RAF Upper Heyford - Closure

Closure

On 15 December 1993 the flight line at RAF Upper Heyford was closed. On 1 January 1994 the 20th Fighter Wing inactivated at RAF Upper Heyford and was transferred without personnel or equipment to Shaw AFB, South Carolina, where it inherited the personnel and F-16s of the inactivated 363rd Fighter Wing.

At that time RAF Upper Heyford came under the 620th Air Base Wing until 30 September 1994 when the base was returned to the Ministry of Defence.

The runways are now home to a variety of wildlife including the scarce Lowland Calcareous Grassland and rare bird species such as the peregrine falcon, skylark and buzzard. Some of the buildings are used as an automotive storage compound for new and used vehicles. Other functions include police driving activities such as training. There is a boat builders called Kingsground Narrowboats located at building 103, this building is the oldest on the base and used to be the fire department originally, outside the boatbuilding workshop there are still parking spaces road marked as 'FD'. The majority of the residential buildings are now let out as rented accommodation and some of the shops and services have been re-opened to service the community.

There are however many buildings which are still boarded up and it is currently unclear what the future of those will be. It seems that many of the buildings such as the Hospital have been targeted by vandals who have smashed glass and walls in as well as internal fittings. Graffiti has also occurred, as well as the whole hospital suffering from damage from leaking rainwater that has subsequently caused extensive mould, damp floors and a flooded basement. The building, however has now been secured as it is rumoured to be sold. The disused buildings have also become popular with local Urban Explorers.

Several of the hardened aircraft shelters were placed on the English Heritage list of Scheduled monuments in 2010. A bid was made in 2011 for the site to receive World Heritage Site status but it did not make the UK shortlist.