Kington Camp

Today

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While the Americans may be long gone, some of their hospital remains in use today. The hospital buildings have had multiple uses since the end of the War. The role of some as housing continued until at least the 1960s while others were used as storage and workshops. Some of the land does not appear to have been de-requisitioned until the mid-1960s.

The camp today Although large areas of the camp have been demolished, the use of many of the huts since the war has meant that Kington is one of the few Second World War US General Hospital sites in the UK to have a significant number of buildings still standing, a testament also to the standard of the original workmanship. The water-tower built by Wimpeys for the hospitals continued in use for many years. Although it is empty today it is still the most prominent building in the landscape. The camp’s sewage works is today used by the small housing estate that was built on part of the site of the 107th Hospital over 40 years ago.

The Hergest Industrial Estate is now situated on the site of the 122nd Hospital. Original buildings (some metal clad and others not) as well as new workshops built on camp foundations provide facilities for many small businesses belonging to people living in the Kington area.

1962 aerial photo

The changes to this huge site over time can be clearly seen from the series of aerial photographs which date from 1944 until the present day. These record the demolition of parts of the camp and the building programme in others, and document its change in use over time.

In April 2006, an archaeological survey of much of the site provides a record of what is left today. A detailed building survey of one ward has enabled a 3D reconstruction of what it would have looked like in 1944, and you can explore some of the site using a virtual reality tour.

© 2006 Kington Camp Community Project and Mercurytide.

Our project is lottery-funded.