Lullingstone airfield was a proposed airfield in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

that was not constructed. Lullingstone railway station was constructed to serve the airport, but never opened to public services.

History

In the late 1930s, it was reported that

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

was looking for an alternative to

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. It opened in 1920, located near Croydon, then part of Surrey. Built in a Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical style, it was developed as Britain's main airp ...

. They were considering a site at

Lullingstone Lullingstone is a rural hamlet in the civil parish of Eynsford, in the Sevenoaks District, Sevenoaks district of Kent, England, located south east of Swanley. It is best known for its Lullingstone Castle, castle, Lullingstone Roman Villa, Roman ...

, on which a new airport would be constructed. One of the problems affecting operators based at Croydon was a lack of hotel accommodation. The Southern Railway had an option to purchase the land and build the airport.

were to use it for their European services. However, ''Flight'' reported as early as March 1937 that Imperial Airways were not looking to move from Croydon, despite its problems with fog. The land on which the airfield was to have been built was owned by the Kemp Town Brewing Company, of

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. The airfield was to occupy . The airfield was to have had four runways. A station on the

Maidstone Line The Kent Downs line is a railway line between Otford and Ashford International in Kent, England. It adopted its current name in 2020, by the Kent Rail Partnership. It covers a large part of what was known as the Maidstone line which extended f ...

was partly built. It was situated between Lullingstone Tunnel and Eynsford Viaduct. It was planned to build a short double track branch line from Lullingstone station to the airfield. The station was planned to have had four platforms, two on the main line and two on the branch. The Southern Railway obtained approval from

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

to construct the branch in February 1937. At that time, it was reported that the opening of the airport would be at least eighteen months away. Only the platforms and associated buildings on the main line part of the station were built. It was envisaged that trains from the station would run to

London Victoria station Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street, the mai ...

. At the 1938 Annual General Meeting, the Southern Railway stated that, in their opinion, the cost of levelling the ground and providing the necessary infrastructure associated with an airport, was something that was beyond a private company. They were of the opinion that it should be met partly by the state and partly by the

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

. It was stated that there would not be sufficient return on expenditure under the conditions then current to justify the expenditure necessary to construct the airport. The Southern Railway's option to purchase the land had expired by February 1939. It was reported that negotiations between the landowners and the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

were ongoing at that time. It was reported at that time that completion was then three years off. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a decoy airfield was constructed at Lullingstone. Six dummy

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

s were placed on the airfield. It was in use from April 1940 to February 1942. Canterbury East Platform View 2

The station appeared on railway timetables from May 1939 to June 1954, and was shown as open on the 1940 Ordnance Survey map. A planned housing development did not take place. Post-war

Green Belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

legislation prevented the scheme from being carried out, with developers preferring

Heathrow Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

as the site of a new London airport, due to it already being partly built and thus a cheaper option. The station buildings were demolished in March 1955, with the platform canopies being re-erected at station.

References

;Sources *{{cite book , first1=Vic , last1=Mitchell , first2=Keith , last2=Smith , title=Swanley to Ashford , publisher=Middleton Press , location=Midhurst , year=1995 , isbn=1-873793-45-6 Imperial Airways Defunct airports in England Airports in Kent Sevenoaks District