RAF Greenham

Timeline

1942: American forces first use RAF Greenham

1992: Base returned to the United Kingdom

1997: Greenham Business Park opens and the airfield achieves public parkland status

2014: Greenham Parish Council bought the abandoned control tower and began restoration

2018: The control tower opens as a café, visitor’s center, exhibition space, and observation deck

A former U.S. Air Force base in rural England is now a world-class filming location, public park, business park, café, and collection of protected buildings. From 1942 to 1946, the Air Force used and then abandoned the site, returning in 1951 due to Cold War threats. Pre-existing runways were, “demolished and replaced with a new single 10,000 ft east/west runway with parallel taxiways north and south of it leading to extensive hardstandings,” leading to demolition of several local residences, businesses, and even diverting the highway. After extensive construction, the base was utilized for over a decade before being handed back to the United Kingdom. 

This didn’t last long: France’s expulsion of all U.S. military forces in 1967 led to Greenham Common’s use again; this time it was used primarily as a mail sorting facility for American forces in Europe. In 1982, RAF Greenham became the first cruise missile base in Europe, despite local opposition. Five years later, all missiles were removed from the base after the U.S. and Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and troops withdrew once again in 1992. The numerous abandoned buildings—the control tower, cruise missile shelter, combat support building and wing headquarters, and airfield—lay empty for many years. Meanwhile, local organizations fought throughout the 1990s and early 2000s against developments like parking lots. 

In 1997 things took a turn for the better: 150 acres of the former base became Greenham Business Park, incorporating many of the old structures alongside new development, and the airfield area achieved public parkland status. In 2013, Beyoncé shot her self-titled album on the grounds. In 2014, the Greenham Parish Council bought the abandoned control tower, and, with the help of a heritage grant, restored and transformed the building into a café, visitor’s center, exhibition space, and observation deck. In the late 2010s, movie franchises made use of the unique exteriors such as the cold war bunkers and runways. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Fast and Furious 9 (2019) and Andor (2023), among others, were filmed at Greenham.

RAF Greenham is just one example of what happens to thousands of former U.S. military bases around the world. What about the rest?