raf wyton photographic factory
Last update: 24|01|111
Photographic Factory



exterior photographs
walking anti-clockwise around the building

General view of the complex from the former dog training compound.


The photographic factory is located in its own compound to the south west of the RAF Wyton site. The building is situated about 100 yards south of the road and is accessed by an exclusive driveway.

Built into a gently declining slope, the single storey building is rather anonymous, with the boiler house tower being the only recognisable feature from a distance.


Plan of the entire building.







exteriors
detailed pictures

exterior 1: view south from access road
Entire frontage of the building as seen from the former access road. Note the remains of the original compound fencing and the spur of the main road which has been blocked with soil. The building was enclosed by a circular road with vehicular access to all the main doorways.



exterior 2: view south west
The building frontage is asymmetrical and unremarkable. The plain, windowless extrusion to the left of this shot, is a bank of four tiny darkrooms.




exterior 3: view south
This entrance on the northern flank of the building is unremarkable (and not the most decorated, so is probably not the main entrance). It leads directly to the intersection of the three main corridors of the building.

The transome light has been boarded up whilst the original double doors have been removed.

The window of the storeroom to the right is only one of two windows to include grilles.




exterior 4: view south west
The next section of the northern facade includes a complex of six darkrooms with a large interconnecting room.




exterior 5: view south east
This complex of darkrooms is the main focal point of the northern facade with its four windows (originally with blackened glass) and central double-door with transome light.




exterior 6: view south west
The final section includes the door to the isolated switchgear room (which offers no access to the rest of the building) and the wall of the main chemical store room.




exterior 7: view south east
The chemical store room is lit by six tiny windows along its northern flank. Additional natural lighting is provided by skylights.




exterior 8: view south east
View south east showing the entire northern and western flanks of the building. The curve of the perimeter road can be clearly seen here.



exterior 9: view east
Two double doors offer access to the chemical store room (indirectly) and the large double room to its south. The white painted brickwork is the remains of a small room which was demolished pre 2002. This room was entirely self contained and didn't have any access to the rest of the complex. (An archival picture in "Cold War: Building For Nuclear Confrontation" shows that it was only a small extension).




exterior 10: view north east
This north eastern view shows the southern section of the building which is completely hidden from the road. From left to right can be seen the boiler house (with chimney), the loading courtyard and the southern spur (This is the view as pictured in "Cold War: Building For Nuclear Confrontation").




exterior 11: view north east
The boiler house is split into two separate rooms with their own double doors, air intakes (as seen by the green painted louvers) and high windows.




exterior 12: view north
The courtyard encloses two separate loading bays, which give direct access to the western and southern spurs of the building. The use of two-coloured brickwork can easily be seen here with the courtyard and main building walls.




exterior 13: view north west
The small entrance into the western spur is covered. (Much larger double doored access is available along the western side of the building; therefore perhaps only a small door was required here).




exterior 14: view west
This shot shows the total extent of this covered loading bay.




exterior 15: view north
The rooms all looking out into the courtyard are all offices, each of which has a communicating window with the other. The loading bay for the southern spur can be seen to the right of shot.




exterior 16: view north east
Detail of the loading bay for the southern spur. The door to the left is a simple short corridor to the southern internal corridor whilst the double door to the right leds into a anti-room.

Note the bricked up window.




exterior 17: view north
The southernmost part of the building appears to tower over you, but this is due to the hill gradient becoming steeper. The southern perimeter road can just be glimpsed through the foliage.




exterior 18: view north west
This shot shows the entire southern and eastern spurs of the building. This shows two unremarkable flanks with regular windows and a large doorway.




exterior 19: view west
The door leading into the end of the southern spur is the most grandiose (as measured by this building's austere architecture). It shares the same transome light and double doors as the other doors around the building, but is embellished with an extended roof and curved brickwork surrounds. The building's number is displayed on the right hand wall: "343". Therefore this is probably the main entrance, or most imporant entrance, into the building.




exterior 20: view west
The eastern end of the building features a plain doorway which leads directly to the eastern corridor.




exterior 21: view north
This shot shows the access road leading to the B0190. The road was originally just the width of the tarmac; the remaining street lights, electrical conduits (presumably connecting the factory to RAF Wyton) and trees on the left being recently bulldozed away.




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