Greenham Common
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A former military airbase in the south of Great Britain, used by the USA in WWII (including for D-Day) and then during the Cold War, notably in the 1980s for deployment of nuclear-armed cruise missiles. The peace protests against the stationing of these nuclear weapons on British soil brought Greenham Common to the attention of the media and the wider world.After the base was closed much of the area was rewilded, except for the nuclear weapons storage bunkers and the control tower. The former are still off limits but the tower has been converted into a visitor attraction with an intriguing historical exhibition telling Greenham Common’s manifold stories.
More background info: The Common’s military history goes back centuries, all the way to the English Civil War in the 17th century. Within the 20th century it was used as a training ground for troops during WW1, but it wasn’t until 1941 that the first airbase was established here during WWII. Three runways were constructed initially and intended for training units of RAF Bomber Command. But in 1942 the base was given to the US Army Air Force (USAAF), who designated it “AAF-486”.
In 1944 USAAF planes stationed at Greenham Common contributed to the Allied landing operations in Normandy on D-Day. Shortly before the base was visited by General D. Eisenhower where he delivered his famous “the eyes of the world are upon you” speech. British PM Winston Churchill also visited the base.
After the war the USAAF moved out in 1945. Between 1951 and 1953 the RAF changed the airbase’s layout by removing the three shorter runways and replacing them with a single one, which was to become the longest runway in Europe (against some local protests). The control tower that is still in place today was also built at that time.
Then in 1954, the Americans came back, this time the USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC), who based a squadron of B-47 “Stratojet” long-range nuclear bombers at Greenham Common. The bombers were kept on “reflex alert”, i.e. ready at all times to take off and deliver their atomic bombs deep into the USSR. Apparently there were no protests against that at this time. The bombers and SAC/USAF were withdrawn again in 1964
The now redundant site was then mainly used for storage and mail sorting. In 1972 the area received Asian refugees who had been expelled from Uganda during the reign of dictator Idi Amin.
Between 1973 and 1983 intermittent “Air Tattoos” were held at Greenham Common – i.e. large air shows with a wide range of static aircraft on display plus numerous flight shows, attracting large numbers of spectators.
After the 1979 NATO “Double-Track Decision”, the British Defence Secretary made it public in 1980 that American nuclear-armed ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCMs) would be stationed at RAF Greenham Common. In total, 96 GLCMs under the control of the USAF’s 501st Tactical Missile Wing were based here, housed in large storage bunkers, always ready to be moved on their mobile launchers to various launch positions. Operations started in 1982 and the first GLCMs arrived in 1983.
This time the announcement of nuclear missiles at Greenham Common triggered a substantial protest movement. It started with a protest march all the way from Cardiff in Wales in 1981, followed shortly afterwards by more permanent protest camps around the airbase. A large demonstration took place in 1982 under the title “Embrace the Base”, when 20,000 to 30,000 protesters formed a human chain all the way around the base. There were also more “active” forms of protest, like cutting open the security fences around the base to enter it – on one occasion climbing on to the GLCM storage bunkers or on another entering the control tower at night and leaving a mark on military documents found there. There were frequent arrests and some protesters had to go to prison at times. The hallmark of this protest movement was that it was organized almost exclusively by women. Hence the name “Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp”. But their presence also caused friction with some local residents and businesses.
The women’s protests certainly got a lot of attention in the media and among the general public. They were a key element in the wider peace movement across Europe and beyond that developed in the early 1980s.
It was partly in reaction to these massive protests that the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) came about that was signed by US President Ronald Reagan and the USSR’s General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in December 1987, ratified by both countries in mid 1988.
Removal of the missiles began in the same year. Accompanied by the presence of Soviet inspecting teams flown in from the USSR from 1988. By 1991 all cruise missiles had been removed.
In 1997 the base was sold to a “Greenham Common Trust”. The last of the peace camps finally departed in the year 2000. Meanwhile most of the runway and various airbase installations were demolished and removed and the land partially rewilded. In 2002 the former base was opened to the general public. There is one notable exception, though: the former missile storage bunkers were left standing and remain in the possession of the MoD and are hence out of bounds to the public.
The control tower was also left in situ. It was refurbished from 2014 onwards, and in 2018 it was opened as a new visitor attraction run by volunteers and containing exhibitions and a café. It’s popular with locals who walk their dogs in the so designated parts of the area, while other parts are nature sanctuaries. Cattle and ponies are allowed to graze on some parts of the former base too.
So it has become quite a tranquil and peaceful place in this form. I reckon the former protesters would be quite happy with this outcome. But of course the serious history of the place also attracts history buffs … and dark tourists, like myself: I visited Greenham Common at the end of July 2025.
What there is to see: The main thing to see is the old control tower of the former base. This has been refurbished and converted into a visitor attraction.
The ground floor is mostly taken up by the café, which at the time of my visit was quite busy, both indoors as well as in the outdoor seating area on the lawn (it was a fine summer day). Many visitors seemed to be locals and dog walkers (the café is “dog friendly”, as a sign makes explicit).
Inside, one corridor behind the café features a row of panels with a historical timeline of Greenham Common, from prehistoric times to 2018, when the tower opened to the public. From this corridor branches off a so-called “Common Stories Room”. In it are a few screens and chairs. On the screens you can activate various “stories” with period footage and interviews on topics such as the aircraft that used Greenham Common, the Air Tattoos or the refugees from Uganda (see above), as well as personal stories (including from the peace movement). To listen to the soundtracks you have to use old-fashioned telephones mounted to the walls next to the screens.
On the level above are a couple of exhibition rooms with historical photos and panels about various aspects of Greenham Common’s history, including nuclear weapons in general and the cruise missiles once stationed here in particular. There are also text-and-photo panels about the peace movement and personal accounts by some of the activists as well as stories from people who worked at the base. In addition, there’s a nice scale model of the control tower as it would have looked during its active military days. This is complemented by a glass display cabinet with various scale models of planes of types that would at one point have been at Greenham Common. An old detailed map can be examined too as well as the various switch and fuse panels.
Next door there was, when I visited, a photo exhibition (apparently temporary) not related to Greenham Common.
Through an original heavy security door you come to the stairs leading to the top level, where the Observation Room is located. Inside are desks for the former air traffic controllers, with computer screens, keyboards, clocks for different time zones, tea mugs and: a red dial-disk telephone (this can get your imagination going into overdrive ;-))
Volunteers are on hand to relay stories and memories or explain various aspects of Greenham Common.
There are also a couple more info panels, photos and maps, but the main thing up here is the view over the wide area of the former airbase. You can even make use of one of the dozen or so binoculars provided along the sills of the large angled windows.
In the distance you can make out one remaining hangar and the ominous shapes of the cruise-missile storage bunkers to the south-west – no longer in use, but still off limits to ordinary civilians.
Closer and also visible from the tower is a large object in the café’s garden that looks quite like a big bomb. But, as a panel in the Observation Room explains, it was a so-called Algerine Float, a kind of buoy used in the operation of minesweepers. How it ended up here is apparently unknown, also who added the fins that make the object so resemble a bomb.
Contrasting with this are the cattle you can see grazing in the fields next to the tower, or people waking their dogs in a thus designated part of the open-air fields.
Outside, next to the café’s garden is also a small monument honouring all the United States servicemen who gave their lives in WWII. Note also the relocated runway lights set into the edge of the path by the entrance to the tower.
Those with plenty of time on their hands can also explore the wider area of the former base, get closer to the missile storage facilities (but you can’t enter them) and what little remains of the runway. Those parts are, however, best explored on one of the guided walks offered from the tower (see below). Unfortunately the time window of my visit did not coincide with one of the rare dates for those tours; nor did I have the time to go (unguided) on hours of walks around the open-air parts.
All in all, I found this a worthwhile detour on my long road trip through England in 2025. The exhibitions aren’t that expansive or state-of-the-art, but provide plenty of insights into the various, often contrasting, aspects of this so very historic place. For Cold-War buffs like me it’s certainly a must, but it can also be recommended to people with a less specific special interest. In fact most people seem to come not for the history at all, but for the café as well as the nature of the partially rewilded vast area.
Location: off Bury Bank Road, in Newbury, Thatcham, in Berkshire, England, Great Britain, ca. 50 miles (80 km) west of London and ca. 40 miles (65 km) north of Portsmouth. The post code is RG19 8BZ.
Google Maps locator: [51.3822, -1.2843]
Access and costs: easy enough by car (not so by public); free (only tours cost a small fee)
Details: To get to the Greenham Common control tower you really need your own (rental) vehicle. From the main through route in Newbury, the A339, turn into Pinchington Lane and keep going as it becomes Bury Bank Road until you come to the sign to the tower and car park on your right. There are plenty of parking spaces available.
In theory you can also get to Newbury by train, but from the station it’s a long walk (about an hour) to the tower, and in parts not a pleasant one. Buses don’t help much and can at best reduce the walking time by half (but save no time).
The open-air parts are accessible presumably at all daylight times. The control tower and its exhibitions have the following (somewhat restricted) opening times: Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (in high season possibly closed only on Mondays).
Admission: free.
The volunteers running the historic site also offer occasional guided hikes around the vast site. These are called Air Base Heritage Walks. However, these take place only seasonally on certain days usually once a month between April and October, occasionally there are two dates a month. For exact dates check the website (greenhamtower[dot]org[dot]uk). Tickets for these walks have to be booked in advance through the website and cost (in 2026) 6.50 GBP plus a booking fee (at least 1.25 GBP).
Only the ground floor of the control tower and the café are wheelchair-accessible; the upper storeys of this Grade II listed building are not.
Time required: I spent about an hour at this destination, but didn’t venture far into the open-air areas, which are vast. The guided heritage walking tours that start and end at the control tower take 2.5 hours.
Combinations with other dark destinations: On the other side of the former airfield, just south-east of the Greenham Business Park is a cluster of monuments commemorating the Women’s Peace Camp (see above), which I found out about only after my visit, so didn’t get to see it, unfortunately (location: [51.3717, -1.2780]).
The closest other dark site covered on this website would be the D-Day Story museum in Southsea, Portsmouth.
But see also under Great Britain in general and especially under London.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: The Common is these days in itself a largely non-dark place, having been rewilded. Nature lovers can spot rare animals and insects here (but beware of adders).
A ca. 15 minutes’ drive south is Highclere Castle, famous from the TV series “Downton Abbey”. You can visit the castle and the estate and there’s a variety of different ticket types and packages (check the website highclerecastle[dot]co[dot]uk).
Further away are e.g. Oxford, a ca. one hour’s drive north; and London is not far either to the east, or the south coast (with Portsmouth and Southampton), all surrounded by typical southern England landscape with rolling hills and green fields interspersed with various historic buildings.
See also under Great Britain in general.
