Martlesham Heath Control Tower Museum
About
The Martlesham Heath Control Tower Museum occupies the original 1930s watch office of RAF Martlesham Heath, a Suffolk airfield with an unusually significant place in British aviation history as the home, from 1917, of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment — the body responsible for testing almost every new British military aircraft type between the two World Wars, from early biplane fighters through to the Spitfire and Hurricane prototypes that would go on to win the Battle of Britain.
During the Second World War the airfield's role shifted to frontline fighter operations, hosting numerous RAF squadrons including United States Army Air Forces units flying from the base during the American buildup in East Anglia, before the site was eventually closed to flying and much of the former airfield redeveloped, including for the Suffolk new town that today shares the airfield's historic name. The Control Tower itself survived this redevelopment and was preserved by the volunteer Martlesham Heath Aviation Society, who converted it into a small museum documenting the airfield's full history from its founding experimental-testing role through to its wartime fighter operations and eventual closure.
Displays inside the tower include operational records, photographs and flying log books connecting to the squadrons that flew from Martlesham Heath, memorabilia relating to the airfield's pioneering aircraft-testing work, and material covering the base's post-war and eventual closure. The upstairs former watch office, overlooking what remains of the runway area, retains a genuine sense of its original function, giving visitors a tangible connection to the working environment from which controllers once directed test flights and, later, wartime fighter sorties.
Run entirely by volunteers and open only on Sunday afternoons through the summer season, with free admission on those open days, the museum offers group and school visits by special arrangement outside normal hours. Its modest scale and limited opening reflect a genuinely local, community-preserved piece of aviation history rather than a major national attraction, but the significance of Martlesham Heath's testing legacy — quietly responsible for validating many of the aircraft that defined British air power through two world wars — gives the small volunteer museum a historical weight well beyond its size.
Categories:
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Check the museum's Sunday-only opening pattern carefully — it is not open on any other day of the week without prior arrangement.
- Combine your visit with nearby Sutton Hoo or Woodbridge, both a short drive away.
- This is a small museum with narrow stairs; not suitable for visitors with mobility difficulties.
- Talk to the volunteers on duty — many bring detailed personal or family knowledge of the airfield's history.
- Free admission and a compact visit make this an easy add-on to a wider day exploring the Suffolk coast area.
- Groups and schools should contact the society well in advance to arrange a visit outside the usual Sunday hours.
- Bring cash for the small sales table if you wish to buy books or souvenirs.
- Look out for the views over the former runway area from the upstairs watch room.
Highlights
The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment
From 1917, Martlesham Heath served as home to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, the body responsible for testing and evaluating almost every new British military aircraft design between the two World Wars, including prototypes of both the Spitfire and Hurricane that would go on to define Fighter Command's victory in the Battle of Britain.
This experimental-testing role, largely invisible to the wider public at the time, gave a modest Suffolk airfield an outsized and largely unrecognised influence over which aircraft designs the RAF ultimately adopted, a history the museum preserves in unusual detail for a site of this scale.
The Historic Control Tower Building
The museum occupies the airfield's original 1930s watch office, the building from which controllers once directed both experimental test flights and, later, wartime fighter operations.
Visitors climb to the upstairs former watch room, overlooking what remains of the historic runway area, gaining a direct physical sense of the working environment air traffic and flying control staff once occupied — a far more evocative setting for aviation history than a purpose-built modern museum building could offer, precisely because it is the genuine original structure rather than a later reconstruction.
Squadron Records and Flying Log Books
The museum holds operational records, photographs and flying log books connecting to the RAF squadrons that flew from Martlesham Heath across its operational history, including Second World War fighter units and, during the American buildup in East Anglia, United States Army Air Forces personnel based at or near the airfield.
This documentary material gives researchers and family historians a genuine resource for tracing individual airmen's service, a function increasingly valuable as personal connections to the airfield's wartime generation become rarer with each passing year.
Battle of Britain and Wartime Fighter Operations
Beyond its earlier experimental role, Martlesham Heath served as an active fighter station through the Second World War, and the museum's displays document this wartime chapter alongside the airfield's pioneering interwar testing work. Together, the two strands of the airfield's history — validating new aircraft designs before the war, then operating some of those same aircraft types in frontline combat during it — give the museum's small collection a genuinely complete arc rarely found at similarly modest volunteer-run aviation sites.
Collections
The Martlesham Heath Control Tower Museum documents the full history of RAF Martlesham Heath, from its founding role from 1917 as home to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment — responsible for testing nearly every new British military aircraft type between the wars, including Spitfire and Hurricane prototypes — through its Second World War fighter operations and eventual postwar closure and redevelopment.
Displays include operational records, photographs and flying log books connecting to the squadrons and personnel who served at the airfield, held within the airfield's original 1930s watch office, itself the museum's principal artefact. The collection is maintained entirely by the volunteer Martlesham Heath Aviation Society.
Experimental Testing History
The airfield's interwar role testing British military aircraft prototypes, including the Spitfire and Hurricane.
Wartime Squadron History
Records, photographs and log books connecting to RAF and USAAF units that operated from Martlesham Heath.
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.