MEM25192 - World War Two Nissen huts on Bossington Hill (Monument)

SS 9109 4780. A site of Nissen huts that were constructed during World War Two. All that remains of this site are two hut bases. The site is located on Bossington Hill close to a military training site and are probably associated with it. [1] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [2] Their exact location is not provided; however, photographs taken by the RAF in 1946-8 suggest they may have been based to the south of Training Circuit C (MSO8108), at the end of Hill Road (MSO7609). A car park is shown here on the 2022 MasterMap data. [3-5] Nissen huts were designed by Peter Nissen, an American inventor who created the hut while serving in the 103rd Field Company of the Royal Engineers in April 1916. The semi-circular design was supposedly inspired by an ice-skating rink Nissen had seen in Canada. Such huts were not constructed in Britain during the First World War, but military hut development continued during the inter-war period. Building programmes associated with the Second World War resulted in construction of huts in great numbers, with c. 3500 created for training camps alone. The word “Nissen” quickly became attached to a variety of temporary hut types, and 52 different variations are known from this period. [6] Further research on individual hut types in use on military sites on Exmoor would be of value.