The Water Tower

Opened in 1937 just outside the small yorkshire village of the same name, RAF Church Fenton saw the peak of its activity during the years of the Second World War, when it served within the defence network of fighter bases of the RAF providing protection for the Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and Humberside industrial regions. During September 1940 it became home to the first RAF "Eagle squadron" of American volunteers, the No. 71 Squadron RAF flying the Hawker Hurricane I. The airfield was also home to both the first all-Canadian and all-Polish squadrons. As technologies evolved throughout the war, the base was expanded to accommodate large numbers of pilots and aviation personnel, and the first night fighter Operational Training Unit was formed at Church Fenton in 1940.

The expansion period of the RAF saw many building designs and layouts appear throughout the airfield, mostly designed in a Georgian art deco style. With so many personnel on site, one thing the site needed was a self sufficient water system, therefore a large water tower was built toward the west side of the airfield. Clean, treated water was pumped up into the tower, where it's stored in a large tank that might hold a thousand or so gallons—depending on demand. When the site needed water, water pumps situated at the base of the tower utilized the pull of gravity to provide high water pressure.

The other new advance for the period was central heating. These plants heated the contained water and distributed it around the permanent camp to supply a steady, reliable source of heat throughout the seasons. The Pelapone Engine and Pumps have been left behind after many years of disuse but remain in relatively good condition due to their protection from the weather.