In 1924, masts were erected on a 50 acre site at Borough Hill, Daventry, for the first transmission of the BBC’s longwave radio service. A small steel ball placed between the mast base and a concrete block allowed the mast to flex with the wind, supporting a structure weighing 80 tonnes and standing 150 meters tall.
The site opened on 27 July 1925 and Daventry became the site of the world’s first long wave radio transmission station. The very first transmission from the station was of a poem called “Daventry Calling”.
The ceramic insulator ‘eggs’ helped hold together the increasing number of aerials needed for the shortwave radio service, which began in 1932. There were more than 40 long wave and shortwave masts and towers during the site’s golden age. The BBC’s Borough Hill station continued broadcasting until 1992, with the signal so strong that townsfolk could hear the World Service on everyday appliances like toasters and vacuum cleaners!
Number 81 of the objects selected for the A History of Northamptonshire in 100 Objects exhibition 2025.
Daventry
Contributed by Rod Viveash, Volunteer Curator and Carrie Gardner-Pett, Museum Officer of Daventry Museum
This is a rare type of medieval ceramic roof tile, replaced in the 13th century by standard rectangular ceramic or nib tiles used until the 20th century. The rarity of these roof tiles and their association with buildings of high status in Northampton, both religious and secular, is of historical and archaeological significance.
© NMAG
©
NMAG
©
Photo by J. Demet
©
Andy Chapman
©
NMAG