Posts Tagged ‘Kilnsea’

SKEALS on the sound mirror

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

The Kilnsea sound mirror, described as “the only listed ‘building’ in Kilnsea“, is mentioned on The Spurn, Kilnsea and Easington Area Local Studies Group website.

Cycling to a sound mirror

Sunday, September 25th, 2011


Photo of the Kilnsea acoustic mirror amidst fields

German cyclist Roland Schmellenkamp has been to see the Kilnsea sound mirror in East Yorkshire as part of a trip from Glasgow to Offenburg. He comments that Britons “often have surprisingly good knowledge of history”.

Interesting mirror at Interesting Times

Friday, February 18th, 2011

Sound effects is a 20 August 2010 posting about the Kilnsea sound mirror at Mike Higginbottom’s Interesting Times website.

Among the First World War fortifications that protected eastern England from the German threat is a curious lump of concrete in a field north-west of the Godwin Battery on the coast at Kilnsea on the way to Spurn Point. This enigmatic piece of concrete is an acoustic mirror …

Kilnsea sound mirror pictures at From The Neolithic To The Sea

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

Kilnsea Sound Mirror at From The Neolithic To The Sea.

This is a personal journey through time and space, visiting many places and the story told in pictures and words. As with most journeys, we encounter the ordinary, the unusual and the interesting. Some we seek, some we find and some even find us.
From The Neolithic To The Sea: A Journey From The Past To The Present

Other pages of interest on the site include the Humber Port War Signal Station at Spurn, Reighton Sands and the Godwin Artillery Battery at Kilnsea.

‘Hidden things to see and do’ from the Observer

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

The sound mirrors – and this website – got a mention in the Observer’s travel section on 5 April 2009. The piece formed part of the Military sites” category in a series about Secret Britain – “All around us lie overgrown and forgotten sites with fascinating stories to tell, says Iain Sinclair”.

Acoustic mirrors, various locations

In the middle of a field in Kilnsea, Yorkshire there is a 15-foot-high concave concrete structure resembling a satellite dish. It’s actually an acoustic (or sound) mirror, used during the first world war to detect enemy engine sounds. They are a common fixture along the British coast, including at Kilnsea (OS map ref: TA 411167), Hythe in Kent (OS map ref: TR138344) and Denge on the Dungeness peninsula (OS map ref: TR070215), which recently featured in the new Prodigy music video, Invaders Must Die.
Source Observer

Holderness defences

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

The August 2006 issue of East Yorkshire local magazine The West In View looked at military defences in Holderness, including the Kilnsea sound mirror, and used some of my photos of the Cherry Cob Sands bombing decoy.

You can download a PDF of the magazine.

 

Sites of Special Sonic Interest

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

Scott Hawkins has been documenting, cataloging and performing at Sites of Special Sonic Interest across the UK. I classify a performance as any kind of physical interaction resulting in an audible product. Here, looking into the eye of the Sound Mirror at Kilnsea on Spurn Head, the wind (persistent ghostly presence) combined to produce and aerophonic ambient extravaganza.

Kilnsea sound mirror on the BBC

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

A huge concrete dish, pointing at the North Sea from an East Yorkshire field, was once a vital part of Britain’s defence system says a BBC video about the Kilnsea acoustic mirror.

The interview with local historian Jan Crowther is part of the BBC Look North programme’s Abandoned series with Matt Richards.

Matt was recently in touch seeking information for a proposed broadcast about Drewton tunnel on the old Hull & Barnsley Railway.

Kilnsea sound mirror information

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

Hull Online has some information on the Kilnsea acoustic mirror.

See also my page, and the location on Geograph.