The remains of two Cold War nuclear missile sites have been given listed status in recognition of their national architectural and historic significance by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), acting on the advice of English Heritage.
English Heritage writes:
The announcement comes on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis (16-28 October, 1962), the closest the world came to nuclear confrontation. During the Cuban crisis, the now listed missile sites in Rutland and Northamptonshire were put on alert and their Thor nuclear missiles prepared for a possible launch on the Soviet Union.
The Thor missile site at the former RAF North Luffenham (today, St George’s Barracks) in Rutland is listed at Grade II* while the Thor missile site at the former RAF Harrington (today, mainly farmland) in Northamptonshire is listed at Grade II. Today, many of England’s buildings and structures associated with the Cold War period have been demolished, abandoned or neglected. The listing of the Rutland and Northamptonshire missile sites provides them with an additional layer of protection and is part of an on-going English Heritage project to ensure that the best Cold War architecture is safe-guarded.
Thor missiles were the first operational intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM) used by the West during the Cold War. Developed by the United States government, a total of 60 missiles were deployed at 20 sites in the East of England from 1958 under the codename ‘Project Emily ‘. Final agreement to locate Thor in Britain was reached between the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, and the US President Eisenhower.
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