. On 3 October 2002 it was announced that the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) - formed by splitting DERA into DSTL and QinetiQ on 2 July 2001 - was going to move back, but this was cancelled in April 2004.

The building was put up for sale on the open market but a buyer was never found and consequently, in April 2010, is was decided that Portsdown Main was to be demolished. Although it was a significant local landmark the building was unlisted and a structural review revealed that the building was unsound. Demolition was completed during September 2011. Read more here

Did you ever work at Portsdown Main?

Have you a story you would like to see published here? (see page 3)

Then please email me

All the above information is in the Public Domain

Contributors: Mike Dobson, Andrew Taylor

Grid Ref SU631068

Google Earth Aerial View

The front cover illustration from an ASWE recruitment information pack of the early 1970s. The ship is HMS Bristol (D23) the only Type 82 Destroyer to be built. The featured radar is either a Type 901 fire control radar or the Type 965 air search radar.

Source: Andrew Taylor

Photo Interpretation: Dave Spencer

Map 1

This shows the position of Portsdown Main (arrowed) in relation to Fort Southwick to the west and Paulsgrove Chalkpit to the south. The road running along Portsdown at this point, formerly called Military Road, was adopted by Portsmouth City Council in February 1997 and renamed James Callaghan Drive in honour of the former prime minister who was born in the city.

Map 2

Portsdown Main is arrowed and it can be seen that the building was rectangular with a central quadrangle or light well. The boundary line of Hampshire County Council to the north and Portsmouth City Council to the south runs right through it which made planning applications a nightmare.

On the right of centre skyline is Portsdown Main a prominent Portsmouth landmark as seen from Tesco's car park at North Harbour. To the west (left) Fort Southwick can be made out and below the building is the Paulsgrove Chalkpit.

25 September 2011 - Tesco's car park. The west wing has gone and the central structure is all but destroyed. The Colonel is the only one still smiling.

22 September 2011. The photo (and the sign on the right) speaks for itself.

Portsdown Main in better times as seen from James Callaghan Drive looking west. The entrance was centre left between the two guardhouses. The bus shelters were for the employees, and traffic to the site was so heavy that it had its own set of traffic lights.

Front of Portsdown Main

The building consisted of three full floors, two levels of penthouses just visible top centre and a basement occupying a quarter of the building area at the western end.

The external 'art deco' style continued inside. This was the main south entrance lobby.

The central main staircase. The banisters were made of metal and used to be polished bright. A film crew used this location in the making of an Agatha Christie film.

The layout of the floors was very uniform throughout the building with one corridor looking much like another as is typical of MoD architecture. The floors were laid with genuine Parquet tiles which began lifting after the heating was turned off.

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