RAF St Eval
RAF St Eval is a former Royal Air Force station situated on the high Atlantic-facing cliffs of the north Cornish coast, near the village of St Eval in Cornwall, England. Though the airfield is now largely decommissioned as an active military base, the site retains enormous historical significance and has become a place of quiet pilgrimage for aviation historians, military heritage enthusiasts, and those with personal connections to the Second World War. The site is notable not only for its wartime role but also for the remarkable Church of St Uvelus, which stands within the old airfield perimeter and served as a navigational landmark for aircrew during the war.
The airfield was built in the late 1930s and opened in 1939, just in time to play a critical role in the Second World War. It became one of the most strategically important Coastal Command stations in Britain, tasked with patrolling the Western Approaches to protect Atlantic convoys from German U-boats and long-range aircraft. Squadrons based at St Eval flew Hudsons, Sunderlands, Liberators, and Beaufighters on gruelling sorties far out over the Atlantic, and the station suffered considerable losses. Its exposed position on the Cornish headland made it a prime target for Luftwaffe raids, and the airfield was bombed multiple times during the war, with significant damage and casualties recorded. The station also played a role in operations against the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during the famous Channel Dash of February 1942.
The physical character of the site today is one of windswept emptiness and haunting beauty. Wide, cracked concrete dispersal areas and taxiways survive across the plateau, giving the landscape an eerie, time-capsule quality. The Atlantic wind sweeps almost constantly across the open ground, and on overcast days the site can feel profoundly melancholic — a fitting atmosphere for a place that saw so much sacrifice. The church of St Uvelus, a medieval structure that predates the airfield by centuries, rises improbably from the middle of what was once a working military aerodrome, its tower still visible for miles. Inside, the church contains a Book of Remembrance and memorials to the aircrew who served and died here.
The surrounding landscape is quintessential north Cornwall: a dramatic, windswept plateau above high sea cliffs, with expansive views across the Atlantic and inland over a mosaic of ancient field systems, narrow lanes, and scattered farmsteads. The nearby village of St Eval is small and quiet, while the town of Wadebridge lies a few miles to the south-east, and the surfing and tourist destination of Newquay is a similar distance to the south. The South West Coast Path runs not far from the site, offering spectacular clifftop walking. The whole area sits within a landscape that feels genuinely remote despite Cornwall's popularity as a holiday destination.
Part of the former airfield is now used by GCHQ Bude, a significant government signals intelligence station, and by other communications facilities, meaning access to certain parts of the site is restricted. However, the church of St Uvelus is generally accessible, and the wider area around the old perimeter can be explored on foot. The memorials and the atmospheric remains of wartime infrastructure make this a deeply moving place to visit for anyone with an interest in aviation or military history. Visiting is best done during the spring or summer months, when the long daylight hours and (intermittently) more forgiving weather allow for comfortable exploration, though the site has a particular power on grey, blustery days.
One of the more remarkable hidden stories of St Eval concerns the church itself: when the airfield was being constructed, the Air Ministry wanted to demolish St Uvelus to clear the site, but local opposition and the church's ancient status prevented this. Instead, the runways and dispersals were simply built around it, and the tower was used as a visual navigation aid by pilots returning from operations. The church thus became one of the only medieval places of worship in Britain to be deliberately incorporated into a functioning wartime aerodrome. Burials in the churchyard include some aircrew who died while stationed here, adding a further layer of poignancy to the site's already layered history.