About
Carew Cheriton Control Tower is a restored Second World War RAF watch office, the operational nerve centre of the former RAF Carew Cheriton airfield in Pembrokeshire, from which controllers directed the flying operations of Coastal Command squadrons tasked with anti-submarine patrols over the Bristol Channel and the wider Western Approaches during one of the most critical maritime campaigns of the war. The tower, restored and preserved through a dedicated volunteer effort, gives visitors direct access to the actual room from which wartime flying control decisions were made, including original fittings and instruments reconstructed to reflect their wartime appearance and function.
RAF Carew Cheriton opened in 1938 and played a significant role in Coastal Command operations against German U-boats threatening Allied shipping in the Atlantic approaches, a campaign whose successful prosecution was essential to Britain's wartime survival given the nation's dependence on seaborne trade and supply. The airfield's aircraft flew long, often gruelling anti-submarine patrols, and the control tower coordinated these operations, tracking aircraft movements and managing the operational tempo of a station under continuous wartime pressure.
Since 2000, the site has been restored and interpreted by a dedicated team of volunteers, whose sustained conservation effort has preserved a building type — RAF watch offices — of which relatively few examples survive in a condition allowing public access and detailed interpretation of their original wartime function. The restoration includes furnished rooms reflecting the tower's operational layout, displays on the airfield's history and personnel, and artefacts recovered from the wider former airfield site.
The control tower's position close to the village of Carew, a short distance from the substantial medieval remains of Carew Castle, gives visitors the opportunity to combine two very different but complementary strands of Pembrokeshire heritage — medieval military architecture and twentieth-century wartime aviation history — within a single visit, provided the clearly distinct nature of the two sites, standing about a mile apart, is properly understood.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Check current opening carefully — Wednesday and Thursday 10am-3pm, plus most Saturday mornings 9:30am-12pm, April to October, with Saturday opening worth confirming in advance given the volunteer-run schedule.
- Keep the control tower clearly distinct from Carew Castle in your planning — they are about a mile apart and entirely separate sites with different histories, though both worth visiting on the same trip.
- The volunteer guides are knowledgeable and often have personal connections to RAF or aviation history — take time to ask questions during your visit.
- Allow around 45-60 minutes to explore the tower and its displays thoroughly.
- The operations room is reached via original 1930s stairs — not accessible to wheelchair users; the ground floor offers a more accessible alternative.
- Combine with Carew Castle for a full day contrasting medieval and twentieth-century Pembrokeshire military heritage.
Highlights
The Restored Operations Room
The tower's upper-floor operations room, from which controllers directed the flying operations of RAF Carew Cheriton, has been restored with reconstructed period fittings and instruments reflecting its wartime appearance and function, giving visitors direct physical access to the specific space from which real flying control decisions were made during the Second World War.
Standing in this room, understanding the sightlines to the airfield and the equipment controllers would have used, gives a concrete sense of the operational reality behind the abstract history of Coastal Command's wartime campaign.
Coastal Command's Anti-U-Boat Campaign
RAF Carew Cheriton's aircraft flew long anti-submarine patrols over the Bristol Channel and Western Approaches as part of Coastal Command's campaign against German U-boats threatening Allied shipping — a less celebrated but strategically vital dimension of the Battle of the Atlantic, upon whose successful outcome Britain's wartime survival directly depended given the nation's reliance on seaborne trade and supply.
Interpretation at the tower explains this specific operational context in detail, situating the airfield's daily work within the wider strategic picture of the Atlantic war.
Volunteer-Led Restoration Since 2000
The tower's preservation is due entirely to a dedicated team of volunteers who have restored the building since 2000, a sustained conservation effort that has saved one of relatively few surviving examples of an RAF wartime watch office in a condition allowing public access and detailed interpretation.
Understanding the scale and commitment of this grassroots restoration project adds an appreciation of ongoing community heritage work to the historical story the tower itself tells.
RAF Watch Office Architecture
As a surviving example of a standard RAF wartime watch office design, the control tower illustrates the specific architectural and functional requirements of wartime flying control — sightlines over the airfield, direct communication links, and the practical layout needed to coordinate aircraft movements under operational pressure — giving visitors with an interest in military architecture and aviation history a well-preserved case study of this specific building type.
Collections
Carew Cheriton Control Tower's principal resource is the restored Second World War RAF watch office building itself, including a reconstructed operations room, ground floor displays on airfield personnel and squadron history, and artefacts recovered from the wider former RAF Carew Cheriton airfield site.
Interpretation focuses on the tower's role coordinating Coastal Command anti-submarine patrol operations over the Bristol Channel and Western Approaches. The site has been restored and is run entirely by a dedicated team of volunteers since 2000.
Flying Control at RAF Carew Cheriton
The restored operations room and interpretation of how the control tower coordinated the airfield's wartime flying operations.
Coastal Command and the Battle of the Atlantic
Interpretation of RAF Carew Cheriton's role in anti-submarine patrols and the wider strategic context of the Battle of the Atlantic.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.