It once kept a menacing watch out over the Norfolk countryside, on high alert for incomers to the region.
But a former aerial observation post could soon offer a rather warmer welcome to visitors.
Plans have been lodged with the local council to create five unique holiday lets at an ex-Royal Observer Corps base, which once monitored the skies for enemy attacks on the country.
The scheme would see five pre-fabricated, box-like structures placed next to two grade-II listed military heritage assets at the site at South Creake, near Fakenham.
One is a surface observation post dating from the Second World War, which was used to spot incoming German aircraft.
The other is a Cold War-era subterranean bunker, built to monitor for Russian attacks and continue operating in the event of a nuclear attack on the UK.
The former is the base's only original structure left on the surface. It is covered in foliage but would be restored as part of the plans, it will be restored.
A statement provided as part of the planning application describes the units as “a contemporary take on the form of the Orlit Type B Observation Posts from the Cold War”.
It adds that the raised structures would each be accessed via their own set of metal steps, and would face towards the north Norfolk coast.
The scheme will be designed to produce net zero carbon emissions and will incorporate ground-mounted solar panels to produce renewable energy for the holiday lets.
An earlier version of the project had included a wind turbine, but that has now been removed so as not to interrupt the area's country views.
The new scheme proposes to restore both South Creake's Second World War and Cold War assets, to “offer visitors a better understanding of the site’s history”.
Nearby, there is a third historic asset - an Iron Age hillfort located at the junction of Bloodgate Hill and Castle Lane.
Evidence of activity on the fort is thought to go as far back as the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age.
The site is also located a short distance from Nelson’s Loop, a popular intermediate level cycling route named after west Norfolk's historical connection to naval hero Admiral Lord Nelson.
The council had been due to issue a decision by September 21, but has not yet done so.
The plans can be viewed by searching for reference 22/01246/LB at https://online.west-norfolk.gov.uk/online-applications/
SECRET SITES
The Royal Observer Corps was set up in the 1920s to bolster the country's air defences.
During the Second World War, it established a number of sites to monitor aircraft movements.
The Cold War gave it a new role, to detect and report nuclear explosions and associated fall-out.
The South Creake site was initially built to record aircraft and was equipped with rudimentary sighting and plotting equipment, along with a telephone.
The bunker was built later at the same location to utilise the existing observation post.
In total, 1,518 Observer Corps bunkers were built in Britain during the Cold War. The last one was closed in 1991.
The South Creake one was part of a cluster with similar outposts in nearby Gressenhall and Melton Constable.
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