Biggin Hill Memorial Museum given the green light
The proposal to bring forward a Memorial Museum at Biggin Hill has received planning approval.
The new museum will commemorate the significant contribution Biggin Hill made in the First and
Second World Wars, particularly in the Battle of Britain as Churchill’s ‘Strongest Link’. It also
incorporates, and will provide a sustainable future for, St George’s RAF Chapel of Remembrance at
Biggin Hill.
The new contemporary museum which was endorsed by both Bromley Planning Officers and Historic
England, is a sensitive design that will wrap around the Chapel in the vein of a garden wall or
cloisters. The scheme will ensure that St George’s Chapel remains a “permanent shrine of
remembrance to those who gave their lives for our freedom”, and that Biggin Hill’s heritage is
protected and revealed. The museum will tell the story of the people and place of Biggin Hill during
the World Wars. The experiences of both ‘The Few’ and The Many will be revealed, from the fighter
pilots facing the realities of aerial combat, the local pub landlady creating a sense of normality, to
local children scavenging the crash sites.
Councillor Stephen Carr, Leader of Bromley Council, said: “Working in partnership with the Biggin Hill
Memorial Museum Trust, the long held vision for a museum at Biggin Hill has taken a major step
forward. The story of Churchill’s ‘Strongest Link’ will be told to future generations at the place it
actually happened and we will remember all those who served there.”
Bruce Walker, Chairman of the Trust said, “This is enormously positive news. We can now firmly
focus on finally building the Memorial Museum that so many want to see. We are hopeful that
construction will start later this year so that the Museum can open in time to be part of
commemorations for the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. The museum will be a
permanent and fitting tribute and crucially, a place for reflection and learning, alongside the
continued worship at St George’s Chapel.
Councillor Lydia Buttinger, Chairman of Plans-SubCommittee said, “This application has seen a huge
amount of public interest and a strong community commitment to ensuring a lasting tribute to
commemorate the fallen. The approval of the plans will now allow the final funding to be secured
and officers will work closely with the applicant to ensure that the materials used and landscaping
are to the highest quality, reflecting both the historic importance of the site and the sensitive
location in the Greenbelt.”
Biggin Hill led world shaping events during the Second World War as the leading fighter station in
the Battle of Britain, which was instrumental to Britain becoming the first nation in history to retain
its freedom through air power. This victory in turn offered hope to resistance movements and led to
Anglo-American cooperation, laying the foundation for the Allied victory in the Second World War
and the European landscape in the second half of the 20th Century. The Chapel was built in 1951
following a fundraising campaign championed by Churchill who lived nearby at Chartwell. The
wooden floor is made from slats of sectioned propeller blades. The 12 stained glass windows are
designed by Hugh Easton’s studio (responsible for the Battle of Britain window at Westminster
Abbey).