Orford Ness - National Trust
The Black Beacon, Orford Ness
One of the must-see places on our list, Orford Ness is now a National Trust nature reserve but it has a fascinating top secret past.
RADAR was invented here prior to the second world war. In fact Orford Ness was used as a secret testing site, mainly for ballistics by the military from 1913 to 1987. It was also the location for the Cold War top-secret Cobra Mist listening station, but that’s not all.
The strange pagoda style buildings you see were built as part of the AWE (Atomic Weapons Establishment) research from the 1950s when the UK was building it’s own nuclear weapons. Don’t worry though Orford Ness was focused on the triggers for the bombs not the actual nuclear material itself. It’s hard to believe that at it’s peak there were 1000 people working on Orford Ness.
Orford Holiday Cottage Tip: You’ll need to book the National Trust Ferry which opens up every Thursday for two weeks of bookings in advance. Numbers are tightly controlled so disruption to birds and nature is kept to a minimum.
