During the height of the Cold War in the 1950s RAF Barnham was one of only two sites in the UK for the long-term storage and servicing of Britain’s nuclear arsenal. It was abandoned when nuclear technology changed in the early 1960s. Although it subsequently became an industrial estate, almost all of the significant buildings and earthworks remain.

ACTA is preparing a conservation and management plan. This sets out measures to restore the overall character of the site and to conserve the prefabricated Seco buildings and reinforced concrete structures while continuing use as an industrial estate.

As with many other Cold War sites, the documentary evidence is thin: some documents have not been released and others may have been destroyed. Analysis of how the site functioned has therefore to be based on an archaeological approach that is usually applied to much older sites.

The site is surrounded by the Thetford Heath Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve. There is the potential for the grassland within the site to become of similar nature conservation value to that outside as tree thinning takes place.