Imperial War Museum Duxford - Site Layout

Site Layout

When originally planned in 1917, Duxford aerodrome was to occupy a 238-acre (0.96 km2; 0.372 sq mi) site divided by what is now the A505 road which runs north-east from Royston to Newmarket. The area north of the road would be occupied by accommodation and administrative buildings with the airfield, hangars and technical buildings on the south side. Still divided by the A505, the museum's site is now bounded to the east by the M11 motorway, which meets the A505 adjacent to the museum site at Junction 10. The construction of the M11 in 1977 forced the shortening of the runway by 300 m. In its role as a museum, the north side of the site is occupied by the Imperial War Museum's stored collections and is not generally open to the public, while the south side is occupied by various hangars and other historic buildings, purpose-built structures, and by two runways.

The south side visitor entrance, which now houses a shop and visitor facilities, was previously the airfield's armoury. The various buildings are arranged roughly parallel to the A505; AirSpace is furthest east, with Hangars 2, 3, 4 and 5 running westwards, followed by the American Air Museum and the Land Warfare Hall. The museum site is approximately 1800 m from one end to the other, and a visitor bus operates during opening hours.

A number of aircraft and other exhibits are displayed externally, such as a Comet tank and replica Hawker Hurricane as gate guardians at the main entrance. Several commercial airliners belonging to the Duxford Aviation Society stand on the runway apron opposite the hangars. A Bloodhound surface-to-air missile stands on the site of the demolished hangar. A United States Air Force F-15 Eagle stands near the American Air Museum. A Royal Engineers' Centurion AVRE stands outside the Land Warfare Hall and the Gibraltar Gun, a 9.2-inch artillery piece previously emplaced on the Rock of Gibraltar is nearby.

As an historic site, many of Duxford's buildings are of particular architectural or historic significance. In 2005, following a review of sites relating to British aviation history by English Heritage, some 255 buildings at 31 sites received listed building status. Duxford contains over thirty of these buildings, the largest number at any one site. Listed buildings include three hangars dating back to the First World War and the operations block, which received Grade II* status. This block, open to the public, houses the wartime operations room from which Duxford's aircraft were directed. Another historic building, the 1918 Watch Office, will be converted to accommodate a new exhibition entitled Historic Duxford. The exhibition, to open in late 2012, will depict the history of the site and the experiences of Duxford's personnel.